NFL Players' Podcast

Step inside the high-stakes transition from draft day dreams to real-life NFL careers as hosts Riccardo Stewart, Zach Miller, Sam Acho, and Jeff Locke unite for an unfiltered conversation.

Drawing on their combined 20 years of league experience, they peel back the curtain on everything rookies face after hearing their names called—revealing surprising truths about NFL paychecks, tax pitfalls, smart real estate choices, and the off-the-field team every player needs.

Whether you’re an aspiring athlete, a seasoned pro, or just curious what it really takes to succeed beyond the game, this episode serves up firsthand stories and hard-won advice for navigating the business of football.

Connect with us

Chapters
(00:00) Draft Day Emotions and First Reactions
(04:26) Understanding NFL Pay Structure
(05:54) Tax Surprises for New Players
(07:55) Critical Setup Steps After Being Drafted
(10:26) Deciding Whether to Rent or Buy
(11:33) Key People Every Rookie Needs to Know

Creators and Guests

Host
Jeff Locke
Wealth Strategist and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®) at AWM Capital
Host
Riccardo Stewart
Former college character coach and Director of Human Capital & Family Leadership
Host
Sam Acho
Director of Human Capital and Impact and an in-studio and game analyst for ESPN.
Host
Zach Miller
Former NFL player and current CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®)

What is NFL Players' Podcast?

The podcast by NFL players for NFL players. Each week, we break down the biggest events in football and how they directly impact a player's career and money.

Join Former NFL Veterans Sam Acho (Bills, Bucs, Bears & Cardinals), Zach Miller (Seahawks & Raiders), Jeff Locke (Vikings, Colts, Lions, 49ers), and college coach, Riccardo Stewart, for a raw and unfiltered conversation about the game, the business, and how players can achieve generational wealth.

Riccardo Stewart "The Coach":
We just had the 2026 NFL Draft.

the topic of this particular podcast is:

So I just got drafted.

Now what?

When and how do I get paid?

Zach Miller "The Truth": You're not
getting paid until you sign that contract.

You're getting a lot of that
signing bonus upfront and then…

Riccardo Stewart "The Coach": I'm
coming outta college and I was

playing at the University of Texas
and I had no state income tax.

Sam Acho (The Mayor): Yeah
you're in for a rude awakening

when you get that first check.

Riccardo Stewart "The Coach": Should
I buy a house or should I rent?

Zach Miller "The Truth": The easiest
and usually the best solution is…

Riccardo Stewart "The Coach":
Who are the people I need to know

outside of coaches and teammates?

Sam Acho (The Mayor): Early
on, it's really two people…

Jeff Locke "The Professor":
The one piece of advice I would

love to give rookies is…

Riccardo Stewart "The Coach": Making
sure you have the right team around you.

Do they understand the business
of you and how it intersects

with the business of the NFL?

Hey, I wanna welcome everybody
back to another episode of

the A-W-M-N-F-L podcast.

My name is Ricardo Stewart.

I have the privilege of being
your host, and I'm joined with my

friends as well as my coworkers.

And so since it's been a little bit,
you know what, let's go around and

introduce my friends and coworkers.

And first I'm gonna
introduce you to Jeff Locke.

We call him the professor because
the man drops a lot of knowledge.

And speaking of knowledge, Zach
Miller, who we call the truth.

Because the man gives you everything
you need to know, plus more.

And lastly, Sam Macho.

We call him the mayor because he's got
a smile that lights up the room and

essentially everybody gets his vote.

I'm privileged enough to be your host.

They call me the coach.

I get a chance to call the X's and O's
so we can get things executed properly.

The beautiful of it all is with
these three gentlemen we have here.

We have over 20 years of NFL experience.

If we get an opportunity to talk
about finances and how they intersect,

particularly with NFL athletes and so.

We just had the 2026 NFL Draft Fellows.

Congratulations on the many guys
that we were able to have to

get drafted and so good work.

And so now the topic of this particular
podcast is, so I just got drafted now

what, and so before we just jump in,
guys, just add a little bit of color.

First, I'm gonna start with you, Zach.

