The Official Site of Agent JR Rickert

In the three major sports that I follow, the draft for each respective sport has become an exciting side event that fans love to follow. The MLB, NFL and NBA each take a different approach with respect to the rules, eligibility, and number of picks. Every young athlete dreams of getting drafted, and it is certainly a noteworthy accomplishment.

So let’s take a look at the first and last picks of the three major sports’ drafts and do some comparisons to show that not all draft picks are created equal.

MLB

Gerrit Cole UCLA Pittsburgh Pirates #1

Last year, the National gave #1 pick Bryce Harper $9.9 million for 5 years. This amount was down about $5 million from the record deal that Mark Strasburg received the year before. The Pirates will have until midnight on August 15, 2011 to sign Cole to a contract. Cole is represented by super agent Scott Boras, whose son Shane, actually once broke up a no-hitter being thrown by Cole while at UCLA. I look for Cole to get between $10 – $12 million guaranteed over 5 years.

Kolyo Stevenson Ocean City High School Philadelphia Phillies #1,530

My guess is that the left-handed pitcher will elect to attend college in the hopes of improving his draft position. If he were to sign with the Phillies, he would probably be looking at a few thousand bucks plus getting 4 years of college covered. I have no idea who Stevenson’s agent is, but my guess is that we will see this young man drafted again in a much better round in 2012. This feature of not accepting your draft status in a given year is very unique as this is never an option in the NFL or NBA.

NFL

Cam Newton Auburn Quarterback Carolina Panthers #1

Last year’s #1 pick, Sam Bradford, received a 6-year $78 million dollar contract with
$50 million of it guaranteed. However, this year with the new rookie salary cap about to be imposed by the brand new 2011 CBA, reports are speculating that Newton may only see about $30 million in guarantees. Nevertheless, with escalators and performance bonuses, I still look for the maximum value to be over $70 million for Newton.

Cheta Ozougwa Rice Defensive Line Houston Texans # 254

Cheta Ozoougwa stands a chance to make an active roster, if not with the Texans, then somewhere. This is simply because he can rush the passer, which is premium in the NFL today. But don’t look for Ozougwa to come remotely close to the guaranteed money that players in the first 3 rounds of the draft receive. On the other hand, Ozougwa should fare better than 2010’s version of “Mr. Irrelevant”, Weber State’s Tim Toone. The speedy receiver was cut at the end of training camp and signed to the Lions practice squad. In October of 2010, he was placed on the practice squad injured reserve list and will have an uphill battle to make the Lions active roster.

Kyrie Irving Duke Point Guard Cleveland Cavs #1

With the NBA in a lockout, it is anyone’s guess as to how the rookie salary cap will impact the 2011 top draft pick. In 2010, John Wall received a 2-year package worth almost $ 11 million in guarantees, plus an option for the Wizards to exercise for even more guaranteed money. Look for Irving to go north of $11 million in guarantees in his rookie deal.

Isaiah Thomas Washington Point Guard Sacramento Kings #60

The son of the legendary point guard was the last pick in the 2011 NBA draft. Much like the NFL and MLB, the last pick isn’t guaranteed much of money except an opportunity. In 2010, the Phoenix Suns made Dewayne Collins the final pick in the draft. Collins decided to opt for the guaranteed money in Europe rather than to risk being cut from the NBA and left with very little except a modest signing bonus. Many players selected in the 2nd (and final) round of the NBA draft opt for the guarantees of Europe rather than being a training camp body. Look for Thomas to compete for spot with the Kings. I don’t project him to pursue the European option right away.

There you have it…an inside look at the first and last draft picks of the 3 major professional sports. As you can see, getting selected in the draft is exciting, but clearly there is a big difference from the first round to the last pick. Not all draft picks are created equal!