You may have seen a recent report from NFL Network's Ian Rapoport that the Kansas City Chiefs are signing Welsh rugby star Louis Rees-Zammit on a three-year deal.
To the naked eye, that looks like a major commitment to a player who has never played a snap of American football, but the truth is that this is a fairly standard entry-level NFL contract. It's not unlike the three-year deals that undrafted free agents sign with teams after the NFL draft. That's to say, it's not the contract length that tells you anything about how the team views a particular player, but rather the signing bonus and guaranteed money.
What to look for in Rees-Zammit's contract with the Chiefs
Expect that when the contract details are officially revealed, Rees-Zammit's deal will be three years and worth just over $2.8M in total value. What fans need to look for as I mentioned above is the signing bonus and guaranteed money attached to the contract.
His signing bonus will tell you just how much competition the Chiefs had when it came to getting him signed. The higher the signing bonus, the more competition and the more they wanted him in Kansas City. As for the guaranteed money, that's what you should be looking at as an indicator of his chances to make the 53-man roster. The higher the guaranteed money, the more likely his chances of making the team in 2024.
Expect that he'll earn a nice signing bonus, but the guaranteed money probably won't be that big. The international player pathway program rules basically ensure that Rees-Zammit will be a practice squad player for the Chiefs in 2024. If he's on the practice squad, he will have a roster exemption allowing the team 17 players on the practice squad. Additionally, the team can elevate him three times in 2024 to give him a chance to develop and play.
Ultimately, the Chiefs will rip up that contract and sign him to a one-year deal in August to keep him on the practice squad. If he succeeds in 2024, he'll likely re-sign in Kansas City on a reserve/future contract.
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