As the final week of June begins, and the countdown to the start of training camps is less than a month, sticking out like sore thumbs are two of the seven unsigned 2024 draft choices: New York Jets wide receiver Malachi Corley and Arizona Cardinals running back Trey Benson.
Yes, 250 of the 257 selections have signed their rookie contracts.
The other five unsigned are all first-round picks:
- Bears QB Caleb Williams (first overall)
- Bears WR Rome Odunze (ninth overall)
- Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy (10th overall)
- Vikings EDGE Dallas Turner (17th overall)
- Bengals T Amarius Mims (18th overall)
That group was reduced by two this past week when the Falcons signed quarterback Michael Penix Jr. (eighth overall) and the 49ers signed wide receiver Ricky Pearsall (31st overall). The second round was also completed last week when the Chargers signed second-round wide receiver Ladd McConkey.
So, what’s the holdup for Corley and Benson, the first and second picks, respectively, in the third round?
It’s difficult to pinpoint with the possibility that it’s simply the agents for Corley (Jimmy Sexton) and Benson (Andre Odum) waiting for the other to sign and that they are trying to distance themselves somewhat from the next group of third-round picks that have signed.
There are very small gaps between the overall value of the third through sixth choices in the round. Also, 10 third-round contracts traded base-salary money in their second through fourth seasons for offseason workout bonuses ranging from $40,000 to $75,000.
The 35 signed No. 3 choices all have full 2024 splits, which means landing on injured reserve would reduce their rookie minimum $795,000 base salaries to $470,000. None of the second-round picks have a 2024 split in their deals, so Sexton and Odum might be seeking to eliminate that for the first two selections in the round.
It’s also likely that Sexton wants a premium for Corley being the first pick in the round, so Odum is motivated to wait so whatever the gap is won’t be too large.
In addition, the reality of the slotting system is that the difference between each slot in a round isn’t significant, but there is a large dropoff from the final pick of one round to the first choice of the next round.
The final pick in the first round, Panthers wide receiver Xavier Legette, received a fully guaranteed contract worth $12.357 million. The contract for Bills wide receiver Keon Coleman, the first pick in the second round, was $2.28 million lower than Legette and included $2.7 million less guaranteed money. However, the gap between Legette and Pearsall is only $181,000.
The last pick in the second round, 49ers cornerback Renardo Green, signed a deal worth $6.39 million with $3.348M guaranteed. The difference for the picks before him in both categories is in the low thousands. With Corley and Benson unsigned, the contract for Coleman is $332.000 lower than Green, but the guaranteed money gap is $2.1 million.
In the third round, the difference between many picks is as low as $15,000. However, the falloff from Commanders wide receiver Luke McCaffrey, the final pick in the round, to the contract for the first choice in the fourth round, Panthers tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders, is $627,000, although there is a guaranteed-money difference of only a tad less than $16,000.
The total gap is because of higher base salaries than the minimum in 2025-27. The base salaries for all fourth-round choices are the league minimum.
Thus, the wait for Corley and Benson continues.
For close examination, following are the breakdowns for the four players selected after Benson:
T/G Brandon Coleman, Commanders
$6.058M total; $1.226M signing bonus; $1.03M, $1.306M, $1.581M salaries 2025-27
T Caedan Wallace, Patriots
$6.043M total; $1.215M signing bonus; $1.07M, $1.344M, $1.619M salaries 2025-27; $40K offseason workout bonuses 2025-27
LB Junior Colson, Chargers
$6.027M total; $1.203M signing bonus; $1.069, $1.343, $1.617M salaries 2025-27
CB Dru Phillips, Giants
$5.996M total; $1.181M signing bonus; $1.018M, $1.29M, $1.563M salaries 2025-27; $50K offseason workout bonuses 2025-27
All of the salaries from 2025-27 are larger than the league minimums of $960K, $1.075M and $1.19M.
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