How name, image and likeness is impacting NFL draft decisions
Just 58 underclassmen across college football declared for this year's draft, the lowest total since 2010 and down from 130 three years ago.
theathletic.com
With early entries at a 14-year low and many traditional draft-eligible prospects staying in school, there’s concern the draft’s later rounds aren’t as deep as in previous years, Denver general manager George Paton conceded at the NFL combine. The changing landscape has forced general managers to adjust their draft strategy this offseason.
“I kind of was, I’m not going to say scared about that, I kind of had thoughts that that might be coming, that those numbers might be dropping,” Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if those numbers drop even more next year. Obviously, traditionally the underclassmen have been the meat of the first two rounds of the draft, so we’ll just kind of see how that changes in the very end.”
NIL has shifted a few options back to the players. In the past, borderline draft prospects would leave and receive a small signing bonus as a late-round pick or undrafted free agent. According to Spotrac, a database for sports finances, the top seventh-round pick will receive a $118,000 bonus in this year’s draft. It’s believed that many starters in Power 5 football programs earn more than that, and the NIL numbers run significantly higher for college quarterbacks.
“I’m sure across the country, NIL has a huge impact on the decision-making process for late-round guys,” Jackson said. “I think that’s more of a quarterback-to-receiver-running back kind of thing because they have the most name, image and likeness versus defensive guys. That’s just the market that we live in.”
Brad Heinrichs, CEO of Iowa’s The Swarm Collective, said the shift of more players opting to stay in college is especially prevalent for the “mid-to-late round draft picks.”
“The NFL practice squad pay is around $200,000 per year,” Heinrichs said. “If a kid can get anywhere in the ballpark of that by staying in school, it can make a ton of sense for them if they are projected to be a late-round pick. The NIL money is guaranteed. In the NFL you can get cut at any time.”
