Mr. Irrelevant in the NFL draft gets a lot of attention, a trophy, a free trip to Disneyland, and some other prizes. You’re not him.
Would you rather be an NFL undrafted free agent or the guy picked just before Mr. Irrelevant?
I’d always rather be drafted because then you’re assured a chance to show what you can do. If you are undrafted, you may never draw the interest of any team.
The draft pick - you’re in front of all of the undrafted free agents for a chance at a spot on, unless the pick was traded, a conference championship team.
You have more options if you are undrafted and the salary is essentially the same - NFL undrafted free agency: Why it's better than being a late-round pick - SBNation.com
There’s an interesting chart on this web page about NFL career longevity by round drafted, as of 2014 (it doesn’t include UFAs, but it’s still interesting regardless of any relevance to this thread).
What’s particularly interesting is it shows if you’re a 7th round pick and manage to stick around 4 years, you’re slightly more likely to be there longer than a 6th round pick (by 0.8%), and if you can stick around for a fifth year, you’re relatively significantly more likely to be there than a 6th round pick (by 6.1%), and even slightly more likely to last longer than a 5th round pick (by 0.5%). I wonder what accounts for this. Motivation, maybe? Granted, those are very small percentage differences, but it’s still interesting.
Agents tell their undrafted clients that it’s good to be undrafted because you have more freedom. But that’s mostly a story to make them feel better. Even getting picked last will give you a better shot at getting on a team, and the goal of every athlete who wants to play is to get on a team (otherwise you can’t play).
Even being on the practice squad is better than bagging groceries or selling vacuum cleaners while hoping to get a chance to try out somewhere.
Not really, the end of the 7th round is full of compensatory selections.
I want to be drafted.
Give me that UDFA freedom - teams start recruiting players that might go undrafted before the seventh round even starts. Going undrafted gives you options to find a team where you may fit their needs better, or a team that fits you better. Once you get past the fourth or fifth round, it’s a crapshoot on players anyway - teams will draft someone they want, but don’t feel confident they can simply recruit to join them undrafted. Going UDFA means you might be able to “choose” a team light on wide receivers, or who has a linebackers coach that’s known for eeking every ounce of worth from whatever talent is available. At that point, it’s just about impressing the right people enough to get through training camp and on to a roster, or even a practice squad. Practice squad movement is almost an art form, and can be rather interesting - the only way to sign a player off of someone else’s practice squad is to give them a spot on an active roster, which brings it’s own financial windfall - a practice squad signed to an active roster makes ~$100k, minimum, even if they’re released in the first week (they receive a minimum of 3 weeks pay at minimum wage level, which is a bit less than half a million for this year’s rookies. Practice squad players that get called up often end up on another squad if things don’t work out, so they’re looking at roughly a quarter million in that first season. It’s not quite what a drafted player would make, but as noted, it’s a flip of a coin to stay in the league past training camp anyway.
My guess, either consciously or unconsciously, teams pick for need in the 5th and 6th round but in the 7th they are more likely to go BPA and/or they pick core special teams players.
One way that could manifest is that you’re more likely to grab a unpolished OT/DT with prototypical size in the 6th since they are scarcer, but also hit at a lower rate. In the 7th you’re grabbing “athletes” and “tweeners”, or more directly, you’re taking DBs, RBs, LBs, and WRs, who tend to be plentiful and can stick on coverage teams much easier than OLs and DLs.
I’d be interested to see some analysis of who sticks longer, priority UDFAs or 7th round picks. I think it’s pretty safe to guess that on the whole 7th rounders stick past year 1 more often, but if you filter out those training camp bodies at the bottom of the UDFA list and only look at the priority guys who were recruited and paid a decent bonus, that it’ll get a hell of a lost closer.
I think if I were a player I’d much rather bet on my own ability to look at a roster and say “I’m better than that teams backups” vs. getting stuck drafted to a team who might have more veterans or high draft picks at your position. You’d hope teams aren’t wasting their 7th rounders that way, but if a team is truly drafting BPA they shouldn’t be looking at the depth chart when they pick a guy.
UDFA with a chip on my shoulder, that’s my vote.