Former NFL linebacker Mychal Kendricks faces up to 25 years in prison after pleading guilty Thursday to charges of insider trading.
Kendricks, 27, admitted before a federal judge in Philadelphia that he swapped cash, NFL tickets and access to parties with a Wall Street-connected associate for non-public, market-shifting information.
Prosecutors said Kendricks netted close to $US1.2 million ($A1.7 million) in profits off the trading during his two-year arrangement with a former Goldman Sachs analyst.
Kendricks will be sentenced in December.
He won the Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles last season before joining the Cleveland Browns, who released him last month after he was charged.
US District Judge Gene EK Pratter asked Kendricks why he was pleading guilty.
"Because I know I was wrong," he said, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
"I know that I made the decision to accept information, secret information, and it wasn't the right thing to do."
Drafted in the second round by Philadelphia out of Cal in 2012, Kendricks appeared in 85 games with the Eagles from 2012-17.
He recorded 14 sacks, three interceptions and five fumble recoveries in that span.
