Having the right to call yourself a top-10 draft pick as an NFL player is a big enough bragging right, in itself.
It comes with big-time financial ramifications, too. Obviously, pick No. 1 gets paid the highest amount of money and then it descends from there. Early on, there are big differences in the overall value of the contracts, especially in the first dozen picks. First round picks also get fully guaranteed deals, whereas Day 2 picks and later don't receive the same treatment.
The Minnesota Vikings were slated to pick at No. 11, but decided to trade up to No. 10 in order to select J.J. McCarthy. As it turns out, that one spot, and being a top-10 pick, makes a big difference when it comes to the total value of McCarthy's rookie contract: a $1,268,995 difference, on average, since 2019:
The difference between overall contract values since 2019
Spotrac
| Draft Year | No. 10 contract value | No. 11 contract value | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
2019 |
$18,871,765 |
$17,630,166 |
$1,241,599 |
2020 |
$19,702,914 |
$18,446,048 |
$1,256,866 |
2021 |
$20,141,390 |
$18,871,957 |
$1,269,433 |
2022 |
$20,554,006 |
$19,271,874 |
$1,282,132 |
2023 |
$20,968,267 |
$19,673,318 |
$1,294,949 |
It's not just about finances, though. McCarthy is also entering a very good situation in Minnesota. The Vikings have a litany of playmakers that include wide receivers Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, tight end T.J. Hockenson (once fully healthy), and running backs Aaron Jones and Ty Chandler.
And, something people don't talk about enough: Brian O'Neill and Christian Darrisaw form one of the league's best -if not the best- tackle duos.
Add all of the above in with the fact that Kevin O'Connell is both an offensive mind and QB-friendly coach that runs a QB-friendly system, then it's easy to see why McCarthy has an excellent chance to hit the ground running once rookie minicamps start, soon.
"It's going to be our jobs as coaches, myself, Wes (Phillips), Josh (McCown), Grant (Udinski), to put him in the absolute greatest learning environment we possibly can, identify some things that we really feel are areas that we can help him immediately kind of grow and start making some habits fundamentally and with his skill set to hit the ground running as fast as possible," O'Connell told reporters after the first round of the draft.
And, if he's able to become the quarterback the Vikings envision, he'll outpace his fellow players by a whole lot more than the above difference between picks Nos. 10 and 11.
A whole lot more.
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