2024-2025 NFL Season - Dak Prescott's MVP Tour Part 2

IIRC, the NFL draft gives the team that picked the player the exclusive rights to _sign_ that player to a contract, in that year, in that league.

A player could just sit out the year, at which point they just enter the draft pool the next year. Being a year older and with no increase in experience is probably not great for your prospects.
If a player sits out twice, they then enter the player pool again in year three, but can't be drafted - they can only be signed as an unrestricted free agent once the draft is over.

But again, this is just their rights in that league. A player could sign with another league / sport (UFL, baseball, etc.) until they are eligible for the next year's draft.
The player's _rights_ could just be traded to another team, but the player could sit out from that team as well.
As far as I know, the NFL doesn't block players from trying to go back to college, but the NCAA does once you've declared for the draft.

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But yes, for us keeping the prior year's thread going long after the league year started, we haven't been talking about the big issue going on this summer - nearly all the 2nd rounders are sitting out until they get fully guaranteed contracts. The situation is complicated - draft pay was set by the CBA to get us out of the dark days where the #1 draft pick became the highest paid player at their position (thus generally saddling the worst teams with terrible salary situations on top of the situation that got them there in the first place, hence why teams like the Lions were perennially bad, compared to modern turnarounds), with the NFLPA voting for this system, which effectively pushes money from the rookies to the veterans.

NFL teams have of course become focused on the lower pay / skill of these newbies, with some negative effects on the market (an RB has to be phenomenal where paying him $10M/year is a better idea than just throwing a fourth round rookie in). But again, the NFLPA and the owners agreed to this pay scheme - and now a handful of players (that, since they have not signed a contract, aren't a part of the NFLPA yet) are trying to alter that situation.

Again, I agree that a lot of NFL rookies are underpaid for their performance, especially outside the first round or two. But on the flip side:

1) Making rookie contracts guaranteed goes back to the dark days of higher drafting teams also getting saddled with heavier salary situations than better teams. It also somewhat changes the math on stockpiling picks, if you have to eat the full sticker price on each of them.
2) Yeah, players are underpaid on their rookie contracts - that's what the signing bonuses, etc. on their first contracts are for. How do these players react when their total packages are reduced since they have been paid more (on average) than they used to be?
3) Any guaranteed salary results in that team immediately having to put that guarantee in escrow, where the team can do nothing with it. So it's not just that the draftees are trying to get more out of the teams in the future on average (as some will be released and not get their full listed pay), but the escrow rules mean the teams lose the use of that money for years.

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As always in this era, the specter of NIL hangs over the proceedings - are draftees willing to sit out since they aren't as penniless as in the past, and how much future legalese should we expect from them when they aren't actually part of the NFLPA yet and subject to their rules?

Armadon said:

I didn't realize you could do that.

Click to expand...

per the follow up post:

"Shemar Stewart has many options, so he can not play for the Bengals:

1) Stewart can OPT OUT OF HIS CONTRACT, sit out for the entire 2025 season, and re-enter the #NFL Draft in 2026.

2) Section 6 states regarding a player returning to college: If a college football player eligible for the Draft before exhausting eligibility is drafted by an NFL Club and returns to college, the drafting Club retains exclusive negotiation rights.

3) Refuse to Sign and Demand a Trade: Stewart can demand a trade until August 5th, 2025

4) Play in Another League: Stewart could join a league like the CFL or UFL. If he plays in another professional league within 12 months of being drafted, the Bengals retain his NFL rights for three years post-2025 draft"

I should have specified NFL rookie _contracts_, not rookies - it's mostly year three where you see the absurd performance / salary issues.

Edit: And again, these rookie contracts should have been set by the CBA - its the (not actually members of the NFLPA yet) rookies that are bending the letter, and the spirit, of the CBA with bonuses and guaranteed money.