NC State’s NFL presence is small compared with some of the sport’s heavyweight programs, but the money tells a different story.
With the 2026 NFL season opening Wednesday night on NBC in a Super Bowl rematch - former NC State linebacker Drake Thomas and the Seahawks hosting former Wolfpack defensive tackle Cory Durden and the Patriots at 8:20 p.m. - the Pack enters the year with 18 players on NFL rosters. Those 18 former Wolfpack standouts are projected to earn a combined $136,550,118 in 2026, which places NC State 24th nationally among college football programs, according to Spotrac.
That total puts the Wolfpack just behind Tennessee and ahead of Stanford. It also gives NC State a spot in the upper tier of the ACC, where only Clemson and Miami have more combined NFL earnings.
Clemson leads the league at No. 7 nationally with 32 active players and $257,543,862 in combined earnings. Miami checks in at No. 16 with 33 players and $156,992,174. NC State sits third in the conference at No. 24, ahead of Florida State, Boston College, Pittsburgh, Louisville, Duke, Virginia Tech, North Carolina, Syracuse, SMU, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, California, Virginia and Stanford.
The raw number of players only tells part of the story. NC State is tied for 28th in the nation in active NFL players, but its average earnings per player this season come out to $7.586 million, which ranks second in the ACC. That’s the clearest sign that the Wolfpack’s NFL footprint is being driven by high-end talent rather than sheer volume.
Miami, for example, has 33 active NFL players to NC State’s 18, yet the Hurricanes’ combined earnings are only about $20 million higher. Florida State has four more active NFL players than the Wolfpack, but NC State’s group is projected to earn more. Even locally, the gap is striking: North Carolina has 20 active players, two more than NC State, but its combined earnings of $46.8 million are nearly $90 million shy of the Wolfpack’s total.
The reason is simple. NC State doesn’t just have bodies in the league - it has players who have grown into major contracts at their positions. Alim McNeill, Ikem Ekwonu, Jakobi Meyers, Joe Thuney, Jacoby Brissett and Bradley Chubb are all set to make at least $15 million in 2026.
In Other News...
NC State Suddenly Faces A Major Defensive Void Before Home Opener
NC States defense took a significant hit just before the home opener when Dave Doeren revealed that starting weak-side linebacker AJ Richardson will miss the rest of the season with a torn bicep. Richardson was not only a starter at the WILL spot, but also one of the team captains, which makes the loss felt beyond the depth chart as the Wolfpack try to settle in for the early part of the schedule.
The next move appears to be DaKaari Nelson, the Penn State transfer expected to step into that linebacker role. For NC State, the challenge now is not just replacing production, but replacing a veteran presence in the middle of the defense while Richardson begins a recovery that is expected to take four to six months. [Read more 🡒]
NC State Has Two Urgent Issues To Fix In Home Opener
NC State heads into its home opener against Richmond trying to clean up a couple of glaring issues from the season-opening loss at Virginia. The Wolfpack were handled 34-8 in that one, and the focus this week has centered on simply getting the offense into better rhythm with the football and giving the defense a chance to settle in earlier in drives.
The challenge gets a little sharper with Richmond coming in at 2-0 and carrying some early confidence into Raleigh. The Spiders have already shown enough playmaking to be a live test, with freshman receiver Bryce Allen and tight end Sean Clarke among the names NC State has to account for, while the Wolfpack are also adjusting to life without starting linebacker AJ Richardson for the rest of the season. [Read more 🡒]