Reply to thread

Message

[QUOTE="DMDMD, post: 3753296, member: 4309"]
I think the rookie wage scale fairly well minimizes this unless you are in the first round (guaranteed money and 5th year option) or maybe the top half of the 2nd.  I don't think the difference is enough to justify another year (and injury risk) of playing for free.  The overarching goal of the players really should be to get to their "2nd deal" as young and as soon as possible, since that's really where the money is.

for instance, just pulling middle of the round safties from the 2020 draft (just quickly grabbed, no science here  [URL="https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/draft/2020/round-5/secondary/"]2020 NFL Draft Tracker[/URL])

Round  Pick                                                                      Contract years    Total Value            signing bonus     
[TABLE]
[TR]
[TD]2[/TD]
[TD]45[/TD]
[TD]TB[/TD]
[TD][URL='https://www.spotrac.com/redirect/player/47640/']Antoine Winfield Jr.[/URL][/TD]
[TD]S[/TD]
[TD]21[/TD]
[TD]Minnesota[/TD]
[TD]4[/TD]
[TD]$7,307,182[/TD]
[TD]$2,874,316[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[TABLE]
[TR]
[TD]3[/TD]
[TD]85[/TD]
[TD]INDfrom [URL='https://syracusefan.com/javascript%3Avoid(0)']PHI[/URL]
via [URL='https://syracusefan.com/javascript%3Avoid(0)']DET[/URL][/TD]
[TD][URL='https://www.spotrac.com/redirect/player/47680/']Julian Blackmon[/URL][/TD]
[TD]S[/TD]
[TD]21[/TD]
[TD]Utah[/TD]
[TD]4[/TD]
[TD]$4,628,848[/TD]
[TD]$926,436[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[TABLE]
[TR]
[TD]4[/TD]
[TD]134[/TD]
[TD]ATLfrom [URL='https://syracusefan.com/javascript%3Avoid(0)']BAL[/URL][/TD]
[TD][URL='https://www.spotrac.com/redirect/player/47729/']Jaylinn Hawkins[/URL][/TD]
[TD]S[/TD]
[TD]22[/TD]
[TD]California[/TD]
[TD]4[/TD]
[TD]$3,961,916[/TD]
[TD]$666,916[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[TABLE]
[TR]
[TD]5[/TD]
[TD]157[/TD]
[TD]JACfrom [URL='https://syracusefan.com/javascript%3Avoid(0)']ATL[/URL]
via [URL='https://syracusefan.com/javascript%3Avoid(0)']BAL[/URL][/TD]
[TD][URL='https://www.spotrac.com/redirect/player/47753/']Daniel Thomas[/URL][/TD]
[TD]S[/TD]
[TD]21[/TD]
[TD]Auburn[/TD]
[TD]4[/TD]
[TD]$3,612,116[/TD]
[TD]$317,116[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

So, is 4 years $7.3 mill with $2.9 mill guaranteed better than 4 years $3.9 mil with $666k guaranteed?  Absolutely.  If you were guaranteed that progression, you'd probably take it, even if it meant playing 1 more year for free and reaching your 2nd contract 1 year older.  Is going 5th to 4th or even 3rd round so big that you would risk injury playing for free and reaching your second contract later?  I'm not convinced.
[/QUOTE]

Verification

What is a Syracuse fan's favorite color?