:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/28820793/20131020_jla_al2_159.0.jpg)
Many fans know that NFL teams must pay their rookies out of a designates salary pool. Virtually no one, however, actually knows exactly how many dollars are in each pool for the 32 different NFL teams. Overthecap.com has done the leg work and now has as good an estimate as you'll find anywhere as to what your Houston Texans should expect to be working with to pay the players they select in the 2014 NFL Draft. A bit of background on the estimate and what the data means first:
The chart gives four categories to view. The Year One Pool is the cap allocation given to the team in 2014. The Cap Space Required column shows you how much cap space a team needs to set aside for rookies assuming that the team has 51 players under contract and all bottom players count for $420,000 against the salary cap.
Signing bonus allocations are the immediate cash that a team will likely need to use to sign their rookies. The total cap estimate is what it will cost the team in cap dollars to keep the players for four years not including the "proven performance escalator" that is available for rookies selected in rounds 3-7.
Keeping in mind that the estimate does not take into account possible compensatory picks, here's what they think will happen with the Texans:
| Team | Picks | Year One Pool | Cap Space Required | Signing Bonus Allocation |
Total Value Estimate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texans | 7 | $7,562,465 | $4,622,465 | $18,489,860 | $40,800,384 |
React as you see fit in the Comments below.