A question that you
didn't know was coming is.

me the first thing you thought when
you, not just what you did or you bought

first thing you thought as soon as you
saw your name, go across that screen.

Zach Miller "The Truth": I was relieved
to be honest, because I was, I was

hoping to get drafted earlier and so
to have it just go on as long as it did

that first round for me was six hours.

So the just relief and then like,
why did the Raiders pick me?

I wasn't a fast 40 guy.

I didn't, uh, yeah, kind of
didn't fit the Raiders mold.

So that was, that was my thoughts.

Riccardo Stewart "The Coach": Sam, I
know we've talked a little bit about your

experience and so before we jump into
some of the questions I'm gonna ask, um,

everybody else, what was your feeling?

Sam Acho (The Mayor):
I felt overwhelmed and.

Ready?

Ready to go to work.

I mean, Zach waited six hours.

I waited about three days,
you know what I mean?

I didn't get, didn't get
drafted to the fourth round.

And so Zach, I had to wait through
the first round and the second,

and the third and the fourth.

So I was overwhelmed with just gratitude
because at that point I wasn't sure

what was going to happen next if
I was even going to get drafted.

'cause you go through the whole process.

People tell you one thing and do another.

then also there was this feeling of
being resolute, like ready to go to

work, to prove to myself or whoever.

That it was a worthy draft pick.

Riccardo Stewart "The Coach": I love it.

I love it.

Jeff.

Finally, not a lot of kickers and punters
get the opportunity of being drafted,

and I don't know how many have in in the
history of the NFL draft, but you did.

So tell me, what was that experience like
for you in terms of like knowing, hey, not

a lot of guys in my position get drafted.

This is a big deal.

So what was that like for you?

Jeff Locke "The Professor": Yeah, I'll
say surprised and grateful, right.

I was fielding calls with my agent
from teams for the undrafted signings.

Most punters and kickers
get un go undrafted.

So you like figuring out where
you're gonna go if you have the

option, and then all of a sudden,
Vikings trade up to get ahead of

the lions to take me in the fifth.

So I was just like crazy grateful
to have that experience, especially

as a specialist and like Sam, it was
like, all right, let's go do this

Sam Acho (The Mayor): Yeah.

Jeff Locke "The Professor": Had
a lot of, a lot of fun the last

couple months doing the circus.

Now let's go actually get to work.

Riccardo Stewart "The Coach": Well, this
is great because here's what happens.

You, you're with your agent
throughout this draft process.

You know, you're with trainers,
you're with people, you know,

tightening up your nutrition.

You're thinking about running a 40
and being able to have a broad jump.

You're, you're getting told you're
gonna get drafted and in these sort

of ranges, but no one really tells you
things like when and how do you get paid.

What do you do once you get drafted?

Is there a lull?

Do you get on a plane and go anywhere?

And what are the off the field things
that are important for you, particularly

not only just for your financial plan.

But for this next step in your life,
and so I want to be able today, guys,

to be able to glean from the 20 years
of NFL experience that you guys have

to be able to think through some of
the things that our current athletes

are going through that you went
through, and that all the other draft

guys are going through right now.

So first I'm gonna start with you,
Zach, and when and how do I get paid?

Zach Miller "The Truth": Well
first you, you're not getting

paid until you sign that contract.

So, um, and it's not gonna be quick.

Lately a lot of what we've seen is
some deferral or teams taking that

kind of part of that signing bonus
and pushing it in either to later

in the year or into the next year.

So you will get, you know, once
you sign that contract, usually

within two weeks, you're getting
a lot of that signing bonus.

Upfront and then kind of depends
on the team you're getting some

during the season or maybe some like
next March, something like that.

And then your salary is
paid out over 36 weeks.

So a lot of people still don't know that.

A lot of players still don't know
that you're not getting game checks

all the way till mid-September.

And you can take essentially that
kind of salary, that rookie salary

and divide it up between 36 weeks
and it's, that's kind of how you're

paid during the season for that.

Riccardo Stewart "The Coach":
Yeah, that's interesting because

one of our guys goes, Hey, I got
drafted early in the second round.

