(NEXSTAR) – The 2025 NFL Draft in Green Bay is just around the corner, and 32 of the best college football players in the country are set to be taken in the first round this Thursday, April 24.
Where these players end up being selected is a complete mystery, and which team they will be playing for isn’t the only thing these players are worried about, because whatever pick these players are taken decides how much money they’ll make as a professional.
Each year since 2011, the NFL has implemented a rookie wage scale that determines rookie salaries based on where they are selected in the draft. Before this, rookies and teams were free to negotiate the salary amount and contract length freely.
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The new system also has the contract length for each player taken in the draft set for four years, with players selected in the first round also given a fifth-year option on their contract that teams can use to keep the player on the team for another year.
Each year has seen steady growth in the amount of money rookies make, with this year’s first overall pick set to have their contract valued at $43,010,000, according to Spotrac.
From there, the amount of money slowly decreases each pick, with the last pick of the first round’s contract valued at a little over $13 million.
Players who slide in the draft suffer the most from the rookie wage scale as with each pick they are not selected, they’re losing more and more money.
Where Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders will be selected is considered one of the biggest mysteries ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft. Sanders could be taken anywhere from third overall to the Giants (where his contract would be valued at just under $40 million) to 21st overall to the Steelers (just over $16 million) to potentially falling out of the first round completely (around $10 million).
That’s a lot of money he’d be missing out on just by sliding in the draft.
After the first couple of rounds, the contract values start to steady out at around $4-5 million for rounds 4-7 of the draft, with the last pick of the draft’s contract valued at $4,288,261.
To see the full rookie wage scale, check out Spotrac’s projections right here.
