Corey Vereen Withdraws from XFL's Los Angeles Wildcats over Salary Concerns
Corey Vereen has decided to end his XFL career before it began.
Vereen, a 24-year-old defensive end, was drafted in the eighth round of the XFL's inaugural draft earlier this month by the Los Angeles Wildcats. Wednesday, Vereen's agent announced that he will "forgo" his opportunity to play for the Wildcats in 2020 due to "the current pay scale":
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ESPN's Kevin Seifert provided further information on Thursday following a phone interview with Vereen:
"Vereen said in a telephone interview that the league's pay scale for all other players was much lower than he expected after receiving a salary that would have reached $70,000 in the Alliance of American Football if the now-defunct [league] had finished its spring season. Vereen said he passed on offers from the CFL, and accepted a commissioner's invitation to the XFL draft, based on a presumption of higher salaries.
"The XFL, which declined comment, never publicized salary figures prior to the draft. Commissioner Oliver Luck said in the spring that the AAF had erred with 'one size fits all' contracts and added: 'We think we can be a little bit more selective and pay at the upper level some significant six-figure sums and then have a number of different levels.'"
In June 2018, ESPN's Darren Rovell reported, "Luck said the biggest cost will be the salaries to pay players and coaches. He said that the average salary for the 40-man rosters will hover around $75,000, with players who are more in demand making much more than that."
Vereen most recently played for the AAF's Memphis Express. Prior to that, he signed as an undrafted free agent out of Tennessee—where he played from 2013-16—with the New England Patriots in 2017 but was ultimately waived and never played beyond training camp.
The XFL, which originally existed in 2001 and folded after one season, is scheduled to kick off on Feb. 9, 2020, with a game between the New York Guardians and Tampa Bay Vipers. The full schedule can be viewed here.
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