After the 2026 NFL Draft is all wrapped up, there will still be plenty of players who will get signed and head to training camp. Here is a breakdown of how much money all of the undrafted free agents will make in their rookie season and how those rookie contracts work.
How do NFL rookie salaries work?
According to the 2020 NFL CBA, every rookie draft pick is guaranteed a four-year contract from the team that picks them. For first-round picks, there is a fifth-year team option as well. The value of those contracts is entirely based on where the player is selected in the 2026 NFL Draft. There is no bargaining room for players or teams to adjust those values once a player is selected. Based on the CBA, the rookie wage for players taken in the 2026 NFL Draft is $885,000. However, that only applies to a player’s actual base salary. The big money comes from the signing bonus, which is entirely based on where you are drafted.
There is a pay scale that ranges all the way from the No. 1 overall pick to the No. 248 pick, which gets you more money by being even just one pick higher on the draft board. Only for the final 10 picks in the NFL Draft, No. 248 through “Mr. Irrelevant” No. 257, are the rookie contracts worth the same value. There is no room to renegotiate contracts until after a player’s third season. So whether you win a Super Bowl in your rookie season or don’t see the field for two years, your contract stays put for at least three years.
How much do undrafted free agents make in the NFL?
The NFL Draft rookie contract structure is carefully set up to ensure that players are paid fairly based on when they are drafted. However, once the draft is over, those rules go out the window. The minimum rookie contract value is still $885,000. So, teams need to, at a minimum, offer that much money to any undrafted free agents. However, teams could also theoretically offer much more than that if they think there will be a market for that player. Undrafted free agents can talk to any teams that they want and wait to see what offers they get, just like any free agent would. Some players will hope just to get to a training camp, while some undrafted free agents will be hoping to get teams into a bidding war and receive a solid rookie contract.
For a full list of the exact contract values assigned to each draft pick, check out the list on Spotrac.
