While seven rounds of rookie players are selected at the NFL draft every year, those aren’t the only players who will have a chance to make NFL rosters in the fall. Teams also load up by signing undrafted rookie free agents after the draft – or at least, that’s supposed to happen after the draft.
As NFL insider Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk points out, teams are technically forbidden from brokering free agent deals with undrafted rookies until the conclusion of the NFL Draft. But teams certainly did not follow that rule this year.
“Teams routinely start lining up potential UDFAs while the draft is still happening. As one source with knowledge of the dynamics explained it to PFT, calls were being made about potential undrafted free agents on Saturday morning — before round four even began,” Florio wrote for Pro Football Talk. “The calls continued throughout the four rounds that played out on Saturday, with teams often looking for quick and firm commitments. Before the draft is over.”
Obviously, the NFL has not been very strict in its enforcement of the rule, but if they want to keep the rule on the books in the coming years, they’re going to have to step it up.
