How Much Money Do NFL Draft Picks Make?

How much money do NFL draft picks make? It depends on where they’re drafted, and how good they are. The first pick in the NFL draft can expect to make a lot more money than the last pick.

Introduction

In professional football, the NFL draft is an annual event in which teams select new players to join their rosters. The draft is a important part of the NFL, as it allows teams to replenish their rosters with young talent. The draft is also a time of great excitement for fans, as it is often seen as a time when their team can improve its chances of success in the future.

So how much money do NFL draft picks make? Well, it depends on a number of factors, including where they are drafted, how many years they have been in the league, and whether or not they have been selected for the Pro Bowl.

The average salary for an NFL player is $2 million per year, but first-round draft picks can expect to make significantly more than that. In fact, the average salary for a first-round pick is $5 million per year. For example, last year’s first-round pick, Baker Mayfield, signed a four-year contract with the Cleveland Browns worth $32 million.

Of course, not all first-round picks are guaranteed to become stars in the NFL. In fact, many of them will never play a single down in the NFL. However, even if a player only has a short career in the NFL, they can still earn a significant amount of money. For example, players who are drafted in the second round of the NFL draft will earn an average salary of $1 million per year.

So while there is no guarantee that being drafted into the NFL will lead to a long and prosperous career, it is clear that draft picks do stand to make a lot of money.

NFL Draft Picks’ Salaries

NFL draft picks make a lot of money. In fact, they are among the highest-paid athletes in the world. The average salary for an NFL draft pick is $3.3 million. However, the salaries of NFL draft picks vary greatly depending on where they are drafted. The first overall pick in the NFL draft makes an average of $22.6 million, while the last pick in the first round makes an average of $4.6 million.

Rookie Contracts

The vast majority of NFL players are signed to four-year contracts, with a team option for a fifth year. However, NFL draft picks are signed to rookie contracts that are typically for four or five years. The length of the contract is determined by how high the player was drafted; first-round picks usually get four-year deals, while second- and third-rounders get five-year deals.

Rookie contracts are not fully guaranteed, meaning that a team can release a player before the end of the contract without having to pay him the full amount. However, a certain amount of the contract is guaranteed, which protects the player in case of an injury. For first-round picks, the guarantee is typically around $10 million; for second-round picks, it is around $3 million; and for third-round picks, it is around $1 million.

Once a player completes his rookie contract, he becomes an unrestricted free agent, meaning that he can sign with any team. If he signs with a new team, he will sign a new contract that is usually for four or five years. These contracts are fully guaranteed, meaning that the player will receive all of the money regardless of whether he is released or not.

Salary Cap

The NFL salary cap is the limit to the total amount of money that an NFL team can spend on its players’ salaries for a given league year. The salary cap was introduced in 1994 as a way to ensure that all teams were on a level playing field when it came to spending on player salaries.

The NFL salary cap for the 2020 season is $198.2 million. This means that each team can spend up to $198.2 million on its players’ salaries for the 2020 season.

It should be noted that the NFL salary cap is not a hard cap, meaning that teams can exceed the salary cap if they are willing to pay the consequences. For example, if a team exceeds the salary cap by $5 million or less, they will be penalized with a fine of $5 million. If a team exceeds the salary cap by more than $5 million, they will be penalized with a fine of $10 million and will lose their first-round draft pick for the following year’s draft.

How Much Money Do NFL Draft Picks Make?

The average NFL salary has been on the rise in recent years, and that includes rookie contracts. In 2018, the average NFL salary for a draft pick was about $3.2 million. However, the top picks in the NFL draft can make significantly more money. For example, the first overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft, Baker Mayfield, signed a four-year contract worth $32.68 million.

Quarterbacks

Quarterbacks drafted in the first round receive four-year contracts with a team option for a fifth. The average signing bonus for a first-round quarterback is $11 million. Salaries are slotted by draft position, so the No. 1 overall pick will earn more than the No. 2 pick, and so on.

Quarterbacks taken in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft will earn an average of $22.6 million over their first four years in the league, including a signing bonus that averages $16.2 million, according to Sportrac. That’s an increase of nearly $4 million per year from last year’s class.

