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At the conclusion of the 2023 NFL Draft, all 32 teams will scramble to sign any undrafted free agents they are interested in. Any undrafted player in the 2023 NFL Draft class immediately becomes an unrestricted free agent and can sign with any team that offers them a contract. Unlike the draft itself, which has a set salary for each pick, undrafted players can negotiate a contract just like any other free agent.
While undrafted free agents are allowed to sign for any negotiated price, they almost always end up signing a one-year contract for the league minimum. For the upcoming 2023 NFL season, the rookie minimum is officially set at $750,000. Teams are allowed to offer a higher salary than the minimum to undrafted players, but this is extremely rare.
While signing these specific players can surely add value and depth to the roster, the fact that they went unselected for seven rounds minimizes their leverage in contract negotiations. They would have been drafted if they were a highly desirable NFL prospect. This results in almost all of them signing one-year "prove-it" style contracts for the minimum fixed salary.
Do rookies selected in the 2023 NFL Draft make more money than undrafted free agents?
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The 2023 NFL Draft follows a strict pre-determined salary scale depending on the specific spot in which a player is selected. The salary range is extremely wide, covering more than $40 million from start to finish.
Bryce Young of the Alabama Crimson Tide was selected with the first overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers. His contract is locked in to total $41.2 million, including a $6.9 million per year salary and a $24 million signing bonus.
Young's massive contract for being the first overall pick varies greatly from Mr. Irrelevant, the final pick of the 2023 NFL Draft. The final player selected will receive a set salary of $769,444 with a $78,000 signing bonus. Every pick from every round is on a sliding scale from start to finish, so there is a significant financial incentive for players to strive to be selected as high as possible.
The set salary for the last pick in the draft is still a bit higher than the rookie minimum of $750,000 for undrafted free agents. The signing bonus is another financial perk of being drafted, as many undrafted rookie contracts don't include one. It's also important to note that all drafted players immediately receive a four-year contract, while undrafted players often sign one-year deals.
