The 2026 NFL Draft is over, and players are already beginning to sign their rookie contracts. NIL has changed this a bit, but for most of these draftees, this is the first time they’re signing a 6+ figure contract in their lives. For many of these draftees, their lives changed overnight when they were drafted, which is part of the reason they’re so emotional on draft night.

Rookie contracts aren’t talked about a lot, but they’re quietly one of the most interesting topics in the NFL Draft. Rookies are making more and more each season, and before each draft, each pick is assigned a slot value. Regardless of what position you play, whether it be quarterback or punter, you’re going to make the exact amount the league gives to your slot, which is why you typically see quarterbacks, edge rushers and offensive tackles taken early. It’s not just because those positions are “more valuable,” but it’s because you get the most bang for your buck taking them high.

For example, Jeremiyah Love was the No. 3 pick in the draft this year, and he’s set to earn about $53 million over the first four years of his career. He is the seventh-highest paid RB in the league and has the most guarantees of any RB by nearly $20 million. If the Arizona Cardinals had selected an edge rusher, they would be the 35th-highest-paid edge and had the 18th-highest guarantees.

There are so many little things built into rookie deals that the average fan doesn’t know, so today, I’ve built the beginner’s guide to rookie contracts so you can have a better understanding of what it all means, and why some players might even want to go undrafted.

What is the Basic Structure of a Rookie Contract?

No matter what round you’re selected in, you’re going to get a four-year rookie contract. Whether you’re the first overall pick or Mr. Irrelevant, it doesn’t matter. Everyone gets a four-year deal, but not everyone gets the same guarantees and options.

The only players to receive a fully guaranteed contract are first round draft picks. This means that no matter what happens – they could get injured and never play football again in a year – they will see every single cent from their rookie contract. On top of that, first rounders also have a fifth-year option built into their contract, but we’ll dive more into that here shortly.

Players drafted in rounds two through seven are not guaranteed to receive a fully guaranteed rookie deal, but last year, that changed a bit. The Houston Texans opted to give WR Jayden Higgins, who was selected with the second pick of the second round, a fully guaranteed deal. This caused a ripple effect across the league, and every player drafted in the first 40 picks ended up receiving fully guaranteed contracts, but it took all the way until late July, almost three months after the draft, to get some of them done. We’ll see if that continues this year or if it’s just a one-off, but one thing is for certain: every second round pick’s agent is going to fight for that fully guaranteed deal.

This is why second rounders are typically the last ones to sign their rookie contracts. They’re obviously the closest to being a first round pick, so they still feel they deserve a fully guaranteed contract, or at least close to it. Teams are always going to push back on giving out big guarantees, so the negotiation process can take a while.

Basically, all you need to know is that first rounders receive a four-year, fully guaranteed contract, while second through seventh rounders receive four-year deals, but they have to negotiate their own guarantees.

As for undrafted free agents, they are locked into a three-year contract, but are able to negotiate everything from overall contract value to guarantees, so there’s a lot more freedom there.

What is a Fifth-Year Option?

So what is a fifth-year option? Well, it’s exactly what it sounds like. First rounders have an option built into their contract that allows the team that drafted them to extend their rookie deal one extra year without the player having to agree on the terms, but it is for a significantly higher price than what they made over the first four years of their career.

Let’s take Bryce Young, for example. The first overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft made and average of $9.5 million per year over the first four years of his deal. The Carolina Panthers opted to exercise his fifth-year option, so in 2027, Young is set to make $25.9 million, which is almost as much as his entire rookie contract was worth.

So how are these fifth-year options calculated? Well, it’s complicated, so bear with me.

If a player make two or more Pro Bowls during the first three years of their rookie contract, their fifth-year option would be worth the same as the franchise tag for their position. The franchise tag number is calculated by averaging the top-five cap hits at their respective position, so if Bryce Young had made 2+ Pro Bowls, his fifth-year option would’ve been $43.8 million this year.

If a player makes one Pro Bowl during the first three years of their rookie contract, their fifth-year option would equal the cost of the transition tag for their position. The transition tag is calculated by taking the average of the top-10 highest-paid players at the position. For Bryce Young, that would’ve been $37.8 million.

If a player doesn’t make the Pro Bowl, but has been on the field for 75 percent of their team’s offensive or defensive snaps for two of their first three seasons, played 50 percent of snaps in each of their first three seasons or averaged 75 percent of snaps over the first three years, they would earn the average of 3rd to 20th highest-paid players at their position. That was the case for Bryce Young, who will make $25.9 million.

And if a player doesn’t meet any of that criteria, they would receive the average of the 3rd to 25th highest-paid players at their position. But if you’re in that boat, you’re not likely getting your fifth-year option exercised.

Teams also don’t have to exercise a first rounders fifth-year option. Instead, they can let their contract run out and either let them walk in free agency after four seasons or try to re-sign them to a long-term deal.

