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| Franklin Thompson, LG, New Orleans (77) |
When the New Orleans VooDoo signed LG Franklin Thompson to a four-year contract with an annual value of $15.2 million, it provoked me to begin thinking about the salary structure of USFL teams and which players would be the highest-paid in our league.
What follows is a list of the five highest-paid players at each position, based on the Cap Cost column on the rosters page, entering the 1985 training camp.
There are some caveats, of course.
There are some rookies on this list where the team owner has not yet had time to renegotiate their first contracts, so their numbers will almost certainly go down in the future. There are also big contracts that are not the fault of the current owner, including the highest-paid player in the league, Arizona Wranglers QB Jerry Montalvo ($18.18 million). He was signed by the team's previous owner.
New Orleans has seven players on this list, which means we all need to pitch in and help shavar, the team's rookie owner, figure out how to renegotiate contracts and manage cap space.
The VooDoo also have the highest-paid players at three positions, tied for the most with the Los Angeles Express and San Jose SaberCats. The Oakland Invaders, oddly, have two of the league's three highest-paid punters on their roster.
The only team with no players on this list is the Honolulu Hawaiians. Team owner trslick has certainly getting the most bang for his buck, as the Hawaiians had won three consecutive division titles before falling to 9-7 last season.
Salary figures are in millions of dollars, rounded off two places.
Quarterback
Jerry Montalvo, ARZ, 18.18
Chester Dougherty, CHI, 17.76
Michael Temples, DET, 14.00
Elwood Savage, ORL, 12.96
Les Lacy, OAK, 10.96
Running Back
Chuck Mayfield, LAX, 11.03
Richard Brown, GAF, 6.99
Mark Lambert, HOU, 6.63
Desmond Kirkland, SJS, 6.58
Thomas Earl Petty, STO, 6.34
Fullback
Marcus Jordan, NOV, 5.20
Mark Jackson, BOS, 4.75
Joshua Jones, NYS, 4.57
Joel Salazar, JAX, 3.51
William Beaubien, CHA, 3.40
Left Tackle
Everett Bowers, NJG, 6.58
Jimmy Rice, MEM, 6.39
Brian Woodbury, SJS, 6.38
Shannon Davenport, NYS, 6.31
Kenneth Nelson, ORL, 6.13
Left Guard
Franklin Thompson, NOV, 15.20
Kenneth Kurtz, ARZ, 12.96
Henry Leishman, SHR, 6.25
Patrick Blue, MIC, 6.21
Andrew Manning, CHI, 5.79
Center
Gaston Gross, ARZ, 8.13
Jack Simmonds, GAF, 6.40
Thomas Bellanger, POR, 5.96
Jose Miller, MIC, 5.66
Andre the Giant, DEN, 5.39
Right Guard
Donald Thompson, SJS, 6.60
Rudolph Guerrero, NOV, 6.49
Kevin Lucas, PHI, 5.66
Antonio Preston, HOU, 5.61
Jeffrey Hankins, BIR, 5.25
Right Tackle
Richard Mosley, SJS, 12.21
Jonathan Nash, BLT, 6.50
Rodney Towell, BIR, 6.36
William Dew, MIC, 6.35
Ellis Miller, ORL, 6.06
Tight End
Herbert Schuler, SJS, 6.28
Stephen Hicks, POR, 6.20
William Fey, ARZ, 6.11
Mario Burton, BIR, 6.06
Burt Johnson, TAM, 4.74
Wide Receiver
Quincy White, LAX, 13.08
Joseph Clark, BOS, 10.52
Lee Rice, BIR, 9.49
Michael Sonnenberg, JAX, 8.00
Brian Darden, BLT, 7.99
Kicker
Alan Grossi, SCS, 2.23
Ronald Hensley, ARZ, 2.13
Matthew Eno, CHI, 2.11
Gary Spence, CLE, 2.09
Anthony Schaefer, SJS, 2.07
Punter
Glenn Cannon, OAK, 2.52
Gerald Sherry, GAF, 2.42
Cody Carlin, OAK, 2.08
Julius Horowitz, MIC, 1.87
Dan Carr, CLE, 1.85
Left Defensive End
Ernest Huggins, NJG, 10.08
Joseph Gerald, BIR, 6.74
Shawn Hicks, MEM, 6.64
Miguel Gross, NOV, 6.60
Reid Davis, WAS, 6.58
Defensive Tackle
Richard Wooden, BLT, 10.65
John Biggs, FLA, 9.23
Raphael Alvarez, JAX, 8.70
Arthur Powell, NOV, 7.70
Bryan Johnson, PIT, 7.20
Right Defensive End
Daryl Barney, LAX, 11.34
Matthew McGinley, SHR, 11.18
Richard Kirkwood, BOS, 10.75
Charlie Lee, ARZ, 10.08
Albert Cruz, OKL, 8.79
Weak Side Linebacker
Gordon Shive, BOS, 8.39
Indiana Jones, NJG, 7.92
Troy Irwin, LAX, 6.87
James Barger, FLA, 6.43
Thomas Allums, CHA, 6.15
Middle Linebacker
Michael McIntire, MIC, 7.47
William Bennett, ORL, 7.31
Fernando Stone, CHA, 7.16
Stephen Ray Vaughan, STO, 6.69
Thodore Blanco, SHR, 6.55
Strong Side Linebacker
Bruce Farias, NOV, 10.20
Gary Nelson, OAK, 6.50
Jose Laliberta, ORL, 6.45
John Hernandez, PHI, 5.78
Mark Stetler, JAX, 5.48
Cornerback
John Borkowski, POR, 16.66
David Peralta, HOU, 15.48
Carlos Turner, BIR, 8.77
Charles Bowles, BOS, 8.03
Larry Ackman, NOV, 7.29
Free Safety
James Bolden, ORL, 7.79
Ryan Tennison, FLA, 6.26
Jaco Pastorius, STO, 6.20
Christopher McGee, NYS, 5.53
Richmond Flowers, SHR, 5.35
Strong Safety
Jeff Melton, POR, 11.82
Etienne Boulay, DEN, 6.29
Paul Johnson, CHA, 6.12
James Wright, CLE, 6.07
Prince Stone, OKL, 5.98
