With the contract aspect no longer an issue, it’s now just a matter of the members of the 2024 Seattle draft class learning their roles and then performing on the field.
The offseason program is in full swing for the Seattle Seahawks, with players taking to the field for organized team activities in Phase III before the news cycles hits the slow summer doldrums of late June and early July. With that in mind, the Seahawks have their entire draft class under contract, a departure from the tendency of seasons past to wait until the eve of training camp to sign the drafted players that the Hawks had developed in the wake of the Malik McDowell debacle.
All that said, here’s a quick look at the contracts for the members of the 2024 Seattle draft class, along with the guarantees they received and their 2024 cap hits:
- Byron Murphy (1.16): $16.08M, $16.08M fully guaranteed, $2.924M 2024 cap hit
- Christian Haynes (3.81): $5.8M, $1.04M fully guaranteed, $1.055M 2024 cap hit
- Tyrice Knight (4.118): $4.79M, $773k fully guaranteed, $988k 2024 cap hit
- A.J. Barner (4.121): $4.78M, $755k fully guaranteed, $984k 2024 cap hit
- Nehemiah Pritchett (5.136): $4.399M, $379k fully guaranteed, $890k 2024 cap hit
- Sataoa Laumea (6.179): $4.237M, $217k fully guaranteed, $849k 2024 cap hit
- D.J. James (6.192): $4.204M, $184k fully guaranteed, $841k 2024 cap hit
- Mike Jerrell (6.207): $4.18M, $160k fully guaranteed, $835k 2024 cap hit
The first point worth noticing is obviously that the rookie wage scale obviously favors early round picks when it comes to fully guaranteed money at signing. The amount of fully guaranteed money in Murphy’s rookie contract is several multiples of all the other fully guaranteed money combined. This should come as no surprise, as first round picks are so heavily coveted, however, it is the large guarantees given to first round picks that exposes teams to cap risk.
Certainly no team wants the players their squad selects to bust, as the hope and optimism that comes with the draft is that players will reach their ceilings and sky-high potential. However, things don’t always work out that way, with injuries, work ethics and sometimes even ATV accidents stopping high ceiling prospects from reaching their ceiling, and that is the risk that comes with the right to make early selections in the draft.
Bringing things back to the discussion of fully guaranteed money at signing for draft picks, the Seahawks 2024 draft class is a perfect example of why it can be better for players to go undrafted, rather than hear their name called late on Day 3. The last two players selected by Seattle this year, D.J. James and Mike Jerrell, received $184k and $160k fully guaranteed at signing. That is less fully guaranteed money at signing than the Hawks gave to undrafted free agent offensive lineman Garret Greenfield, whose contract includes $195k in fully guaranteed money between signing bonus and salary guarantees.
The fact that an undrafted free agent received more guarantees than two of the late round draft picks of the Seahawks is just one of the quirks of the rookie wage scale that consistently raises eyebrows, and is something that could be up for discussion when the collective bargaining agreement comes up for renegotiation at the end of the decade.
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