How Long Are Rookie Contracts In The NFL?

The average NFL rookie contract is worth around $4 million. However, the length of these contracts can vary depending on a number of factors.

Length of Contracts

The average length of a rookie contract in the NFL is 4 years. contracts can be for as little as 2 years or as many as 6 years. The majority of contracts are for 4 years. The length of the contract is usually determined by how the player was drafted. For example, first-round picks usually get 4-year contracts, while seventh-round picks get 2-year deals.

1st round draft picks

Rookie contracts are for four years, with a team option for a fifth. The fourth year of the contract is referred to as a “team option year,” during which the team can decide whether to extend the contract an additional year. If the team decides not to pick up the option, the player becomes a free agent.

First-round draft picks have their salaries determined by the NFL’s rookie wage scale. The scale assigns a specific value to each pick, based on where they were selected in the draft. For example, the #1 overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft will earn a base salary of $10.2 million in their first year, while the #32 pick will earn $5.7 million.

2nd round draft picks

2nd round draft picks sign four-year contracts with their respective teams. salaries for these players are much lower than 1st round picks, but they still receive comparable signing bonuses. After the fourth year of the contract, these players become restricted free agents, meaning that their team can offer them a one-year contract for a predetermined amount of money called a “ tender”. If another team offers them a contract, their team has the right to match it or they can let that player go and receive draft-pick compensation from the other team.

3rd round draft picks

Rookie contracts are for a total of four years, with team options for a fifth year on first- and second-round draft picks. The dollars and cents associated with each year of the contract are based on where the player was drafted. Players selected in the first round will have bigger base salaries than players taken in the second round, which is why it’s often said that you get more bang for your buck when you draft well in the first round.

The base salaries for each year of a rookie contract are as follows:
-First round: $1.29 million
-Second round: $790,000
-Third round: $665,000
-Fourth round: $645,000
-Fifth round: $630,000
-Sixth round: $610,000
-Seventh round: $570,000

Signing Bonuses

1st round draft picks

The first ever NFL draft was in 1936, where Jay Berwanger from the University of Chicago was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles, but he never actually played a game for them. In 1938, the NFL introduced the “Rookie wage scale”, which is still in place today. This means that there are set salaries for each draft pick, depending on where they were selected. The 1st overall pick gets paid the most, and the 32nd pick gets paid the least (although this doesn’t necessarily mean that they are the worst player).

In recent years, 1st round draft picks have been given signing bonuses of around $20 million. This means that they are immediately among the highest paid players in the NFL, even though they have not yet played a single down. However, their contracts are only for 4 years, as opposed to the standard 6 years for veterans. This is because teams want to see how they perform before committing to a longer contract. After 4 years, if a player has performed well, they will be offered a “second contract” which is usually for 5 or 6 years and worth much more money. If they have not performed well, they will be released and will have to try and find another team to sign them.

2nd round draft picks

Signing bonuses for 2nd round draft picks in the NFL have varied greatly over the years. In 2020, the average signing bonus for a 2nd round pick was $3,484,741. The highest signing bonus ever given to a 2nd round pick was $16,120,000, given to Von Miller in 2011.

3rd round draft picks

As of the 2019 NFL Draft, the average signing bonus for a third-round draft pick is $827,000. That figure is up from $818,000 in 2018 and $655,000 in 2017. Third-round picks have seen their signing bonuses increase by 27% over the last two years.

Salary Cap

The NFL salary cap is the total amount of money that NFL teams are allowed to spend on their players’ salaries for the league’s fiscal year, which runs from March 1 to February 28. The NFL salary cap is set by the NFL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with the NFL Players Association (NFLPA). As of 2021, the NFL salary cap is $182.5 million per team.

1st round draft picks

Rookie contracts in the NFL are typically four years in length, with a team option for a fifth year. First-round draft picks are often given larger signing bonuses and higher salaries than later-round picks, but all rookies are subject to the NFL’s wage scale.

The NFL’s collective bargaining agreement sets a maximum salary for each draft pick, based on where they were selected in the draft. For example, the #1 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft will have a maximum salary of $36.78 million over their four-year rookie contract, while the last pick in the first round (pick #32) will have a maximum salary of $13.51 million.

NFL rookies can also earn extra money through performance-based incentives, such as Pro Bowl appearances and Super Bowl wins. These incentives are not included in the rookie wage scale, so they can vary widely from player to player.

2nd round draft picks

Rookie contracts in the NFL are four-year deals, but the length of time that a player spends on his rookie contract varies depending on when he was drafted. Players drafted in the first round are on their rookie contracts for four years, while players drafted in the second round are on their rookie contracts for three years. Rookies drafted in rounds three through seven are on their rookie contracts for two years.

Players who are not drafted at all become free agents and can sign with any team. However, undrafted rookies typically have a harder time making an NFL roster than players who were drafted.

3rd round draft picks

The typical third-round draft pick in the NFL receives a four-year contract worth just over $3 million. First-round picks, by contrast, sign contracts worth almost $12 million on average.

The NFL’s salary structure for rookie draft picks is highly slotted. This means that there is very little negotiating room for players and their agents when it comes to the overall value of their contracts. The NFLPA has negotiated a set of minimum salaries that increase slightly each year of a player’s contract, but the vast majority of a player’s compensation is determined by where they are selected in the draft.

For example, the minimum base salary for a third-round pick in 2020 is $675,000. This number will increase to $700,000 in 2021 and $725,000 in 2022. The total value of a typical third-round pick’s contract will be just over $3 million when factoring in signing and roster bonuses, but the vast majority of that money will be paid out in the first two years of the deal.