In terms of setting the market for draft picks...well, this adds one more reason why the Bears don't want the #3 pick next year. It might well cost more than the #1 pick.

In a stunning contract sure to have ramifications up and down the first round of the NFL draft, the Falcons signed the former Boston College quarterback to a six-year, $72 million contract with a hefty $34.75 million bonus. Ryan, the No. 3 pick, is expected to compete for the starting job with Falcon roster holdovers Joey Harrington and Chris Redman. But it's only a matter of time before he wins the job as Atlanta's quarterback of the future.

 

NFL teams had been trying to hold down rookie salaries this year, and Miami's signing of No. 1 pick Jake Long to a five-year, $57.75 million contract with $30 million guaranteed was a step in the right direction because it contained approximately the same guaranteed money as last year's top pick, JaMarcus Russell, received from the Raiders.

 

The difference here, obviously, is that the Falcons got six years out of Ryan while Miami signed Long for only five, so the bonus logically might have been higher. But $34.75 million is approximately $11 million more than last year's third pick, Cleveland tackle Joe Thomas, got in guarantees. So this is a big win for Ryan and for the agents who don't want to see teams sign first-round picks for less money than a year ago.

I thought you couldn't sign rookies to contracts longer than 4 years...that's a new rule that was instituted about a year ago I thought. I remember thinking that means JA will have to find a new MO since he likes doing the 5 year deal thing.

one word describes my thoughts on this.. Ridiculous

I hope he has enough money!

 

I really hope it works out for ATL. It's sort of a shame the way that franchise went. From in the NFC title game 2 or 3 years ago to a team that looks like it'll be a sub .500 team for 4 or 5 years.

 

Matt Ryan will be meeting OGun close up this year.

I thought you couldn't sign rookies to contracts longer than 4 years...that's a new rule that was instituted about a year ago I thought. I remember thinking that means JA will have to find a new MO since he likes doing the 5 year deal thing.

Dont tell that to Greg Olsen when he goes to pick up his first check from the fifth year of his contract.

one word describes my thoughts on this.. Ridiculous

 

Completely agree. And the owners can point to this as exhibit A when clarifying why they opted out of the extra years of the CBA.

We knew this would happen and that it gets worse every year, but I was listening to the NFL channel on Sirius today and they said something that put this into perspective. That Ryans contract dwarfs Tom Bradys. Not to mention, Jake Long is the highest paid OL in the league. This is getting way out of hand. I wonder how theyll handle it in the new CBA.

I believe it depends on where a player is taken in the draft. Players taken at the top of the draft (I think the top 12 or 14 spots) can be signed to longer deals than players taken later in the draft.

Him getting more than the first overall selection last year, while playing the same position is utterly stupid. Retarded isn't a word I use frequently, but Atlanta's management deserves this rare use of it.

It doesn't have to mean other teams will overpay.

If I'm another team I just say "hey, if you can manage to make us feel like we're as desperate as Atlanta (or even just prove Atlanta's situation is typical), then sure we'll pay you based off Atlanta's slotting--and you'll deserve every penny, because that's quite a task. Otherwise, don't get your head too far in the clouds...for both our sakes."

 

The interesting thing is, there's a rookie salary pool cap, so it's not like giving him all this money takes anything away from veterans. Correct? It just means the 3rd, 4th, 5th round draft picks and so on get less. Which is why the NFL wanted to put a cap on an individual rookie's salary, to solve both the problem of high draft picks not caring anymore (because they're rich for life regardless of whether they ever contribute) and the problem of have/have-nots(/have-less-ers) between Top 10 draft picks and guys drafted in beyond round 3 who won't even be close to having their future secured if they don't make it to a their free agent/second contract. But the NFLPA knows that having one guy make a ton of money always pushes up other salaries, so regardless of the merit of such socialism, they were of course 100% against it. 5th round rookies don't have any power in the NFLPA, so it's tough s*** for them.

The interesting thing is, there's a rookie salary pool cap, so it's not like giving him all this money takes anything away from veterans. Correct? It just means the 3rd, 4th, 5th round draft picks and so on get less.

 

 

The rookie pool is a soft cap. It is more of an advisement than anything. Teams go over it all the time in bonuses/escalators and the like, but tend to stay close to it more often than not.

The rookie pool is a soft cap. It is more of an advisement than anything. Teams go over it all the time in bonuses/escalators and the like, but tend to stay close to it more often than not.

Interesting. Not sure how that makes it much of a cap then.

Interesting. Not sure how that makes it much of a cap then.

 

It's really not. It's a recommendation from the NFL as to how much a team should spend given it's picks, and an attempt to control rookie contracts by giving NFL teams some backing for negotiation by using the slotting system and calculated escalation of rookie salaries. Like I said, it's not a hard cap or even a cap really, that's why it's called the rookie pool, and not the rookie hard cap.

I thought you couldn't sign rookies to contracts longer than 4 years...that's a new rule that was instituted about a year ago I thought. I remember thinking that means JA will have to find a new MO since he likes doing the 5 year deal thing.

 

Teams can sign rookies selected in the first half of the 1st round to a contract up to 6 years. Players selected in the second half of the 1st round can be signed up to 5 years. After the 1st round, they can be signed up to 4 years.

 

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