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On the eve of the NFL Draft, players and agents are starting to jockey for position to be one of the top picks in the draft and cash in with a lucrative contract. This is immensely important because if a player slips in the draft, they stand to lose millions.
Last year's top pick, Jadeveon Clowney, signed a contract worth $22.3 million, while the 16th pick in the draft received a deal worth just $9.0 million. In addition, only the first 19 picks in last year's draft received contracts that were fully guaranteed.
Things really drop in the second round, where the average contract was worth about $4.4 million, according to Spotrac.com, but with only slightly more than half of that ($2.4 million) guaranteed. The value of third-round contracts drops to $2.9 million, but takes an even bigger hit in guaranteed value, with the average contract worth just $588,000 in guaranteed money.
BusinessInsider.com