It’s going to be tougher for this year’s crop of undrafted players to make NFL rosters this offseason without the benefit of OTAs to get ready for training camp. (The same could be said for late round picks.)
The undrafted players could also take a hit financially, like their rookie classmates at the very top of the draft.
Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel writes that the CBA will limit teams to a $75,000 signing bonus limit for their entire undrafted class.
“Probably won’t see $20,000 signing bonuses for rook free agents anymore,” McGinn opines.
The Cleveland Plain-Dealer wrote earlier this offseason that $3,000 was the average signing bonus for players, so it will only hurt the very top end undrafted options.
It remains unclear when undrafted players would be allowed to sign. Wednesday is the best guess when they could start to negotiate, with the deals official 24 hours later.