NFL’s 25 highest-paid players in 2026<\/a><\/p>\nUltimately it was this size, plus concerns he was simply too big to keep up with the pace and demands of modern rugby league, that led to a pivot to the NFL.<\/p>\n
If that all sounds familiar, it\u2019s pretty much the same story that saw Jordan Mailata transformed from an imposing South Sydney junior into a Super Bowl-winning left tackle for the Philadelphia Eagles.<\/p>\n
Mailata is clearly the template Te Kura\u2019s camp is leaning on and the 22-year old is walking in the footsteps of giants, quite literally.<\/p>\n
Where do things stand now?<\/p>\n
Te Kura has already worked out for two NFL clubs during tryouts this month, the Chicago Bears and reigning Super Bowl champions the Seattle Seahawks, with his agent reportedly also fielding interest from several other franchises.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In reality Te Kura isn\u2019t chasing a 2026 season NFL debut, but rather looking more towards 2027 meaning the rest of this year is all about training, bulking up even further and learning the nuances of a sport he\u2019s never really played.<\/p>\n
What kind of money could Ben Te Kura earn in the NFL?<\/p>\n
If Te Kura lands directly on an NFL playing roster minimum rookie deals pay around AU$1\u20131.2 million a season – well above his previous Broncos salary.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even a practice squad spot which shapes as a more realistic short-term outcome pays around AU$320,000 a year.<\/p>\n
But of course the real prize could await down the track.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If Te Kura is able to mirror Mailata\u2019s NFL success, he could eventually chase contracts worth upwards of AU$30 million a season – more than an entire NRL club\u2019s 30-player salary cap.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s next?<\/p>\n
All 32 NFL clubs must trim their rosters to 53 players by August 30, with practice squads formed after that.<\/p>\n
If no team signs Te Kura this year he\u2019s then likely to enter the NFL\u2019s International Player Pathway program, a dedicated route created for overseas talent ahead of a push to get signed for the 2027 NFL season.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s still a long shot, but so was Jordan Mailata back in 2018 and he\u2019s now one of the best-paid linemen in the NFL.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Right now, NFL training camps are in full swing on the other side of the Pacific. Brisbane Broncos…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":829824,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[64,63,593,85],"class_list":["post-829823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/829823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=829823"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/829823\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/829824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=829823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=829823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=829823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}