The major paycut Christian Wade took in bid to make NFL

Christian Wade has revealed that – contrary to popular belief – he took a massive pay cut in order to chase his dream of playing in the NFL.

The former England and British & Irish Lions winger switched to American football in 2018 – leaving Wasps and the Gallagher Premiership behind as he bid to become a star in America’s game with the Buffalo Bills.

The narrative at the time was that even as an NFL rookie, Wade would inevitably be paid more when he made the switch. However, it wasn’t in fact the case.

While established NFL players can earn enormous salaries that easily dwarf that of rugby union’s top stars, it isn’t quite as rosey for those struggling to make 53-man NFL rosters.

In an interview with the Money section of the Telegraph, Wade – who availed of the International Player Pathway program – revealed how much he was on at Wasps and how much he made in his each of his three seasons trying to crack the NFL.

“I went pro with London Wasps at 18 as soon as I left school, but I’d signed a contract with the Academy at 16 and got £100 a month for expenses to get to and from training. My first contract with Wasps was around £17,000 a year and in my last season I was on £250,000 plus.”

His initial salary on the Bills’ practice squad was a modest £123,000 [$150,000], which effectively saw his Wasps salary cut in half.

“So for the first two years I was in the practice squad (paid $150,000 a year). If you make the 53-man roster the minimum you get paid, I believe, is $600,000 a year now.”

Only by his final year with Buffalo did he exceed the Wasps’ salary he enjoyed in his last season in rugby.

“But this last year I was on injury reserve so was getting paid just over $400,000 [£330,000] a year.”

Although his England was short, Wade revealed he was paid £25,000 per tour for England in both 2012 and 2013 and a further £50,000 for Lions tour of Australia in 2013.

Wade says his move to the NFL was more about challenging himself than money, saying he was only playing at 60 to 70 per cent of his capabilities playing rugby.

The 31-year-old is now assessing his options – in both American football and rugby union – before he makes his next step.