Rookies in rounds 2-7 (1 Viewer)

[David Dodds]

Teams can max sign these guys to 4 year deals. This should make for some very interesting situations going forward.

Some thoughts:

1. Why even sign a "project QB" in rounds 3 - 7? Assuming he would need two plus years to learn the system, aren't you just wasting a pick since he can be a FA after 4 years? In fact, the shrewdest owners will likely stop drafting QBs and look to pluck the gems when they become free agents after 4 years.

2. The draft is going to focus even more on players that can contribute immediately. This likely will devalue drafting QBs and WRs going forward.

 

[Aaron Rudnicki]

weren't most players drafted in rounds 3 through 7 only signed to 3 or 4 year deals before anyway? this doesn't seem like a major change to me. usually, only the high first round picks were the ones signed to long-term deals right away.

 

[David Dodds]

I need to research it, but I thought a lot of the second round picks got longer deals.

 

[cstu]

What's the limit on 1st round picks?

 

[Bri]

Teams can max sign these guys to 4 year deals. This should make for some very interesting situations going forward.

Some thoughts:

1. Why even sign a "project QB" in rounds 3 - 7? Assuming he would need two plus years to learn the system, aren't you just wasting a pick since he can be a FA after 4 years? In fact, the shrewdest owners will likely stop drafting QBs and look to pluck the gems when they become free agents after 4 years.

2. The draft is going to focus even more on players that can contribute immediately. This likely will devalue drafting QBs and WRs going forward.

When a player "makes it" he insists on more $. In return the owner/team seeks a longer deal. If the average career is 3-4 years I think this is OK.What QBs were taken in later rounds and panned out as franchise QBs? I know there's been plenty but at 32 teams per year, what percentage? I'd bet there's a big swing toward 2nd-7th round=backup QB

 

[Boston]

weren't most players drafted in rounds 3 through 7 only signed to 3 or 4 year deals before anyway? this doesn't seem like a major change to me. usually, only the high first round picks were the ones signed to long-term deals right away.

I know Givens (a seventh rounder) is a free agent after his fourth year.

 

[Mr. Vegas]

weren't most players drafted in rounds 3 through 7 only signed to 3 or 4 year deals before anyway? this doesn't seem like a major change to me. usually, only the high first round picks were the ones signed to long-term deals right away.

Correct, nothing has chanced.Rooks signed 3 to 4 years.

 

[coolnerd]

Most players had been signing 3 or 4 year deals, but in the last couple of years some teams had been forcing the players to sign five year deals. Five year deals were an exception, not a rule.

 

[Boston]

weren't most players drafted in rounds 3 through 7 only signed to 3 or 4 year deals before anyway? this doesn't seem like a major change to me. usually, only the high first round picks were the ones signed to long-term deals right away.

I know Givens (a seventh rounder) is a free agent after his fourth year.

Now that I think about it he was a free agent after his third year but it was restricted.

 

[Bri]

weren't most players drafted in rounds 3 through 7 only signed to 3 or 4 year deals before anyway? this doesn't seem like a major change to me. usually, only the high first round picks were the ones signed to long-term deals right away.

I know Givens (a seventh rounder) is a free agent after his fourth year.

Now that I think about it he was a free agent after his third year but it was restricted.

Every player is after their 3rd year I think. And after 4 they have to(had to?) have X accrued seasons to be a UFA.

 

[Aaron Rudnicki]

I need to research it, but I thought a lot of the second round picks got longer deals.

I think 2nd rounders did occasionally sign 5 year deals, but most of the players drafted in the 2nd through 7th rounds signed deals of 4 years or less.

 

[Boston]

weren't most players drafted in rounds 3 through 7 only signed to 3 or 4 year deals before anyway? this doesn't seem like a major change to me. usually, only the high first round picks were the ones signed to long-term deals right away.

I know Givens (a seventh rounder) is a free agent after his fourth year.

Now that I think about it he was a free agent after his third year but it was restricted.

Every player is after their 3rd year I think. And after 4 they have to(had to?) have X accrued seasons to be a UFA.

I definetly know that doesn't apply to 1st round picks. Also, I know Branch who was a second rounder won't be a free agent until after his fifth year and he has never been tagged or been a restricted free agent.

 

[Bri]

Every player is after their 3rd year I think. And after 4 they have to(had to?) have X accrued seasons to be a UFA.

