The first round of the NFL Draft is always closely watched to see which college stars wind up on needy NFL teams. But while fans are focused on what boost their favorite squad just selected, front offices and rookies alike are looking at the numbers — the gap between the first and 32nd pick of the NFL Draft could be more than $30 million.
Last year's No. 1 overall pick, quarterback Caleb Williams out of USC, was signed by the Chicago Bears to a four-year $39.4 million contract. Given the salary cap increases for the 2025-26 season, the No. 1 overall pick this year will see a significant raise from that number.
How much money will 2025 first-round draft selections make?
According to Spotrac, these are the projected contracts (all standard four-year deals) for each first-round selection at this year's draft.
Pick | Player, Position | Projected 4-year contract value |
|---|---|---|
1. Tennessee Titans | Cam Ward, QB | $47,757,000 |
2. Jacksonville Jaguars via Cleveland Browns | Travis Hunter, WR/DB | $46,571,074 |
3. New York Giants | Abdul Carter, DE | $45,179,746 |
4. New England Patriots | Will Campbell, T | $43.589,604 |
5. Cleveland Browns via Jacksonville Jaguars | Mason Graham, DT | $40,806,872 |
6. Las Vegas Raiders | Ashton Jeanty, RB | $35,837,732 |
7. New York Jets | Armand Membou, T | $31,862,416 |
8. Carolina Panthers | Tetairoa McMillan, WR | $27,887,104 |
9. New Orleans Saints | Kelvin Banks Jr., T | $27,688,114 |
10. Chicago Bears | Colston Loveland, TE | $26,595,118 |
11. San Francisco 49ers | Mykel Williams, DE | $24,905,620 |
12. Dallas Cowboys | Tyler Booker, G | $22,520,414 |
13. Miami Dolphins | Kenneth Grant, DT | $21,924,112 |
14. Indianapolis Colts | Tyler Warren, TE | $20,930,294 |
15. Atlanta Falcons | Jalen Walker, DE | $20,532,790 |
16. Arizona Cardinals | Walter Nolan, DT | $19,340,170 |
17. Cincinnati Bengals | Shemar Stewart, DE | $18,942,634 |
18. Seattle Seahawks | Grey Zabel, G | $18,445,724 |
19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Emeka Egbuka, WR | $18,147,572 |
20. Denver Broncos | Jahdae Barron, CB | $18,048,198 |
21. Pittsburgh Steelers | Derrick Harmon, DT | $17,948,806 |
22. Los Angeles Chargers | Omarion Hampton, RB | $17,750,036 |
23. Green Bay Packers | Matthew Golden, WR | $17,551,274 |
24. Minnesota Vikings | Donovan Jackson, G | $17,153,744 |
25. New York Giants via Houston Texans | Jaxson Dart, QB | $16,954,982 |
26. Los Angeles Rams | $16,756,186 | |
27. Baltimore Ravens | $16,557,446 | |
28. Detroit Lions | $16,458,064 | |
29. Washington Commanders | $15,660,564 | |
30. Buffalo Bills | $15,238,238 | |
31. Kansas City Chiefs | $14,884,470 | |
32. Philadelphia Eagles | $14,656,682 |
Miami QB Cam Ward, selected first overall by the Tennessee Titans, will see his projected $47.8 million contract be worth roughly 21.3 percent more than the one Williams' signed last year. That's a significant raise for a rookie.
The drop off from pick No. 1 to pick No. 32 is quite staggering regardless of the year. Whoever is selected by the Super Bowl LIX champion Philadelphia Eagles is projected to make roughly $33.1 million less than Ward.
After that, the number just keeps going down. The top pick of the second round on Friday is projected to sign an $11.8 million deal with the final pick in the round making roughly $7.2 million. Keep in mind, these are all four-year deals, so that money is getting spread out. But nobody picked in rounds one through three will earn less than $1 million in their signing bonus. In fact, the first 14 picks in round four will also get at least $1 million in the form of a signing bonus.
Of course, the real numbers will be negotiated by players, their agents and team representatives before pen is put to paper. So, things could look a lot different by the time these players step foot on the gridiron for their new squads.