Rookie contracts

[hollodero]

Sorry to put that in here, if it shall be moved, please do so and accept my apologies.

I look for information about how these rookie contracts are handled. Why does it often take months to sign them, aren't they pretty much precast (which obviously they're not)? How are the earnings in the rookie contracts determined, and guaranteed money, and all that, is there more or less "free" negotiation about these things? What if team and drafted player can't agree on a contract?

We're debating that here and no one knows - and I know you, the specialists on all fronts. Help a stranger out, would you.

[Au165]

Offset language tends to be the big sticking point for first rounders. It is a provision that allows the team to not pay a player if they cut him and another team signs him. The other thing they can negotiate is how the signing bonus gets paid out. During the Bosa negotiations the Chargers were trying to hold back part of his signing bonus until after year 1 rather than giving it all to him up front.

Basically it's all the little details that go beyond the big numbers you see when they sign.