Running Backs

The first running back selected in the NFL draft this year will likely be Georgia’s Todd Gurley, who is projected to go in the first round. Gurley is considered a potential top-10 pick, and his rookie contract could be worth more than $8 million, with a signing bonus of more than $4 million.

However, not all running backs are drafted in the first round, and their contracts reflect that. The average salary for a running back drafted in the second round is about $2 million, with a signing bonus of about $1 million. For running backs drafted in the third round, the average salary is about $1 million, with a signing bonus of about $500,000.

Running backs taken in later rounds will make even less. In 2014, for example, Storm Johnson was selected in the seventh round by the Jacksonville Jaguars and signed a four-year deal worth $2.28 million. His signing bonus was just over $56,000.

Wide Receivers

The average NFL salary for a wide receiver is $2.6 million, with a signing bonus of $500,000. However, the top wide receivers in the league can make upwards of $10 million per year. The highest-paid wide receiver in the NFL is Antonio Brown, who makes an annual salary of $17 million.

Tight Ends

Tight ends usually make slightly less than wide receivers in the NFL draft. In the first round of the 2019 NFL draft, for example, the top wide receiver was drafted at pick No. 6 and signed a contract worth $19.24 million, whereas the top tight end was drafted at pick No. 20 and signed a contract worth $10.35 million. However, tight ends’ salaries can vary widely depending on their position in the draft and their role on their team; some may make more money than some first-round wide receivers, while others may make less money than some late-round picks.

Defensive Ends

On average, defensive ends in the NFL make $2.4 million annually, according to Spotrac.com. The median salary for the position is $1.9 million. The top-paid defensive end in the NFL is Houston Texans’ J.J. Watt, who makes $17.5 million per year. The minimum salary for an NFL player is $495,000 per year.

Defensive Tackles

Defensive tackles usually are the biggest and strongest players on the defensive line. They typically line up in the middle of the defensive line, between the defensive end and the nose tackle. Their job is to stop the running play by tackling the running back, or to stop the quarterback from throwing a pass by “sacking” him (tackling him behind the line of scrimmage).

The average salary for a defensive tackle in the NFL is $2.2 million, with a median salary of $1.9 million. The top 10% of defensive tackles make an average of $4 million, while the bottom 10% make an average of $700,000.

Linebackers

Linebackers are one of the most important positions on any football team. They’re responsible for stopping the run, rushing the quarterback, and covering receivers. Because of their versatility, linebackers are among the highest-paid players in the NFL.

The average salary for an NFL linebacker is $2.4 million per year. The highest-paid linebacker in the NFL is Luke Kuechly of the Carolina Panthers, who makes $12.58 million per year. The lowest-paid linebacker in the NFL is Brandon Copeland of the New York Jets, who makes $435,000 per year.

NFL linebackers are paid an average of $2.4 million per year, with a median salary of $1 million. However, salaries can range from as low as $435,000 to as high as $12.58 million per year.

Cornerbacks

In 2020, the NFL’s 32 cornerbacks will make an average salary of $2.73 million per year, according to Spotrac. That’s up from $2.51 million in 2019 and $2.37 million in 2018. The 2020 number is also a significant increase from the $1.94 million that cornerbacks made in 2015.

The highest-paid cornerback in the NFL is Xavier Rhodes of the Indianapolis Colts, who makes an average of $14 million per year. The lowest-paid cornerbacks in the league are on rookie contracts, which are worth a minimum of $495,000 per year.

Safeties

In recent years, the average NFL safety has been drafted in the early- to mid-second round. The top safeties in the NFL tend to be drafted in the first round, with a few going in the late first or early second.

The highest-paid safety in the NFL is Earl Thomas of the Baltimore Ravens, who makes an average of $17 million per year. The lowest-paid safety in the NFL is George Iloka of the Cincinnati Bengals, who make an average of $790,000 per year.

Conclusion

In conclusion, NFL draft picks make a lot of money. The average NFL salary is about $2 million, but first-round draft picks can expect to make much more than that. If you’re selected in the first round of the NFL draft, you can expect to sign a four-year contract worth an average of $9.4 million. So, if you’re good enough to be drafted into the NFL, you can expect to make a lot of money.