Why?

Why is my rookie minimum the same as some
other guys that got drafted behind me?

And it's like, oh.

guy, rookie doesn't apply just to you
in terms of where you got drafted.

That's the minimum of all rookies.

And so lock in, uh, Sam.

That's great.

I signed a great contract.

Zach, just let me know.

My signing in bonus could be split
between 2026, maybe some in 2027, but

what I need to know is how is that taxed
Because you know, I'm coming outta college

and I was playing at the University of
Texas and I had no state income tax.

My guy.

Sam Acho (The Mayor): Yeah, you,
you're in for a rude awakening.

Uh, because, because when you're gonna
see a couple things, when you get

that first check, well, first of all,
it's gonna be about half of what, of

what you thought you were gonna get.

And not just because that
signing bonus was split.

That's because of, of taxes,
uncle Sam, and that's not me.

I'm not, I'm not that uncle.

Um.

Riccardo Stewart "The Coach": Mayor

Sam Acho (The Mayor): Yeah, exactly.

Uh, so what's gonna happen is you're
gonna see that top line item, which

is gross income, but then you're gonna
see another line item that says federal

income tax withheld, and that's gonna
be about 37 or so percent of your money.

there's gonna be another, depending
on what state you live in, that says

state income tax withheld, which
could be another 5, 10, 11, 3%.

percent And you're gonna see
something that says Social Security.

You're gonna see Medicare and all
of a sudden that final amount that

you get, your net income is likely
gonna be about half, maybe a little

bit above, maybe a little bit below,
depending on where you live of what you

initially thought you were going to get.

And so welcome to being an employee of
the NFL and of one of these NFL teams.

You will be getting taxed.

Riccardo Stewart "The Coach": Yeah, so
me and Sam had, even though we played

in different years, I'm at Arizona
State Sam's, the University of Texas.

Um, we had the same, essentially

Sam Acho (The Mayor): Yeah.

Riccardo Stewart "The Coach": right?

That was running our college teams.

His name was George Wynn.

Shout out to George Wynn.

He's at, he's at South Carolina now.

But he did everything behind the scenes.

We literally would show up, there'd be
books in our locker for our classes.

We would show up.

Our dorm would be already be situated.

Like there were so many things that were
happening that we had no idea of all the

things that needed to happen on our team.

That's the professor.

He makes sure the things that you don't
think about he's already thought about,

and then him and his team is making
sure all of those things get done.

Jeff, give us kind of what are those
things that as soon as I get drafted

that my advisor, maybe my agent, my mom,
my dad, no one's really thinking about

that need to get done and done correctly.

Jeff Locke "The Professor": Yeah,
so the first thing you're gonna get

from your team, right, is they're
gonna send you this packet, right?

It could be a DocuSign, could be
documents to fill out where it's like,

Hey, you're not an employee of this team.

Here's all the stuff you gotta fill out
for us to become an employee of this team.

Right?

People make mistakes on those packets.

One of the things we see all the time
from players that are with a team

or another advisor, and they come to
work with us is mistakes get made.

Biggest mistake we see is
using the wrong address.

On your packet with the
team, Sam talked about it.

Taxes are a big deal.

The address you use is going
to determine how you are

initially taxed on your signing.

Bonus blank.

Think about that for a second, right?

You need to make sure you're talking
to your team, and using the correct

address on everything and getting
everything set up the right way.

That's one of the biggest
mistakes we see, right?

We're talking, I talked to Zach the
other day about this exact thing, like.

All of our clients right now,
we are having a discussion

internally with our tax team,
with their agents, with everyone.

What address are we
using on this contract?

What address are we using when this
player signs up with this team?

Extremely important, gets
overlooked by most players.

Second is, where the heck am I gonna live?

Right?

What the heck is gonna happen?

Zach's gonna talk a little bit
more about living situation.

It's really diff where you got
drafted, what city you went to,

all these factors go into it.

The one piece of advice I would
love to give rookies is just don't

get ahead of yourself, right?

