The Oakland Raiders are among the NFL teams that were inspirations for the league as it presents a new rookie pay scale.
Since 2000, the Raiders have drafted 13 players in the first round. They contracted for a total $164,105,636 in guaranteed money before any of them played in an NFL game. That is an average of $12,623,510 per player. The Raiders have selected six players in the top 10 of the draft since 2004 -- Rolando McClain, Darrius Heyward-Bey, Darren McFadden, JaMarcus Russell, Michael Huff and Robert Gallery -- who signed for $136,686,636 in guaranteed money for an average of $22,781,106 per player. The Raiders’ first round guaranteed money total is among the highest in the NFL since 2000.
A major reason why Oakland had paid out so much is because it has often drafted high in the past decade. That's the basis of the NFL's new rookie pay proposal. It wants to streamline the pay scale. The NFL reportedly wants to cut almost 60 percent of guaranteed pay for first-round draft picks and divert the savings to veterans' salaries and benefits in an attempt to solve the month-old lockout.
RAIDERS FIRST ROUND PICKS SINCE 2000
Year Selection Name Guaranteed compensation
2010 8 Rolando McClain $22,825,000
2009 7 Darrius Heyward-Bey $23,500,000
2008 4 Darren McFadden $26,042,500
2007 1 JaMarcus Russell $32,019,120
2006 7 Michael Huff $15,000,000
2005 23 Fabian Washington $5,538,000
2004 2 Robert Gallery $17,300,016
2003 31 Nnamdi Asomugha $3,575,000
2003 32 Tyler Brayton $3,520,000
2002 17 Philip Buchanon $4,900,000
2002 23 Napoleon Harris $4,295,000
2001 28 Derrick Gibson $2,980,000
2000 17 Sebastian Janikowski $2,611,000
Total: $164,105,636
