Millions to be Earned in Indy

Tuesday kicked of the 2016 NFL Scouting Combined that will run until Monday, February 29th. The Combined other words known as the Underwear Olympics is where college football players are tested to see where they line up with one another. Drills such as the 40 yard dash, 225 pound bench, broad and vertical jump, and 3 cone drill. High profile players such as Laremy Tunsil (Mississippi OT), Jared Goff (California QB), and Joey Bosa (Ohio State DE) will be able to show off why they are worthy of the top picks in this years draft in Chicago. What about the lower profile players who could fall to the second or third round like Connor Cook (Michigan State QB), Josh Doctson (TCU WR), or Xavien Howard (Baylor CB)? Is it really that big of a drop from the 1st to 2nd round and on? It all depends on what angle you look at, but it all starts with the NFL Combine down in Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Stadium.

For rookies in the NFL in today's game has change from the past. On July 30, 2010, Sam Bradford signed with St. Louis Rams a six-year, $78 million deal, which has $50 million of guarantees and has a maximum value of $86 million making it the largest contract ever for an NFL rookie. This was the last major contract that a rookie will ever receive in his first year. Last years first round pick, Quarterback, Jameis Winston out of Florida State signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for a deal totaling $22,355,498. All the fellow first round draft picks went down from there. At pick 32 the last in the first round, New England selected defensive tackle Malcolm Brown out of Texas. His contract was well under half as much as the top pick Winston's. His contract is for a total of $6,932,002. If there is that much of a drop in the first round, imagine what it will feel like if one of the players fell to the second or third or seventh round.

A player from last years combined who really benefited financial from their performance was Southern California's wide receiver Nelson Agholor. He was predicted a second or third round pick following the college football season, but the combined changed that. The speedy slot receiver was one of the fastest performing receiver at the combine which led to him being drafted 20th to the Philadelphia Eagles. That came with a $8,465,952 contract. Without the combined Agholor would have seen his bank account drop from nearly 8.5 million to the average 4 million in the second round, or 2.5 million in the third. Combine stars don't always pan out in the long term for teams, but for a personal reason for the athlete there is millions of dollars at stake if they don't live up to expectations.

Below is a chart on the average contract of each pick from the first two days of the Draft.

• Full First 2015 NFL Draft Contracts 

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2015/05/nfl_draft_2015_how_much_each_f.htm