A lot of times, Zach
already talked about it.

don't get paid your signing bonus
sometimes until June or July, your first

signing bonus, depending on how long
it takes to negotiate your contract,

get it signed, and then get paid.

like what does the team want to see?

The team wants to see you
come in and play ball.

Right.

Not have all this off field stuff.

Taking your attention away.

You're gonna get the money, you're
gonna get to all that stuff, but

it's still about football right away.

Especially when rookie mini
camp hits you really fast.

After you get drafted, it's either a
week or two right after the draft, you're

putting on pads and getting after it.

Riccardo Stewart "The Coach": Yeah.

So with that, Zach, you already
know it's already queued up for you.

Man, I just got drafted to Miami.

I just got drafted to, to New York
City, which is really New Jersey.

Um, I just got drafted to the
Cardinals in Arizona, man.

Should I buy a house or should I rent?

I mean, what's, what's good?

Zach Miller "The Truth": Yeah,
it's, it's the easiest and usually

the best solution is to rent.

Um, you don't know the area unless you
see yourself being there year round.

And it's a, it's a state.

There's no state income tax.

There's not a lot of
reasons to live there.

Now, if you're a first rounder and you go
to a place that has no state income tax.

And you see yourself being
there for a long time.

You wanna actually live there in
the off season, then yes, you might.

It might make sense to buy a house.

So it's one of those questions.

It's, it depends, depends
on your situation.

Do you want to pay unnecessary
state income taxes by becoming

a resident, by buying a house?

There?

Maybe, maybe not.

And then, um, I mean, you can
rent and then figure it out later.

Like renting for a year,
almost always the best option.

Riccardo Stewart "The Coach": Nice
Sam, we can go land the plane with you.

You're a people's person.

I get into this building for whatever
organization, I just got drafted to.

Who are the people do I need to know and I
need to make sure that I understand their

names, their numbers, email addresses
outside of coaches and teammates.

Sam Acho (The Mayor): Early on,
it's really two people, or maybe

you could argue two sets of people.

First, it's your director
of player engagement.

As a rookie, you're gonna meet these dpe
like you heard Ricardo talk about for

us in college, that DFO was George Wynn.

He would help set everything up.

Well, when you step onto your facility
and your facility, this director of

player engagement is gonna be the guy
walking you through all the different

rookie events that you'll have to do all
the different mandatory classes mandated

by the NFL four rookies that you'll
have to be able to be walking through.

And so the first person you're
gonna see a lot of is that

director of player engagement.

That will be your main point of contact.

He or she.

Will be extremely important.

person, or maybe group of people
are the community relations

people within the building.

Once again, as a rookie, you're
gonna be, you're gonna have great

opportunities, opportunities to go do
stuff in the community, to go and maybe

be a part of a group that throws out
the first pitch for the baseball team.

And so that community relations
person or that group of people,

they're gonna also want to be people
you get to know really, really

well, not just for your rookie year.

But also for your career
and whatever team you go to.

It's one thing to be a great
player on the field, but there's

also a benefit in getting to know
the people in your community.

Yes, you might've been known in college
at whatever school you went to, Alabama,

Texas, Arizona State, Washington.

But now you're in a new city, in a
new team, in a new league, and so

it's a great way to, yes, fulfill
some of the mandatory obligations that

you'll have as a rookie, but get to
be known and know the city as well.

Riccardo Stewart "The Coach": Listen,
you guys have heard it from guys who've

already been there and who are working
with guys who are in your shoes.

to wrap it all up, it's essentially
all of the work that you put in

to become a pro on the field.

We gotta be able to establish the habits
that you need to be a pro off the field.

Typically what that means is making
sure you have the right team around you.

Everyone says they have a quote unquote
team, but do they have a team that

understands you and that everything in
your best interest in mind, and do they

understand the business of you and how it
intersects with the business of the NFL?

If not mean, they understand what it
means to have a family office, and

we'll talk more about what that means.

But we appreciate you guys listening in.

If you have any questions, please shoot us
a text, give us a call, reach out to us.

Our number is 6 0 2 9 8 9 5 0 2 2.