The USFL is doing what no spring football league has done for quite a long time. It's coming back for a second season.
The USFL always planned to make their pursuit of spring football a multi-year endeavor. While much of the attention in mid-February has been on the XFL's return, the USFL is starting to make some noise as it prepares for its second season.
The 2023 USFL Draft is set to be held on Tuesday. The league will add 80 new players to its ranks in the hopes of building out its rosters and getting ready for the start of the 2023 season in mid-April.
"The USFL will continue to search for and evaluate the best players to join our league," Daryl Johnston, Executive Vice President of Football Operations, said via a press release. "We are excited to see who the next KaVontae Turpin will be to turn an opportunity with the USFL into a springboard for success in the NFL. Conducting our inaugural College Draft shows that the USFL is committed to providing these talented players an alternative route to pursue their professional football dreams.”
Indeed, the 2023 USFL Draft will be an important day for the league, but how exactly does it work? Here's what to know about the league's player selection process in 2023 and how it differs from the league's draft last season.
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When is the USFL Draft 2023?
- Date: Tuesday, Feb. 21
- Time: 1 p.m. ET
The USFL Draft for 2023 will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 21. The event will only be a one-day process, as each of the league's eight teams will select the rights to 10 players as they look to build their rosters for the 2023 USFL season.
This is different from the 2022 USFL Draft, which was a multi-day event during which teams built out their entire rosters. This time, each of the eight teams already has players on the roster and will be looking to supplement their talents with players who have either completed their college education, have exhausted their eligibility or are waiving their remaining eligibility. They don't need to build an entire roster from scratch.
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How does the USFL Draft work?
The USFL Draft will operate similarly to the NFL Draft, but with some exceptions. There are no restrictions on which position a team can draft with their selections, which is a departure from the 2022 USFL Draft, which required teams to select certain positions at certain times.
The most glaring difference between the USFL and NFL drafts is that there will be no trades during the USFL Draft. The league is forbidding teams from trading picks or players already under contract for the rights of other players. It's unclear if that is just during the draft or if it applies for a period after it.
In terms of timing, each team will have five minutes to make a selection in the first three rounds. In the final seven rounds, the clubs will have three minutes to choose. There will be a five-minute break between each of the rounds as well.
By the end of the draft, each team will have selected 10 new players to join its organization.
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USFL Draft player pool 2023
The USFL has not clarified which players will be available in its 2023 draft. The league did announce in a press release that there are approximately 3,000 players eligible to play professional football, so the league will have plenty of options at its disposal.
In total, only 80 of the 3,000 (2.7 percent) eligible players will be selected. It isn't clear whether all selected players will play for the USFL or if some will play for other leagues while the team in question holds onto their rights.
USFL Draft pick order
Below is the draft order for the first round of the 2023 USFL Draft.
| Pick | Team |
| 1 | Michigan Panthers |
| 2 | Pittsburgh Maulers |
| 3 | Houston Gamblers |
| 4 | Memphis Showboats |
| 5 | New Orleans Breakers |
| 6 | Philadelphia Stars |
| 7 | Birmingham Stallions |
| 8 | New Jersey Generals* |
The USFL Draft order is the inverse order of the league's standings for 2022 with a twist. The Panthers and the Maulers actually played in a head-to-head game in Week 10 that decided which team would get the No. 1 pick in the draft. The Panthers won the game, so they were granted the No. 1 selection.
Additionally, the Generals have been penalized for violating the USFL's offseason roster management rules. As such, they will not have a first-round pick and their picks in Rounds 2 through 5 will occur at the end of the round.
Starting in Round 6, New Jersey will make its normal selection at No. 6 overall in the round. That will continue through Round 10, when the team will be granted the final pick of the draft to make up for not having a first-round selection. That will ensure that each of the USFL's eight teams selects 10 prospects each.
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How much will USFL players make?
USFL players will have a chance to make a maximum salary of roughly $60,500 in 2023, a source familiar with negotiations told The Sporting News. That would require players to be active for every regular-season game, in attendance at all of training camp and win a championship, as USFL players are paid on a weekly basis and have incentives baked into their contracts.
Below is a breakdown of what a USFL contract pays:
- Total max salary: $60,500
- Active player: $5,350 per week
- Inactive player: $2,500 per week
- Training camp: $400 per week
- Championship win bonus: $5,000
In the USFL's first season, players were given $4,500 per week if active and $1,500 if inactive. The new payment totals represent increases of 18.8 percent and 66.6 percent respectively.
The league will also provide the players with annual benefits of $26,000 per player, which covers retirement, per diem, training camp housing and education.
