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Diamonds in the rough Smart teams making the most of undrafted free agents
The search for young talent doesn't end after the seventh round of the NFL Draft. Teams immediately turn to undrafted rookies to plug holes that were left unresolved by the draft, players whose salary-cap hit would cause barely a ripple. Some would say that if a prospect were good enough, he would have been drafted, but there are plenty of diamonds in the rough left to find. Ever since I signed rookie free agent Wayne Chrebet for the Jets, I've had a keen interest in the post-draft rookie class. Just three years ago, there were 131 undrafted players in the league, making up about 8 percent of league rosters. Last season, there were 253 undrafted players on teams -- that's 15.3 percent of all roster spots. In 1998, the undrafted rookie class brought a number of good players to the NFL. London Fletcher went unselected but wound up helping take the Rams to the Super Bowl the next season. Jeff Saturday wound up starting all 16 games for the Colts last year. Greg Comella signed with the Giants after the draft -- and while most of New York's picks from that year are long gone, Comella is the starting fullback. In 1999, then-Buffalo general manager John Butler signed safety Keion Carpenter as an undrafted rookie. Butler gave the youngster a $6,000 signing bonus, and two years later he's starting for the Bills. As the seventh round was coming to a close this year, at least 10 teams were trying to sign Clemson fullback Terry Witherspoon. He had run 4.5 at 260 pounds but had limited playing time in the Tigers' offense. San Diego snatched him up with a $10,000 bonus and I'm told he has a very good chance to make the Chargers. Typically, seventh-round picks average nearly $25,000 in bonus money. But undrafted players like Witherspoon get more in the range of $10,000 bonuses and as the amount of the bonus decreases, so does the likelihood of a player making the cut. Last year, there were 498 undrafted rookies signed to contracts right after the draft -- as opposed to 254 players drafted. Fifty-seven of the 498 -- 11 percent -- made opening-day rosters. It may not sound like a lot, but that comes out to a few players per team, guys who can provide depth at a bargain basement price. I've always studied the trends in the league and this is a pattern that smart teams can take advantage of.
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