Rookie contract lengths
One of the issues that has come up regarding Patriots nose tackle Vince Wilfork, who is looking for a new contract after outperforming his rookie deal, is the length of Wilfork's first contract.
The 21st overall pick in the 2004 draft, Wilfork signed a six-year deal with the Patriots. So did tight end Benjamin Watson, who was taken with the final pick of the first-round in 2004.
Both players are entering the last year of their rookie deals. Six years is an eternity in the NFL. Under the current rules, the Patriots wouldn't have been able to sign Wilfork or Watson to six-year deals.
The rules state that only the top 16 picks in the first-round can sign six-year deals. Those in the bottom half of the round can only sign deals with a maximum length of five seasons.
Any player picked after the first round can't sign a deal longer than four seasons.
The Patriots' top pick in the 2009 draft was safety Patrick Chung, taken with the second pick of the second round (No. 34) overall.
Chung and fellow second-rounders nose tackle Ron Brace, cornerback Darius Butler, and offensive tackle Sebastian Vollmer all are only eligible to sign deals with a maximum length of four years.
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The Patriots were responsible for the change in contract length from
5 years to 4 years maximum for second round and later round draft
picks. The agents balked at strong arm tactics by the Patriots to make
their clients sign the 5 years contracts.
Speaking of the Patriots, do you still expect to see them sign a draft pick this
week or will they tease us for another week or two?
Yes, but I bet they will have all of their Heath care paid for!
Makes me question the economics of loading up on 2nd round picks this past draft. Sure it saves you money in the short term, but after 4 years you have to pay up, or in many cases lose the players to free agency. If they had traded up into the early teens they would have had one solid player whom they could've locked up for 6 years at the lower rookie rate.
The circumstances of the Watson deal were interesting. His agent refused to let him sign a six year contract. He ultimately changed agents and signed a six year contract. He got a bigger signing bonus than he would have received if he had signed a five year contract. He then got hurt very early in his rookie season and was put on IR. He significantly underperformed his contract for his first few years. He still has not lived up to his potential.
The Patriots are one of a few teams that aggressively offer split contracts to rookies. They get paid more if they are healthy and on the active roster but get paid less if they are on IR.
Thankfully, they can also sign the other eight picks to four-year deals, as well.
On the other hand, IIRC, didn't the late Gene Upshaw said that he pushed for the reduction of contract lengths specifically to be a detriment to the Patriots?
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