Rugby Union icon vs a shot at the NFL: Louis Rees-Zammit & the financial incentives for switching sports

If you’re like us, Sunday 8 September felt like Christmas Day.  The National Football League (NFL) is back and the first couple of weeks have already provided plenty of drama and talking points.  Just before the season began, one of those talking points on these shores involved former Welsh Rugby Union player Louis Rees-Zammit after he was released from the Kansas City Chiefs and subsequently acquired by the Jacksonville Jaguars. 

In March 2024, Rees-Zammit signed a three-year contract^[1] with the reigning NFL Super Bowl champions, the Kansas City Chiefs.  At the age of just 23, Rees-Zammit had previously racked up 31 caps for Wales, scoring fourteen tries in the process, including five during the 2023 Rugby World Cup. As was also evident from Netflix’s ‘Full Contact’ series following the 2023 Guinness Six Nations Championship, Rees-Zammit was a Welsh Rugby Union star.

So why has Rees-Zammit risked ending his Welsh Rugby Union career to leap into the unknown of the NFL?  In this article, we explore the financial considerations that faced and still face Rees-Zammit, specifically:

• A brief background into the NFL International Player Pathways (IPP) program;
• Rees-Zammit’s contract with the Kansas City Chiefs and move to Jacksonville;
• Rees-Zammit’s potential earnings as a player in the NFL, as compared to those he may have earned had he stayed in Rugby Union; and
• The next steps for Rees-Zammit.