Allen Park — The primary benefit for NFL teams to consistently draft well in the later rounds is it provides cap flexibility. Rookies are cheap and players drafted in the third round or later are paid little more than veteran minimum for their first four seasons.
But the league's collective bargain agreement has a clause that rewarded those late-round picks for developing into key contributors. Any player drafted in the third round or later who either plays 35 percent of a team's offensive or defensive snaps two of their first three seasons, or an average of 35 percent over those first three seasons, receives a significant pay increase for the fourth and final year of their rookie deals.