Seahawks Sign Eight of Ten Draft Picks

The Seahawks, as you saw earlier today, were the first to sign their first-round pick, when they inked Bruce Irvin to a four-year, $9.34M deal with a $5M signing bonus. Now, in addition to Irvin, the Hawks have announced that they've signed second round linebacker Bobby Wagner, third round quarterback Russell Wilson, fifth round linebacker Korey Toomer, sixth round cornerback Jeremy Lane and safety Winston Guy, seventh round guard J.R. Sweezy and defensive end Greg Scruggs to deals as well. Still unsigned are Robert Turbin and Jaye Howard.

Because it's a great resource, I've consulted Thomas' CBA Refresher to outline the deal with Rookie contracts, because I'm sure you're thumbing through your copy of the CBA as we speak. Save yourself the work here. Per Beekers:

Rookie contracts (article 7, esp section 3): Many limitations have been put on rookie contracts, where before they were growing out of control. Each draft slot makes a pre-determined amount of money, within a narrow band, and the only really negotiable item is the amount of guaranteed money in the contract (some rookie 1st round contracts were fully guaranteed).

All rookie contracts have a pre-determined length that the team and player can not deviate from: all draft picks sign 4-year contracts. All undrafted free agents sign 3-year contracts. In addition there is a 5th-year option on 1st round pick contracts that the club can choose to pick up. For picks 1-10, the cost of this option will be equal to the average of the top 10 salaries at the player's position in the prior year. For other 1st round picks, the cost is the average of the 3rd to 25th top salaries at the player's position.

Per article 7 section 3k, a drafted rookie's contract may not be altered, renegotiated or extended until the final regular season game of his 3rd NFL season. An undrafted rookie's contract may similarly not be touched until the final regular season game of his 2nd NFL season.