Todd Gurley, St. Louis Rams RB, was surprised St. Louis took him with the 10th pick & said his health isn’t a concern.

What Can La’El Collins Earn as an Undrafted Free Agent
Posted on May 3, 2015 by Jason Fitzgerald

With the draft over, we hit the fast and furious UDFA signing period, which is where La’El Collins now sits. So let’s take a quick look at the rules regarding the signings, specifically in regards to Collins.

Every undrafted rookie is locked into signing a three year contract. The three year contract will contain the minimum Paragraph 5 salary in each year, which will equal payouts of $435,000 in 2015, $525,000 in 2016, and $615,000 in 2017. These are the same numbers as rookies drafted after the 3rd round and many of the players drafted in the third round, so it is not a major loss for Collins of any player who was not projected to be a 2nd round pick.

The UDFA’s are very limited in terms of signing bonus money. I don’t have the final number in front of me but IIRC each team can spend, in total, about $88,000 on all their undrafted rookies. That usually means a large number of players receiving signing bonuses that will not exceed $8,000. So that is a limiting factor for a player who is not drafted. The smallest signing bonus a 7th round pick will receive likely to be about $52,000. So that is a pretty big loss considering for many players the bonus is the only salary they will ever receive.

At the end of the three year contract, every UDFA will be a restricted free agent while a drafted rookie will have a fourth contract year. Teams select from one of three RFA salaries for the UDFA’s. The smallest tender for that year will be $1.785 million. Every drafted rookie (except punters and kickers) is also eligible to see their contracted salary rise to the smallest tender level based on playing time. So if Collins does not have a great career but is ok he will basically trail every drafted rookie that is ok by the signing bonus. However if he excels and earns the 2nd or 1st level tender he will earn at least $2.73 or $3.88 million in the final year. No drafted rookie can do that, so that would allow him to move his overall salary take back into the 2nd round level of the draft.

Every UDFA is extension eligible after just two seasons, so a very good player can get extended much earlier than the draft pick who must play three years. If I was Collins agent and that was a goal of mine I would strongly consider signing with a team like the Bengals, 49ers, Packers, or Patriots among others. These are the teams that typically like to extend talent early if possible and you may get that quicker extension from them if you do play like a first rounder. Similarly teams like the Texans and Giants have already proven they will avoid the RFA process for great talent like Arian Foster or Victor Cruz. Those are the kind of teams you may get that faster value from.

Now there is nothing in the process that prevents a team from guaranteeing large amounts of salary to UDFA. This is how many teams lure a UDFA while complying with the signing bonus rules. It is not uncommon to see a UDFA receive a salary guarantee equal to a Practice Squad salary (slightly over $100,000) and in some cases double that. For Collins that presents an opportunity to attempt to receive a three year guarantee of $1,575,000. That guarantee would be equivalent to a late 2nd rounders guarantee through his signing bonus and salary guarantee.

I doubt a team would be willing to make that investment now, but if Collins waits until the summer to sign they might if his name is cleared. In theory that could also give him time to see how teams depth charts are beginning to shape up and where he will get the most opportunity to play. This is also important because if e starts he would likely be a leader in Performance Based Pay which is based on playing time relative to your cap charge. Last year the league leader received nearly $375,000 in PBP. He would certainly earn more than highly drafted players further shrinking the gap.

So the avenues are there for Collins or any UDFA to make up for losses by not being drafted if they carefully select the team and are quality NFL players. UDFAs are never given the opportunity of a draft pick nor do they usually get the financial security, but they will be rewarded if they prove the NFL scouts wrong for pushing them out of the draft.
http://overthecap.com/what-can-lael-collins-earn-as-an-undrafted-free-agent/

The Importance of Planning for the Undrafted Free Agent
Posted on April 27, 2013 by Jason Fitzgerald

http://overthecap.com/the-importance-of-planning-for-the-undrafted-free-agent/

As the draft comes to a close, a second type of draft begins which is the chase for the undrafted free agents. The UDFA’s are the players who did not get drafted and now get a chance to choose a situation that suits them best. For the most part their contracts are already made for them- the NFL limits their contracts to 3 year terms and puts a salary cap pool on all undrafted free agents a little bit over $75,000. While teams can exceed that amount they rarely do because then it hurts what they can pay their drafted players. That being said this is a big day where having a good agent shows its worth.

Teams have their own systems in place for UDFAs. Some the like Raiders rarely give bonuses. The Jets value most players at the same bonus value, around $7,000 per player, and give little negotiating room. Others like the Dolphins vary their bonuses from as little as $500 to as much as $10,000 depending on the player. And then there are teams like the Patriots who give a small signing bonus and also guarantee base salary as a way to avoid the $75,000 limitation. Knowing these systems is important to getting the largest guarantee possible.

But there is a lot more importance to planning than just getting an extra $1,000 in the players pocket. The biggest goal for a player is to make a roster and earn their full $405,000 salary. It is much better to have a chance to earn $405,000 and get a $1,000 bonus than not earn $405,000 and get a $10,000 bonus. At the least you want to have a good chance to make the Practice Squad, earning close to $100,000 if you can last a full 17 weeks.

The one benefit to not being drafted is that you get to choose the situation you go to and it is critical to find the situation that suits you the best. In the NFL opportunities are limited and when you have no draft cache at all sometimes one chance is all you get. To maximize your chances you need meaningful preseason time or a spot on a teams Practice Squad which are scouted by the other 31 franchises. Even then there is no guarantee of a second chance.

An agent needs to know a teams roster inside and out. They need to know what positions are not only open this year but what ones may open next year. Teams are already planning for 2014 and you need to take advantage of that. Find a situation where your UDFA might be able to become the plan for 2014. They need to understand team trends with UDFAs and low drafted players. Do they hold onto them or do they routinely cut the players? Does the team often sign UDFAs to the PS or do they usually just keep maintaining their groups of PS eligible players from year to year? What positions did they just draft? To just field a phone call and say “deal” is doing a disservice to the player they represent and themselves.

What might be some good landing spots? Without knowing players available I would think the Raiders are a perfect spot for a player. The Raiders need bodies and have limited players under contract for 2014, the lowest total in the NFL. They are going to look for talent anywhere they can get it and their GM comes from a system where they take as many picks and possible in a draft with the feeling that they can find talent somewhere. The Bears might be another good destination. This is a team undergoing a facelift with a very short window for their current starters. The Jets are clearly in the midst of a massive rebuild and have kept UDFA’s before and often will place such players on their Practice Squad.

This is planning that had to begin in January and will potentially pay off for players today. A lot of work yes, but necessary. And those who did it will be placing their clients in the best possible situations to let them continue their dream of playing in the NFL.

Rams have selected Baylor LB Bryce Hager with that Stacy pick. #Yikes

— Jim Thomas (@jthom1) May 2, 2015

That could be a LB or WR. But, I am going to draft Clemmings and put him on IR. It seems that Oline probably has the most talent left at this point or WR. We have two picks in round 6 and one in round 7 to look for help on special teams.

Do you think, if we draft another QB, will heads explode? 😉

• This reply was modified 10 years, 10 months ago by Agamemnon.