During the seventh round of the NFL draft, some players are hoping not to hear their names called. That’s because those players know there are multiple teams interested in signing them as undrafted rookies, and those players can often negotiate better contracts than seventh-round draft picks get.
One such player is former UC Davis running back Lan Larison, who signed as an undrafted rookie with the Patriots.
According to Mike Reiss of ESPN, Larison received $175,000 in guaranteed money on his rookie contract, which is a bigger guarantee than any seventh-round pick gets under the rookie salary structure of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Larison had other teams bidding for his services, and he could command more money than he would have made if he had been a late draft pick.
Larison was a three-time first-team All-Big Sky Conference selection who chose not to transfer to a higher level of college football and instead stay at UC Davis for five years. He had a very productive college football career, with 641 carries for 3,634 yards and 41 touchdowns, and 127 catches for 1,626 yards and 10 touchdowns. Whether he can successfully move from the FCS level to the NFL remains to be seen, but the Patriots like his potential — and so did other teams, enough that Larison could command a significant rookie guarantee.
Read the full article here