Contract Efficiency Calculator
A rough cost-per-production gut check for NBA, MLB, and NFL contracts. Enter a salary and one production number, and see the cost per unit alongside real league cap and salary reference lines.
Your salary vs. league reference lines
Where this salary sits
vs. the current NBA salary cap
Why a simple cost-per-unit check is still useful
Real contract valuation involves positional scarcity, guaranteed money, injury risk, and the shape of the aging curve — far more than a spreadsheet can capture. But dividing a salary by one production number is still a fast, honest starting point: it tells you roughly what a team is paying for each unit of output, and how that salary stacks up against real league cap and pay figures, before you dig into the harder questions.
How it’s calculated
Cost per unit = annual salary ÷ production number (NBA: points per game; MLB: Wins Above Replacement; NFL: fantasy points per game). Salary is also shown as a percentage of that league's official salary cap, and against one more salary reference point per sport.
Reference figures used (all sourced, with as-of dates): NBA salary cap for 2025-26 is $154.647M per team (NBA.com official release, June 2025). MLB minimum salary for 2026 is $780,000 (2022-2026 Basic Agreement, MLBPA), and MLB average salary for 2025 is $5.336M (Associated Press Opening Day study, as republished by ESPN, April 2026). NFL salary cap for 2026 is $301.2M per team (NFL.com official release, February 2026); the NFL "average" of $5.2M is a Sports Illustrated estimate (2025 season cap ÷ 53-man active roster spots per team), not an official NFLPA or league-published figure — it is labeled as an estimate everywhere it appears on this page.
This is an honest rough cut, not a full contract valuation. A single production number (points per game, WAR, fantasy points) never captures a player's complete value — it ignores defense (for NBA points per game and NFL fantasy points specifically), leadership, positional scarcity, injury risk, contract guarantees, and team context. No verified NBA "average salary" figure is published here; NBA comparisons use the official salary cap only, which is a solid, real, sourced number, unlike an unverified average.
Worked example
An NBA player earning $30M/year who averages 25 points per game costs about $1,200,000 per point of scoring per year, and that $30M salary is about 19.4% of the 2025-26 NBA cap ($154.647M). An MLB player earning $20M/year who produces 4.0 WAR costs $5,000,000 per WAR — and that $20M salary is roughly 3.75× the 2025 MLB average salary of $5.336M.
Common mistakes
- Treating cost-per-unit as a complete contract grade instead of one rough input among many.
- Comparing a rookie-scale contract's "efficiency" to a veteran max deal as if they reflect similar market leverage.
- Using the NFL's estimated average ($5.2M) as if it were an official NFLPA figure the way MLB's AP study average is.
Where it is used
- Fan and media discussions about whether a contract looks like a "bargain" or an "albatross."
- A quick first pass before digging into cap-hit timing, guarantees, and positional value.
- Fantasy sports value discussions that compare salary-cap-style spending to production.
Frequently asked questions
What counts as "production" for each sport?
This tool uses one simple, widely-tracked production number per sport: NBA points per game (a basic scoring-volume proxy, not a full value metric like win shares or VORP), MLB Wins Above Replacement (WAR, a broader value stat combining hitting, pitching, and defense into estimated wins contributed), and NFL fantasy points per game (a scoring proxy commonly used to compare skill-position value). None of these fully capture a player's true value — see the methodology above.
Why use league cap and salary figures instead of "average player pay" for every sport?
Because reliable, directly-sourced average-salary figures don't exist for every league in the same form. MLB has a well-established Opening Day average (from an annual Associated Press study). The NFL and NBA don't publish an official "average salary" the way MLB's union/AP study does, so this tool leans on hard salary-cap figures (official, verifiable, and updated annually) plus the one clearly-labeled NFL estimate, rather than publish a shaky or unverified average number.
Is a lower cost-per-unit always a "better" contract?
Directionally yes, but it's a rough-cut number, not a full valuation. It ignores context like a player's role (star vs. role player), injury risk, contract length and guarantees, positional scarcity, and how replaceable that level of production is on the open market. A rookie-scale contract will almost always look "efficient" by this math, and that's expected — it's a starting point for a conversation, not a definitive front-office grade.
How current are the salary figures used here?
The NBA salary cap ($154.647M) is for the 2025-26 season, officially announced by the NBA. The MLB minimum salary ($780,000) is for the 2026 season, set by the 2022-2026 Basic Agreement between MLB and the MLBPA; the MLB average salary ($5.336M) is the 2025 Opening Day figure from the annual Associated Press study. The NFL salary cap ($301.2M) is for the 2026 season, officially announced by the NFL; the NFL "average" of $5.2M is explicitly a Sports Illustrated estimate (total cap divided by active roster spots), not an official NFLPA or league figure, and is labeled as such throughout this tool.