ShareThisWhat if a team could look into the future and draft the NFL defensive player of the year, an offensive tackle who would become the highest paid at his position, a record-breaking Super Bowl quarterback, one of the league's better kickers, a Pro Bowl linebacker, a two-time Pro Bowl running back, All-Pro tight end and others who would go on to play with distinction?
That would be some draft, except the college prospects that went on to all those accomplishments have one thing in common -- not one was drafted.
They are, in order, James Harrison, Jason Peters, Kurt Warner, Jeff Reed, Bart Scott, Willie Parker, Antonio Gates and many more.
The NFL is littered with good to great players who were bypassed in the seven-round draft and later signed as rookie free agents. For all the money and time spent scouting players and deciding which ones to draft, many who aren't picked go on to better careers than some drafted in the first round.
Harrison, Parker, Reed, Nate Washington and Dan Kreider are recent examples with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Donnie Shell, undrafted through 17 rounds in 1974, long had been their most famous rookie free agent.
It's not so much how the scouts miss these guys, but how they go about signing them. Often, the scramble to sign those undrafted is a science in itself.
"Teams have two different philosophies," explained Gene Smith, Jacksonville's general manager. "Some teams will be aggressive and pay, and some teams will not be aggressive with pay and bring in numbers and hope they hit on a few that way."
Because there are only seven rounds in the draft, teams usually sign a dozen or more undrafted rookies. Because of the salary cap, there are more reasons to keep younger (cheaper) players on the roster, thus giving the free agents more of a chance to make the team. Also, the training camp roster limit of 80 helps, as does the eight-man practice squad.
That process to sign the undrafted players usually begins in the seventh round when coaches and scouts call prospects.
"It's really quick," explained Tom Donahoe, former Steelers personnel boss and Buffalo Bills president. "Usually what teams do, about halfway through the seventh round they'll start calling players they were interested in and say something to the effect, 'We're thinking about taking you with our seventh-round pick but if don't we'd like to sign you as a free agent.'
"What you stress to kids is there's limited space available, and if you get someone interested in you, you need to close the deal quickly. Usually with the numbers, once teams fill numbers at a position, they move on."
Teams are trying to fill those numbers for camp. Let's say the Steelers do not draft a wide receiver Saturday or Sunday. They have only six on their roster and would need at least four more for training camp, so they would sign undrafted rookies to stock that position.
Some teams, though, will pay relatively large signing bonuses to a special undrafted rookie higher than what their seventh-round pick gets. "It's a little more of buyers market now except for a special few you have on your board," said Tom Modrak, the Bills college scouting head. "There will be a couple of select guys that someone really wants and so on. But if you're fair and reasonable and show he has an opportunity, you get it done pretty quick."
Occasionally, a player and his agent will agree to a deal on the phone Sunday night, only to renege and sign elsewhere Monday, but that's somewhat rare. Part of the reason is the agent's reputation is on the line, and the other part is the club's word as well.
"You know people in certain organizations who are telling the truth and some people, you can't trust their word," said Eric Metz, an agent for 25 years. "They say they'll guarantee a spot and cut the guy two months later. You have to evaluate the evaluator."
There also are deals to be made whereby if you want one agent's client, you might have to sign another in a two-for-one deal. But most of the signings are pretty straight forward.
And those teams who do not pay the bigger bonuses to undrafted rookies, such as the Steelers and Ravens, can lure them with opportunities.
"We've had a lot of success in signing undrafted guys," said Baltimore general manager Ozzie Newsome. "Go back to Priest Holmes, he had $15,000 offers from two teams in the NFC. But we only had two backs on our team. I was selling an opportunity to make the team.
"We have a certain amount (of bonus money) we will go to. There have been occasions where guys had five figures on the table, and we just have standards that we don't go to that, but we can offer an opportunity to come in and compete, based on depth of position and play. I've seen guys get as much as $20,000 (in a bonus). If you have a guy rated in the fifth or sixth round on your board, it's worth paying $20,000. If you drafted him in those rounds, you'd pay more than that."
(Contact Ed Bouchette can be reached at ebouchette@post-gazette.com.
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
Must credit Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
