It is the dream of every college football player to hear his name called at the NFL Draft, but there may be a misconception that this moment is when a player’s career begins. In actuality, a prospect’s NFL career doesn’t officially commence until he signs his rookie contract. What happens if a draft choice declines to do so?
What Happens If an NFL Draft Pick Refuses To Sign?
Back in the day, rookie contract negotiations were often quite contentious. Infamously, in 2007, the Oakland Raiders and JaMarcus Russell could not agree on terms, resulting in the QB missing all of training camp and the preseason.
The true inflection point for rookie contracts came in 2010 when Sam Bradford was given an exorbitant six-year, $78 million contract with $50 million guaranteed without ever having played an NFL snap.
Recent adjustments to the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement have made rookie signings much smoother. Every NFL draft slot now comes with an allotted value. Rookies and their agents can still negotiate conditions like scheduled signing bonus payments or offset language, but most rookie contracts are set in stone.
Nevertheless, the rookie pay scale doesn’t guarantee a prospect will sign his contract. No one can force a player to do so. In theory, a rookie could refuse to sign, sit out the entire season, and re-enter the draft the following year.
When an NFL team drafts a player, they don’t retain the rights to that player indefinitely. The onus is not exclusively on the player — it’s on the franchise as well. Both sides must come to an agreement. If they cannot do so, a team’s rights to a player expire when the new league year begins, allowing that player to return to the draft player pool.
John Elway Used His Leverage After Being Drafted by the Baltimore Colts
John Elway is one of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of the NFL. He is synonymous with the Denver Broncos. But his story easily could have played out quite differently.
Elway was also an excellent baseball player. He was productive enough to be selected by the New York Yankees in the second round of the 1981 MLB Draft and spent the summer of 1982 playing in the Yankees’ minor league system.
By the time the 1983 NFL Draft rolled around, Elway had decided he did not want to play for the Baltimore Colts, one of the worst teams in the NFL. Elway told the Colts in Dec. 1982 that he had no desire to play for them and later publicly threatened to commit to the Yankees full-time if the Colts drafted him or refused to trade him after selecting him.
The Colts couldn’t trade out of the No. 1 overall pick before the draft started. Rather than make an objectively bad pick, they took Elway with the intent to trade him down the line. In May 1983, Baltimore eventually traded Elway to the Broncos for offensive lineman Chris Hinton (chosen fourth in the 1983 NFL Draft), quarterback Mark Herrmann, and a 1983 first-round pick.
Bo Jackson Refused To Sign With the Buccaneers
While Elway was able to leverage a trade, Bo Jackson had to follow through with refusing his first NFL contract.
It’s rare for players to have actual real leverage. Multi-sport athletes like Elway and Jackson were unique cases because they actually had an alternative career path to professional football.
Jackson starred in baseball and football at Auburn University and had been leaning toward pursuing an MLB career as his collegiate run ended. Ahead of the 1986 NFL Draft, Jackson traveled with Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner Hugh Culverhouse on a private jet to meet with the Bucs and conduct a physical.
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The Bucs held the No. 1 overall pick in the draft. They told Jackson that the NCAA had cleared the visit — but it had not. Jackson was declared ineligible for the rest of his senior baseball season. Believing that Tampa Bay had purposefully sabotaged his baseball career, Jackson vowed never to play for the Bucs.
Tampa Bay still used their top selection on Jackson, but he refused to sign his contract and instead joined the Kansas City Royals. After a year passed, the Bucs lost the rights to Jackson, paving the way for the Los Angeles Raiders to take him in the seventh round of the 1987 NFL Draft. The Raiders allowed Jackson to play both football and baseball, which he did until suffering a hip injury in 1991.
Eli Manning Forced a Trade in 2004
The 2004 quarterback class is considered one of the greatest of all time. It wasn’t deep, but the top three guys all had potential Hall of Fame careers. Chief among them was Eli Manning.
Younger NFL fans undoubtedly associate Manning with the New York Giants, as we all should given he played his entire career there. But Manning was not drafted by the Giants.
The San Diego Chargers selected the younger Manning with the No. 1 overall pick. However, leading up to the draft, Manning made it very well known he had no desire to play for the Chargers. That led to one of the biggest draft day trades of all time.
Less than an hour after drafting Manning, the Chargers traded him to the Giants for Philip Rivers, a third-round pick, and the following year’s first- and fifth-round picks. It’s a rare case where the deal worked out for both teams.
Obviously, Manning is viewed as the more successful quarterback in light of his two Super Bowl championships. However, Rivers was the more productive quarterback. Both spent 16 years as the starter for their respective teams.
La’el Collins Threatened To Hold Out in 2015
LSU offensive lineman La’el Collins was considered a first-round prospect in the 2015 NFL Draft, but his status was threatened after reports indicated he was scheduled to speak with police about the shooting death of a woman he’d previously been involved with. Collins was not considered a suspect, but the uncertainty around the situation caused his stock to fall.
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After Collins wasn’t selected in the first round, his agents said that if he weren’t picked in Rounds 2 or 3, he would sit out the 2015 season and re-enter the draft in 2016. Collins’ team said he would refuse to sign his rookie contract and suggested he also would not sign as an undrafted free agent. Ultimately, no team drafted Collins, but he did eventually ink a UDFA deal with the Dallas Cowboys.