A group of new athletes will join the National Football League on Thursday night as the NFL holds its annual draft.
While a few of the teams selecting players at the start of the draft have already indicated who they may select — like the Jacksonville Jaguars with Trevor Lawrence and the New York Jets with Zach Wilson — most of the NFL draft picks remain unknown.
For players, the team that drafts them can have a major impact on how they develop as NFL pros, but it also can have a huge impact on their wallets.
What number draft pick a player is determines how much money he will earn on his rookie contract. This is due to the NFL’s rookie wage scale, which assigns dollar amounts to specific draft slots. The higher a player is drafted, the more lucrative their overall contract and signing bonus are.
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Because of this scale, dropping a few spots during the draft can actually cost players millions of dollars on their rookie contracts.
Here are the estimated contracts and signing bonuses for the first round selections of the 2021 NFL draft, according to contract monitoring site Spotrac. Only signing bonuses are guaranteed to the player.
Pick No. 1
Total contract value: $36.8 million, signing bonus: $24.2 million
Pick No. 2
Total contract value: $35.2 million, signing bonus: $22.9 million
Pick No. 3
Total contract value: $34.1 million, signing bonus: $22.2 million
Pick No. 4
Total contract value: $32.9 million, signing bonus: $21.3 million
Pick No. 5
Total contract value: $30.9 million, signing bonus: $19.8 million
Pick No. 6
Total contract value: $27.1 million, signing bonus: $17.1 million
Pick No. 7
Total contract value: $24.1 million, signing bonus: $14.9 million
Pick No. 8
Total contract value: $21.1 million, signing bonus: $12.7 million
Pick No. 9
Total contract value: $20.9 million, signing bonus: $12.6 million
Pick No. 10
Total contract value: $20.2 million, signing bonus: $12 million
Pick No. 11
Total contract value: $18.9 million, signing bonus: $11.1 million
Pick No. 12
Total contract value: $17.1 million, signing bonus: $9.8 million
Pick No. 13
Total contract value: $16.6 million, signing bonus: $9.5 million
Pick No. 14
Total contract value: $15.9 million, signing bonus: $8.9 million
Pick No. 15
Total contract value: $15.6 million, signing bonus: $8.7 million
Pick No. 16
Total contract value: $14.7 million, signing bonus: $8.1 million
Pick No. 17
Total contract value: $14.4 million, signing bonus: $7.8 million
Pick No. 18
Total contract value: $14 million, signing bonus: $7.6 million
Pick No. 19
Total contract value: $13.8 million, signing bonus: $7.4 million
Pick No. 20
Total contract value: $13.7 million, signing bonus: $7.35 million
Pick No. 21
Total contract value: $13.6 million, signing bonus: $7.3 million
Pick No. 22
Total contract value: $13.5 million, signing bonus: $7.2 million
Pick No. 23
Total contract value: $13.4 million, signing bonus: $7.1 million
Pick No. 24
Total contract value: $13 million, signing bonus: $6.9 million
Pick No. 25
Total contract value: $12.9 million, signing bonus: $6.8 million
Pick No. 26
Total contract value: $12.7 million, signing bonus: $6.6 million
Pick No. 27
Total contract value: $12.6 million, signing bonus: $6.53 million
Pick No. 28
Total contract value: $12.5 million, signing bonus: $6.5 million
Pick No. 29
Total contract value: $11.9 million, signing bonus: $6.1 million
Pick No. 30
Total contract value: $11.6 million, signing bonus: $5.8 million
Pick No. 31
Total contract value: $11.3 million, signing bonus: $5.6 million
Pick No. 32
Total contract value: $11.2 million, signing bonus: $5.5 million
The NFL draft begins on Thursday at 8 p.m. EST and will air on ESPN, ABC, NFL Network, and more coverage of the NFL draft will happen on audio-only platform Clubhouse.
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