NFL Draft: How much rookies are set to make on their initial contracts

A number of rookies are set to make an incredible amount of money following their position in the NFL draft. 

It’s the moment that they have waited their whole lives for and the day that their dreams came true, being drafted into the NFL after years of hard work.

And with that hard work comes the money that can pretty much set them up for life just off the back of their first contract, never mind the ones they could earn if they explode in the league. 

Ever since the 2011 Draft, which followed on from 2010 number one pick Sam Bradford pocketing a cool $78m, with $50m of it guaranteed, things have changed around the league when it comes to how much rookies are paid.

They certainly are paid incredibly handsomely, as the numbers below will show, but the figures have been drastically scaled back to make things a lot easier for teams drafting their next star.

It means for instance that if you have a young promising quarterback, you can stock up on talent around him instead to make the best of him whilst he’s still ‘cheap’, just look at Joe Burrow for the Cincinnati Bengals or Patrick Mahomes for the Kansas City Chiefs. 

Not every player gets the same amount though in their early stages, with the figures dropping the further down the draft you are taken.

So with that being said, let’s take a look at this year’s draft class and see just how much they are going to earn over the course of their rookie contracts:All figures provided by Spotrac

1 – Travon Walker, Jacksonville Jaguars – $37,372,622

2 – Aidan Hutchinson, Detroit Lions – $35,713,386

3 – Derek Stingley Jr, Houston Texans – $34,657,529

4 – Ahmad ‘Sauce’ Gardner, New York Jets – $33,450,799

5 – Kayvon Thibodeaux, New York Giants – $31,339,038

6 – Ikem Ekwonu, Carolina