Before the NFL and the NFL Players' Association (NFLPA) agreed on a rookie wage scale for all entry-level contracts, highly-touted rookie prospects had peak leverage when negotiating their first contract despite teams having no idea how their skills would translate at the next level.
In the modern NFL, teams consistently overvalue prospects with their draft capital. Future draft classes are mortgaged to select a “must-have” player before he’s taken an NFL snap. One of the most impressive and successful franchises, which currently boasts one of the most talented rosters in the NFL, recently exemplified how easy it is to overvalue a prospect.