PSUers signed as undrafted FAs, 2023
- Thread starter Tom McAndrew
- Start date
Major surprise he wasn’t drafted. I thought for sure he would get picked. The Pats were rumored to be very high on him.
From the player's prospective, I would almost rather be a UDFA so I could pick the team that gives me the best opportunity than go in round 7. Not that it isn't nice to be drafted, but 7th round picks and UDFA have about the same chance of making the 53 man roster.
No. A free agent might get to "pick" his team, but at a lower comp package than he would if they picked him in the seventh round. Or the team might just say "not interested."
What statistics there are indicate that un-drafted free agents have a lesser chance of making a team and receive smaller signing bonuses and guaranteed money. The exceptions are long snappers and kickers, where free agents far outnumber those drafted for those tasks.
Depends on what his agent can negotiate, same as a player taken in a higher round. Lower round, less leverage to get guaranteed money.
My opinion was not based on statistics.
I was based on the fact that once drafted the player has very little (Eli Manning and John Elway and some others did have input) input on what team the player will play for. An UDFA has input. The player makes contact with a team and team could say, "we would not want you play here for free" or they could say "camp starts next week". Or if a team reaches out to the player, the player can weigh other options including not playing in NFL (which is the only option a drafted player has).
So you are saying being an UDFA is like recruiting. The player decides, not the team.
Fair enough. The counterpoint to that is - being an UDFA is kind of like the 2 star or low 3 star recruit who has only 2 or 3 P5 offers, all of whom have limited scholarships to offer, and no G5 offers to fall back upon.
So it goes both ways.
Well, sure. But it’s not as if the player has much of a choice as to whether or not he gets drafted. If you’re not drafted, you somehow have to maximize your opportunity. And it’s not as if ten other not-drafted players aren’t trying to get that very same job you have in mind for yourself.
Yes. Hence my analogy of a 2 star or low 3 star with just a couple of P5 offers.
Try calling an NFL team and getting hold of the director of scouting or player personnel. Before doing that, you might want to ask Dominick Bragalone how much " input" is worth.
I’ve had five thousand c conversations with my one of my daughters about how “no” is never the right way to start a sentence unless you are responding to a question. Drives me crazy.
This is true. One of my former players was drafted back around seven years ago. He played power five football and was a starter his last year. He was given a seventh round grade by most scouting services, and with about 20 picks left in the seventh round the team, they thought was going to draft him passed on him.
Realizing he wouldn’t get drafted, he and his agent started talking about where he would want to sign as a free agent. They came up with three teams where his skill set best matched with their defensive system from teams that had showed interest.
All of a sudden with about seven picks left in the draft he gets a call from a team that had not talked to him at all during the draft process and one that really didn’t match his list of potential spots. he was ecstatic to be drafted, but he knew that it would be tough to make that team. He eventually got cut and was picked up on the practice squad by one of the other teams who he had hoped to go to as a free agent. eventually that year after some injuries, he got pulled up onto the 53 man roster but if he would’ve been able to go through camp with them all year, he might’ve started the season on it.
I think if a player is close to getting drafted, getting a hold of the director of scouting or player personnel would be easier than if a person who was a good college player was just making a cold call. Hopefully, if your goal is to play in the NFL, you chose a college that has those phone numbers available and maybe some contacts so an introduction could be made.
Dominick Bragalone, went to Lehigh, and according to his Wikipedia page was not drafted but was invited to NYG and HOU rookie camps. He didn’t make either team. He also was released from a CFL team. He did have the option of attending those camps or not. Or contacting othe teams that he thought would be a good fit for him. Which was my point.
If he would have been drafted by a team, say the Steelers, who had a terrible O-line and used higher draft picks in recent years on RBs would if have been better for him? Probably not, but his only option would be to attend Steelers' camp or no NFL camp.
Once drafted the options are more limited. And if drafted in the 7th round (having not much of a better chance of making the team than an UDFA) having more options is better than less.
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Player doesn't contact the team to gauge interest; they contact you.
Bragalone was invited to two one-day rookie mini-camps, emphasis on mini. He collected a whopping two per-diems. Think he would have preferred the option of being taken in the seventh round? And seventh rounders have a better chance of making a team than un-drafted free agents, by a considerable margin.
You conclusion is false ( having not much of a chance to make the team). The team will bend over backwards to keep a draft choice over an undrafted player. All things close together the drafted player makes it
$15K-20k at the top end. More significant is the amount of guaranteed contract money, which can run into the low six-figures.
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The average 7th round pick makes about $100,000 in up front bonus money
Well over half make rosters (which means ~ $750,000 year 1 salary)
And roughly 1/4 - 1/5 of them eventually become an NFL starter (at appreciably higher money, of course)
The typical UDFA? (the VAST majority of them) - Enough money in per diems to put a down payment on a Ford Focus. If they are lucky.
Last year, there were:
41 7th Round Draft Picks
33 made the active roster for at least part of the season (most for all of it)
4 were placed on a practice squad
3 were placed on IR
1 was simply gone into the ether.
Thats it.
UDFAs? Not so much.
Some of that info can be found here: NFL draft picks salary: How much money do 7th rounders in 2023 draft make? - DraftKings Nation
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How many UDFAs made active rosters? I really have no idea. Of course the number of UDFAs not making rosters were greater because there are more UDFAs. But as an individual you only need 1 roster spot, not a percentage of the number of people in your similar situation. If 32 UFDAs made rosters does mean that a guy getting picked with in the 7th round has a significantly better chance?
Pretty sure it's all pretty boilerplate now ... there's a scale ...
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The first pick of the seventh round will sign a contract worth approximately $3.963 million and receive a signing bonus of approximately $123,384. The second pick of the round will receive a $3.962 million contract with a $122,980 signing bonus. The numbers decrease each pick until the 42nd pick where the player will receive a $3.921 million contract with a $81,928 signing bonus.
I don't think 7th rounders have any guaranteed money, other than the signing bonus.
1st rounders have fully guaranteed contracts now, with a 5th-year club option ... and the guarantees drop from there.
There is no "boilerplate" for guaranteed money beyond a rookie's signing bonus. It's whatever can be negotiated.Pretty sure it's all pretty boilerplate now ... there's a scale ...
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All the latest DFS, fantasy, and sports betting news, analysis, and strategy for NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and NCAA
The first pick of the seventh round will sign a contract worth approximately $3.963 million and receive a signing bonus of approximately $123,384. The second pick of the round will receive a $3.962 million contract with a $122,980 signing bonus. The numbers decrease each pick until the 42nd pick where the player will receive a $3.921 million contract with a $81,928 signing bonus.
I don't think 7th rounders have any guaranteed money, other than the signing bonus.
1st rounders have fully guaranteed contracts now, with a 5th-year club option ... and the guarantees drop from there.
Seventh rounders can and do get guaranteed money beyond signing bonuses. So can un-drafted free agents.
First-rounders do not necessarily get fully guaranteed contracts. It just happened last year (for the first time), but it's not stipulated in the CBA. Might become precedent.
Beyond what a player negotiates in his first contract, the only time a guarantee kicks in (by the CBA) is for the fifth year extension. If one is signed, then the fourth year of the original contract becomes guaranteed.