I definetly know that doesn't apply to 1st round picks. Also, I know Branch who was a second rounder won't be a free agent until after his fifth year and he has never been tagged or been a restricted free agent.

oh poorly worded by me, every player whose contract runs out after year 3. I believe less than 3 years is an exclusive rights free agent.

 

[diesel7982]

If contract expires with <3 yrs NFL experience : Exclusive Rights FA

"" "" 3 "" "" : Restricted FA

"" >3 "" "": Unrestricted FA

Most first rounders sign for 5-6 years, 4 is an exception

Most 2nd rounders sign for 4 years, 5 is becoming more and more common

Most 3rd-4th rounders sign 3 year deals, at which point they enter Restricted FA. Some teams have began requiring 4 year deals to prevent the player from becoming a Laverneous Coles-type problem as an RFA.

5th-7th round picks rarely sign for >3 years, and are kept through exclusive rights FA until they become RFA's after year 3.

 

[Aaronur]

I have to agree that players in drafted in rounds 2-7 sign deals for 3 or 4 years espn did an article on it when talking about Alexander and Edge this year and if they will get big contracts saying that it was better to be a clinton portis and drafted in the second round and having a shorter first contract so that you could make the big bucks with your second deal. Whereas first rounders that sign longer deals are considered "too old" when there initial contract is over and they try to sign the lucrative free agent contract. A long way to agree that 2-7 rounders sign short contracts.

 

[Orange Crush]

If contract expires with <3 yrs NFL experience : Exclusive Rights FA

"" "" 3 "" "" : Restricted FA

"" >3 "" "": Unrestricted FA

Most first rounders sign for 5-6 years, 4 is an exception

Most 2nd rounders sign for 4 years, 5 is becoming more and more common

Most 3rd-4th rounders sign 3 year deals, at which point they enter Restricted FA. Some teams have began requiring 4 year deals to prevent the player from becoming a Laverneous Coles-type problem as an RFA.

5th-7th round picks rarely sign for >3 years, and are kept through exclusive rights FA until they become RFA's after year 3.

This is correct except that teams had started forcing late round picks into 5 year deals and playing hardball to get them. It wasn't like those guys had a lot of leverage. So the NFLPA rightly put a stop to it.But David is correct as well. A position like QB that takes a few years to develop will see a decline in # selected. Either that or NFL clubs will find a workaround pretty quickly. Say sign them to 2 year deals. Then at that point insist on a multi-year deal (with some guaranteed money plus incentives to get them to sign).

 

[UnknownCoach]

Like people have said, it isnt a big change.

I dont think it will stop anyone from picking a QB. Young QBs picked late in the draft are far, far cheaper than a quality veteran QB. Almost every team's third QB is a prospect partly for that reason. Also because the team who develops a QB has significant advantages over a team who signs that QB later. For one, the prospect first learns the system under which he's drafted. Any team who later signs that player will have to teach him a new system slowing his progress even more. Second, while it may take the QB a few years to reach his potential, a team learns a lot about the guys ability in practice even the first couple years. If a later round QB looks like he has what it takes to start in the NFL, that team will be the first to know, have the first chance to give him playing time or make him the starter, and will have the exclusive rights to sign him to a long term contract before another team can legally make any kind of negotiations. I wasnt a Brady fan before or immediately after his first super bowl. Yet New England realized what they had, gave him the chance, confidently unloaded Bledsoe, and still have Brady under contract for several more years even now.

 

[Aaron Rudnicki]

having a young and good QB on the roster is also great trade bait. I still see plenty of reason to draft QBs in the later rounds. they are cheap and have a chance to pay off huge if they work out. free agent QBs also tend to cost a lot of money so if you can get a guy like Matt Schaub or Matt Hasselbeck to be a quality #2 for awhile, you're going to have more money to spend elsewhere. then, after 3 years are up, if you don't think you can afford to keep him around as your #2 anymore, you can trade him to another team desperate for a young QB. You can turn a late round pick into a cheap backup for a few years and possibly a high draft pick if things work out perfectly.

 

[Mungo Burrows]

I don't think this will stop teams from drafting QB prospects. In fact, I would expect the most successful model to be that these players are signed to 4 years, they apprentice for 2-3 years or so, during which time the team learns their value before the league does. The good ones get extended with moderate deals before their contracts expire and they become insanely hot commodities while the mediocre-poor ones are released to be picked over by the scavengers David described after 4 years. The good ones will still never hit the market.