One of the biggest names amongst undrafted free agents appears to be headed to Kansas City. Former Clemson wide receiver Justyn Ross is signing with the Chiefs, per Pro Football Network’s Aaron Wilson (Twitter link). 
Ross was one of the more intriguing prospects in this year’s class. His college career began with a hugely productive freshman season in 2018, where he registered 46 catches for exactly 1,000 yards and nine touchdowns. Standing out on a team which also featured the likes of Tee Higgins and Hunter Renfrow, he was thought to be a first-round lock and the next in a long line of high-end Tigers receivers.
The following season did little to quell those thoughts. He put up 66 receptions and another eight touchdowns, playing a key role in Clemson going undefeated. In the National Championship game victory over Alabama, he was the team’s leading receiver, averaging over 25 yards per catch. It was after that, however, that his draft stock began to plummet.
In 2020, Ross underwent surgery to correct a congenital fusion in his neck. The procedure cost him his entire junior season, and, for a time, left his ability to play football in doubt. Those concerns were amplified by a second fusion surgery he underwent, as noted by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter). Ross was able to come back last year, however, playing in 10 games.
Given his injury history, “many teams” took Ross off of their draft boards completely, as noted by Rapoport. His earlier production, coupled with his size (six-foot-four, 205 pounds), though, made him worth a flier in the Chiefs’ eyes. In Kansas City, he will enter a WR room which has seen Tyreek Hill, Demarcus Robinson and Byron Pringle leave this offseason. In response, the team has added JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and second-rounder Skyy Moore.
I read somewhere that he could have made more money off NIL than being a UDFA.
I bet he would, at least once upon a time. He, like Marcus Lattimore, is one of the best arguments for NIL money. He provided a college program with star performance without pay and then suffered serious injuries before he could cash in.
But he got a free college education in return
That’s not pay.
As someone who had to pay for their college, it 100% is pay. I’m a fan of NIL, but a free college education is still compensation.
Nope. You can’t sell it, can’t spend it, can’t trade it for anything you might need or want. There’s a reason McDonald’s can’t pay you in fries, even if it’s a LOT of fries. And college educations are much more inflated in price relative to value than fries are. A “free” college education is not worth positive value to an athlete as much as college debt is worth negatively to you. And this is all setting aside whether or not these guys even WANT a college education. Baseball players can go to the minors straight from high school, and if highly rated enough prospects, get a nice chunk of change to do so. “Free” tuition is worth even less if you don’t even want it.
ooof
you’re overvaluing free education and undervaluing college debt to a credit union
I think it’s the perfect scheme to pay these guys 40k to play football, then hit them with a 50k bill for education… will happen in a couple years
Justyn Ross attended high school in Alabama
Going to Clemson University he would qualify as an out of state student. Out of state tuition for Clemson is 39,000 vs 16,000 for in state tuition.
He received education valued at roughly 40,000+ if you included books, housing, food, etc.
Student athletes should be paid and should be expected to pay tuition and for other expenses like any other student. Student athletes should also be allowed to sign contracts with companies for advertisement and such.
It’s not valued at that. It COSTS that for students. A school like Clemson should be providing scholarships while players should also be able to seek outside revenue. They’re generating tons of revenue for the schools. Look how much the coaches get paid.
College players are “student” athletes.
NCAA does its best to make sure the student part is prioritized not the athlete part cause bias, unfair advantage however they say it.
Best student athletes can hope for is the NCAA allows them to be paid and to be hired at jobs looking to use their image and likeness in return for them being expected to pay for tuition, books, housing, etc etc. Its nearly impossible for them to have their cake and eat it too.
NCAA will get its cut one way or another.
Like I said, scholarships and the ability to get paid from outside. I know the NCAA exists to protect the NCAA’s financial interests.
It is VALUED at that. If someone is willing to pay that to attend school to get a degree that sets a value (the monetary worth of something).
Also they have the ability to get outside revenue. It is called a job. They can work at Wal-Mart and get paid.
They actually historically haven’t been allowed to get other jobs, and that’s setting aside the reality that playing high level collegiate football is a full time job in addition to school. Many players have struggled to afford food (when they have huge caloric needs) while playing D1 football. And again, a college education is less valuable if you’re only attending college because you’re not allowed any other viable path to pro football.
But they can have a job. I believe the only restriction for most colleges is that they notify their Compliance Office. I even know a couple people that did. Some colleges may have extra hoops to go through, but pretty sure the main one is that they notify their Compliance Office.
They should be able to make money from football, even if it’s indirect, like endorsements. They’re generating vast amounts of money for their schools. They shouldn’t have to work a regular job when they’re working a risky, punishing, and extremely valuable full time job for no income.
Ok so take away the scholarships for all student-athletes. Pay all of the student-athletes the same amount, from the women’s polo & field hockey players to the men’s football & basketball players. The one’s that turn pro can pay off their college tuition. The one’s that don’t can deal with the “inflation of college tuition and predatory nature of student loans”. While we’re at it do we want to pay HS student-athletes also?
