The New England Patriots have signed their entire rookie draft class, with 3rd round quarterback Jacoby Brissett finally coming under contract, per the Globe’s Ben Volin.
The big hold up with signing the rookie was in determining the appropriate 3rd round rookie quarterback premium. Exactly one week ago the Browns signed their 3rd round rookie quarterback Cody Kessler, who signed a contract valued at roughly 13.3% more than his draft slot warranted under the rookie wage scale.
Brissett, who is negotiating his own contract, likely wanted Kessler to sign a deal first in order to use the result as a blueprint. Kessler was selected two picks after Brissett. The standard premium is roughly 3-4%, so it’s possible Brissett made himself a lot of money by waiting for Kessler to sign his contract.
We will update this post with the contract details when they are available. It will be a 4-year deal that was expected to fall around $3.14 million, factoring in the prior 3rd round quarterback premium.
Edit: It looks like Brissett copied Kessler’s contract with a 4-year, $3.41 million deal, per ESPN’s Mike Reiss. Brissett received a 13% premium over his draft slot from the rookie wage scale. I would expect future 3rd round rookies to receive a similar premium.