’07 finish saves Bills big bucks
But No. 1 McKelvin due for nice payout
The Buffalo Bills’ competitive showing in 2007 will save them millions this month when they sign first-round draft pick Leodis McKelvin.
By finishing 7-9 last season, the Bills again avoided picking among the first half-dozen selections in the NFL draft. That’s where the astronomical rookie contracts get paid.
McKelvin, the cornerback from Troy University in Alabama, was drafted 11th overall. He is expected to sign a deal that should give him lifetime financial security. However, it’s not going to make him one of the top- 10 highest-paid players on the team.
Last year’s No. 11 pick, San Francisco’s Patrick Willis, signed a five-year contract that’s worth a maximum value of $16.7 million, an average of $3.3 million a year. More realistically,
presuming he doesn’t hit all his incentives, Willis is expected to make about $2.9 million a year. Willis got $12 million guaranteed.
If McKelvin gets a 10 percent increase over last year’s deal, it would pay him about $13 million guaranteed and an average of a bit more than $3.6 million a year. McKelvin remained unsigned as of Tuesday, as did the six players taken ahead of him in the first round. Most agents and teams still are haggling over the proper percentage increases over last year’s picks.
Nevertheless, it’s a big financial benefit for teams to avoid the top part of the first round.
The No. 1 overall pick this year, Miami Dolphins tackle Jake Long, signed for five years and $57 million. The No. 4 overall pick, Oakland running back Darren McFadden, signed for six years and maximum value of $60 million.
Last year, each of the top seven picks in the draft signed contracts worth a maximum value of at least $8 million a year. Then the numbers started to taper off. The eighth pick, Atlanta’s Jamaal Anderson, averaged $6 million. The ninth pick, Miami’s Ted Ginn Jr., received $4.36 million. The 10th pick, Houston’s Amobi Okoye, averaged $3.52 million.
So one win late in the year can mean a huge expenditure in the draft, with little or no assurance that the higher pick will pan out.
Arizona finished 5-11 in 2006 and had to pay No. 5 overall pick Levi Brown $22.9 million guaranteed. Houston finished 6-10 and paid Okoye $12.8 million guaranteed.
So when Houston closed its 2006 season with a win over Cleveland, it was a victory that saved the Texans more than $10 million in draft costs. Conversely, the Texans also did not get to fill what some considered a glaring need at left tackle, and Brown might be a franchise player at the position. Or not.
It’s obvious the most attractive spot to draft is 32nd, because that means your team won the Super Bowl.
However, from a financial standpoint, drafting around 10th overall is attractive. It’s almost always high enough to fill a need position, and it’s low enough to avoid paying a rookie contract that is exorbitant by today’s standards.
The last time the Bills “got stuck” picking in the high-rent district of the draft they got burned. That came in 2002, a year after they finished 3-13. They selected tackle Mike Williams fourth overall. His deal was for six years and about $38 million. Williams wound up making $23 million over four years before getting cut by the Bills.
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Tickets will be available at 9 a. m. Friday for the Bills’ night practice Aug. 11 at St. John Fisher College in Pittsford.
The practice runs 7 to 9:05 p. m. Tickets, which are free, are available at the Ralph Wilson Stadium ticket office or at a participating Allstate Insurance agency location. For those sites visit the Bills’ Web site.
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