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First Round of 2020 NFL Draft Worth Nearly $82 Million For Alabama Players

Having four players selected with the top 15 picks in the first round will leads to some big initial contracts for Crimson Tide selections
Christopher Walsh|
First Round of 2020 NFL Draft Worth Nearly $82 Million For Alabama Players
First Round of 2020 NFL Draft Worth Nearly $82 Million For Alabama Players

Even though he was wearing a bath robe for the draft, Henry Ruggs III definitely now qualifies as being a high roller in Las Vegas. 

When the Raiders made him their first post-Oakland draft pick it gave Ruggs the ability to purchase a lot more than slippers. 

With the collective bargaining agreement all but fixating the contracts of all draft picks (there's some wiggle room, but not much), the four Alabama players selected in the first half of the first round Thursday night can count on having four-year contracts worth just under $82 million.

Specifically:

Pick, Player, Team, Total value

5. Tua Tagovailoa, Dolphins $30,275,436

10. Jedrick Wills Jr., Browns $19,702,918

12. Henry Ruggs III, Raiders $16,671,626

15. Jerry Jeudy, Broncos $15,192,958

Total = $81,842,938

Tagovailoa is slated to get a signing bonus of $19,578,477. The other three will get, in order,  $11.9 million, $9.7 million and $8.6 million. 

The rookie wage scale is essentially a salary cap within the overall salary cap. 

All contracts for draft choices are four years. 

Teams have an option for a fifth year with first-round picks, but it must be exercised after the third year of the deal. The contracts can't be renegotiated until the conclusion of the third season, either.  

Last year Devin White was the fifth-overall selection. He landed a $19.3 million signing bonus, with a total contract worth $29.3 million over the four years. 

At No. 15, Dwayne Haskins got a $8.5 million signing bonus, and $14.4 million deal over four years. 

Published
Christopher Walsh
CHRISTOPHER WALSH

Christopher Walsh is the founder and publisher of Alabama Crimson Tide On SI, which first published as BamaCentral in 2018, and is also the publisher of the Boston College, Missouri and Vanderbilt sites . He's covered the Crimson Tide since 2004 and is the author of 27 books including “100 Things Crimson Tide Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die” and “Nick Saban vs. College Football.” He's an eight-time honoree of Football Writers Association of America awards and three-time winner of the Herby Kirby Memorial Award, the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s highest writing honor for story of the year. In 2022, he was named one of the 50 Legends of the ASWA. Previous beats include the Green Bay Packers, Arizona Cardinals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, along with Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks. Originally from Minnesota and a graduate of the University of New Hampshire, he currently resides in Tuscaloosa.

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