The NFL Draft is over, and rookie minicamps get underway Friday. Now, teams will begin signing their draft picks to rookie contracts.
The league’s collective bargaining agreement strictly governs rookie contracts, from structure to value. As such, there are very limited negotiable items within a rookie contract.
Under this agreement, it’s already determined that Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Fernando Mendoza, the No. 1 pick in the draft, will sign a four-year deal worth $57.3 million, according to Over the Cap. Baltimore Ravens guard Olaivavega Ioane, the No. 14 pick who signed Thursday, is slotted to receive $24.2 million over four years. Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Makai Lemon, the No. 20 pick who also signed Thursday, is pegged for a four-year, $20.8 million deal.
Here’s everything else you need to know about rookie contracts.
How long are rookie contracts?
A first-round pick must sign a four-year deal with a fifth-year team option. Players selected between the second and seventh rounds must sign four-year contracts. Undrafted free agents must sign three-year contracts.
Contracts for drafted rookies cannot be renegotiated until after the final regular-season game of the third contract year. Contracts for undrafted rookies cannot be renegotiated until after the final regular-season game of the player’s second contract year.
For the fifth-year options on first-round picks, teams must decide to exercise that option in the spring before their fourth season. (For 2023 first-round picks, that deadline is Friday.) If exercised, the player’s fifth year becomes fully guaranteed at a rate calculated based on their position, playing time and whether they have been selected to one or multiple Pro Bowls.
How much can rookies get paid?
The math involved in the rookie wage scale is quite complex, so we won’t get too deep into the weeds. The bones are the most relevant components. For all intents and purposes, the rookie allocation increases as the salary cap increases. There are safeguards in place in case the salary cap does not increase or increases minimally. The cap has only decreased one time since it was introduced in 1994. That was in 2021, coming off the COVID-19 season. By comparing the current year’s allocation to the previous year’s allocation, a growth rate is determined. And that rate is used to then slot in the rookie compensation for draft picks, except for the compensatory selections (more on those later).
Last year’s No. 1 pick, Cam Ward, signed his four-year deal with the Tennessee Titans worth $48.8 million, per Over the Cap. No. 2 pick Travis Hunter signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars for four years and $46.6 million. With Mendoza expected to receive a contract worth $57.3 million and No. 2 pick, New York Jets defensive end David Bailey, slotted to receive $54.7 million, that would represent around a 17.4 percent increase.
Have rookie contracts always been structured this way?
No. The NFL introduced the rookie wage scale in 2011, a year after 2010 No. 1 pick Sam Bradford received a six-year, $78 million contract with $50 million guaranteed from the St. Louis Rams — immediately making him one of the highest-paid players in the league. The Carolina Panthers drafted Cam Newton No. 1 in 2011, and he signed a significantly lower four-year deal worth $22 million.
The rookie wage scale has been in place ever since, increasing the cost control of NFL draft picks while also reducing the number of contract holdouts.
What is negotiable in contracts?
While the compensation values in rookie contracts are largely standardized, the amount of guaranteed compensation is up for negotiation. Teams can guarantee rookie contracts for skill, injury and/or salary cap. If a contract is guaranteed for all three of these, it is considered fully guaranteed. This part of the rookie contract process is largely dictated by precedent. The recent standard operating procedure has been fully guaranteed contracts for all first-round picks.
That norm was expanded last year when Jayden Higgins, the No. 34 overall pick in the second round, signed a fully guaranteed contract. That caused a bit of a delay in other second-round picks signing their contracts. It was a waiting game. Ultimately, all players through quarterback Tyler Shough at No. 40 signed guaranteed contracts.
Technically, these guarantees are up for negotiation in every rookie contract. The CBA leaves wiggle room in this regard. The one firm rule is that no compensation in the third or fourth year of a rookie contract can be guaranteed for skill, injury or cap unless all the compensation in the previous year of the contract is guaranteed for the same terms. Other negotiable items include the timing of payments.
Notably, defensive end Shemar Stewart and the Cincinnati Bengals engaged in a protracted contract dispute last season before the No. 17 pick in the 2025 draft finally signed on July 25. The dispute centered on a clause in the contract that would’ve allowed the Bengals to void guaranteed money if Stewart defaulted on the contract by engaging in conduct detrimental to the team.
Do players make the same amount every year of their rookie contract?
Subsequent years on rookie deals are calculated relative to the first year’s compensation. According to the CBA, no rookie contract can feature an annual increase of more than 25 percent of the first-year rookie salary, unless a contract exclusively features the minimum salary for each year of the contract. Many rookie contracts will therefore increase by exactly 25 percent in each year of the contract.
Do rookie contracts feature any special bonuses?
The CBA specifically prohibits certain contract machinations in rookie contracts, including option bonuses and void years. Performance incentives must be exclusively tied to offensive or defensive playing time. Incentives “based upon the achievement of any other statistic or honor” are prohibited.
Players drafted between the second and seventh rounds are eligible for the Proven Performance Escalator. This is a mandatory clause in all contracts for those players. It allows those players to earn an increase in their fourth-year base salary if they achieve certain thresholds, like playing time percentages or being selected to a Pro Bowl on the original ballot.
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy, for example, was scheduled to receive a significant increase to his base salary last season if he had not signed a five-year, $265 million contract. The last player selected in the 2022 draft, Purdy’s original contract would have paid him $1.1 million. But, thanks to the Proven Performance Escalator, he was instead set to receive $5.2 million until he signed his massive extension.
The NFL also hands out performance-based pay to lower-salaried players who logged significant playing time. While this isn’t exclusive to those on rookie contracts — then-Chicago Bears cornerback Nahshon Wright collected the largest bonus last season — it is another way rookies can receive bonus money from the league.
How are compensatory pick salaries determined?
Compensatory pick salaries are calculated by finding the midpoint between the salaries immediately before and after the comp picks.
For example, in 2025, the Atlanta Falcons drafted safety Xavier Watts at No. 96 in the third round, the last non-compensatory selection of that round. The Tennessee Titans then drafted receiver Chimere Dike with the first pick of the fourth round, No. 103. Sandwiched in between those two selections were six comp picks.
Watts had a 2025 salary of $1,115,238. Dike’s salary was $1,125,192. The midpoint was $1,120,215. That was the 2025 compensation for all six third-round comp picks — cornerback Jaylin Smith, guard Caleb Rogers, tackle Charles Grant, cornerback Upton Stout, defensive end Sai’vion Jones and receiver Tai Felton.