There is a unique scenario playing out right now that I want to talk about. Jack Campbell was a first round pick for the Detroit Lions in 2023, and he has been everything the Lions could’ve wanted and more, but they declined his fifth-year option. So why would they do that?

When calculating the fifth-year option amounts, the NFL groups outside and inside linebackers together. Outside linebacker typically make significantly more than inside linebackers, so his fifth-year option would’ve paid him over $20 million per year and made him the highest-paid linebacker in the league. He’s great, but he’s not worth that much in Detroit’s eyes.

You can start to see why rookie contracts are so intriguing. Teams love having the fifth-year option on a player, especially a quarterback, because it means they can avoid paying them top dollar for an extra year. It’s little things like this that make the NFL even more interesting.

How Much Do Rookies Get Paid?

I’m not sure anybody truly knows how the rookie contract scale is calculated, but to put it in simple terms, as the NFL’s salary cap increases, so do rookie contracts. Outside of the 2021 season, which was right after COVID took over, rookie contracts have gone up every single year, and in 2026, they’re earning more than ever.

The No. 1 overall pick in the draft, Fernando Mendoza, is set to make $57.3 million over the first four seasons of his career. That is insane money for a rookie, but the money drops off fast. Just take a look at how much the salaries vary from picks No. 1 through No. 10.

From the No. 1 pick to the No. 10 pick, there is a $26.3 million difference. That’s almost the same difference from the No. 10 pick in the draft to the last pick in the draft ($26.6 million difference).

Look, I’m never going to feel bad for a guy making millions of dollars a year, but this shows just how much someone falling in the draft could cost them. Arvell Reese, who many thought could go second overall, lost about $7 million from sliding to fifth. Francis Mauigoa, who some had going third overall in their mocks, missed out on $21 million by sliding to tenth. The biggest loser was probably Rueben Bain Jr., who at one point was talked about as a top-three pick, but ended up going 15th and earning $23.7 million over four years instead of $50+ million.

There are also massive winners from this as well. Not many people had Carnell Tate going earlier than seventh overall, so he made at least $14 million more than expected. Same with Mansoor Delane, who many had going in the 10-12 range, but ended up going sixth and making an extra $10+ million. Ty Simpson was viewed as a second rounder by most and could’ve made $13 million (not all of which would’ve been guaranteed) if he were taken at the top of the second round, but now he’ll make a fully guaranteed $25.4 million.

If you want to see the full rookie scale for all 257 picks, check out Spotrac’s NFL Rookie Scale page.

Why Being a Second Rounder Can Be Advantageous

If players had the choice between being a late first rounder or an early second rounder, some would choose being an early second rounder.

As a first rounder, you get the fully guaranteed contract, but you also have the fifth-year option built in. That just puts you one year further away from earning your second contract, which is where all the money is made in the NFL. If you’re an early second rounder, you may not get a fully guaranteed deal (though after last year, it could become the norm for top-40 or top-50 picks to get fully guaranteed deals), but you don’t have that fifth-year option keeping you from making big money.

Let’s take Lamar Jackson, for example. He was the 32nd pick in the 2018 NFL Draft and signed a four-year, $9.4 million deal with the Baltimore Ravens. After four seasons, he was already a two-time Pro Bowler and an MVP, but he had to play the 2022 season on a $23 million fifth-year option and then received the franchise tag for $32 million in 2023. In 2024, he finally got his long-term deal worth $52 million per season, but it was a long road to get there.

Had Jackson slipped into the second round, his rookie contract would’ve been up at the end of 2021, and even if the Ravens franchised tagged him in 2022, he would’ve gotten to his second contract a year earlier. And that may not sound like a big deal, but instead of being 32 heading into his third contract, he’d be 31, which may not seem like a big difference, but once you hit your 30s, teams can get a bit hesitant to hand out big contracts.

Someone like Kayden McDonald, who probably should’ve gone in round one, could end up being very happy he was a second rounder. But there is always the risk that, if you’re not very good, you will have a few million less in your bank account and no guarantee that it will be a fully guaranteed deal.

The Benefits of Being a UDFA

There’s also a real benefit to being an undrafted free agent over a seventh round or even sixth round pick. As a late-rounder, you’re slot value is locked in around $4 million, your guarantees typically aren’t super high and you don’t have your choice of which team you go to. As a UDFA, you have a lot more freedom and negotiation power.

As a UDFA, especially a highly sought after one, you get to pick between multiple teams that want you, which not only lets you go to the team that gives you the best chance to make the roster, but it also allows you to drive up your price. On top of that, a lot of top UDFAs receive higher guarantees than late-round picks, due to them having so much interest with other teams.

You might get a few hundred thousand more dollars as a seventh round pick, but UDFAs get the flexibility to choose their destination and typically have higher guarantees.

Just take Isaiah Bond, for example. He fell out of the draft last year, but still ended up with a fully guaranteed $3 million deal with the Cleveland Browns. He was a bit of an outlier, but he got to pick his team, and I’m sure he had plenty of suitors to drive up his price.