D1 football players should all have scholarships and they should be eligible for pay (which at least now they are with NIl money—too late for Ross), but there should also be serious reform to student loan practices.
I agree. get rid of the scholarships and offer pay
let the kids who are there for education get the scholarships
It is better than pay. it’s access to as much pay you’re motivated to go get with a non-football career.
You know, the “give a man a fish/ teach a man to fish” parable.
Put it this way, if I told about where 5 lbs of gold was buried in a field, did I “pay” you that gold?… or did I educated you on how to go get it yourself?
…and you’re still rich in the end… or “paid”
If someone were handed tuition money up front and stuck half of it in an index fund and never went to college, they’d have a much brighter economic future than most college grads.
Depends on the degree.
I’ve earned way more than I ever spent on tuition, or was given in scholarship. My niece will earn 100x any money spent on her aeronautics engineering degree.
Silly little Art Studies degrees and “Your Life is Determined by your Demographic” degrees certainly are nonsensical wastes of money… where you’d be better off pocketing and investing the money.
But a sensible education IS an investment, I feel.
Do you think most people should study aeronautics? The world needs students of the arts and humanities, but the inflation of college tuition and predatory nature of student loans has made the cost-benefit balance impossible for most people who don’t come from money. And the school system is not giving everyone enough of a background with which to go into a STEM major anyway. All of which is beside the point with football players. They’re performing a service for these schools that’s extremely lucrative for the schools, but they can’t get money in return. The idea that they can get a fair trade if they excel in the right major is ridiculous. They’re already providing the service that generates huge revenue for their bosses, who aren’t allowed to pay them. Meanwhile, the coaches—who have longer careers and none of the injury risk—make millions. Look at any list of the highest paid public employees in this country or by state—they’re mostly football coaches who oversee unpaid players. I’m sure you’re rightly proud of your niece, but her situation and your platitudes really have nothing to do with this.
reading through these comments reminded me of the good old days of “Interning” at a Booster’s dealership in Norman; and I didn’t even have to go every day
one of the other Boosters once gave me a good deal on an condo rental; said he’d run a tab and send it to me after the season so I didn’t have it on my mind
heh
Pulling for him. He looked like a future first rounder before the injuries.
was he running a 4.7 back then too tho?
really surprised the Jags didn’t take him r7
seems like he’ll spend most of 2022 as a practice squad guy getting healthy.. could realistically end up anywhere still
and I guess that was an oxymoron ooof
what I meant was that during the draft I thought he’d be picked r7
..now that he’s not been drafted, it’s clear that teams don’t think he’s healthy
thus explaining why he wasn’t drafted , as he’d be available to anyone as practice squad guy
After the 5th round or so, a lot of the more highly touted prospects and their reps actively don’t want them to be drafted and teams tend not to. That’s why you see a guy like Dohnovan West, who was certainly a better prospect than just about anyone taken after round 5, go UDFA and land a six figure guarantee with SF. Ross’ case is different, since so many teams wouldn’t touch him at all, but his agent probably didn’t want him taken in the 7th round.
that’s not true at all.
6th rounders make around 700k as part of a non-guarenteed 4 year 3.5Mil deal
7th rounders make about 650k with the same non-guarenteed deal
so taking 100k + a 10k bonus isn’t even close,,, only upside is you’re not locked into an underpayment in year 3, 4 etc.
most of the time it’s way better to get drafted tho
The upside is that you can negotiate for more guaranteed money AND you get some choice in where you go. Ross, for instance, got to go to a team with Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes, and room for a receiver to get opportunities. Dohnovan West not only got more guaranteed money than any 7th round pick likely will, but got to go to a team with a scheme that suits his skills and a center that will need replacing soon. Ability to choose where you go is no small thing.
110k guaranteed vs 640k nonguarenteed but extremely likely to make the team after being drafted
most ppl would take the 2nd option
I don’t think a sixth or seventh round pick is all that likely to spend more of their rookie season on the active roster than a six figure UDFA. The guarantee is better.
I’d bet that they do.
but I think a guy like donhovan is thinking way past his rookie year
he can triple his we-be salary in 2 years as a sought after free agent if all goes well
In that scenario, he’s certainly seen more time on the 53 than a typical 6th or 7th rounder.
Goku – Teams might think he’s not healthy or they are scared of his congenital neck issue. It’s a huge risk.
Well, the Chiefs do have a history with players making miraculous recovery from devastating medical issues. I’m not sure Alex Smith can be included since his amazing comeback season came when he was in Washington, though he was pushed to retire not long afterwards. However, Eric Berry can be included.
Berry came back from cancer. He didn’t come back from his big injury. Trey Smith might be more of the comp, since it was thought his medical condition might prevent him from having a real shot at an NFL career and he’s already out-achieved that.
torn achilles
That’s the one he never fully came back from.
Oh ok, I see what you mean.
I read it like “he didn’t come back from A big injury”, but you did say “his”. My bad.
I see a lot of people who only remember Berry’s cancer as his obstacle, overlooking he also got hit with an Achilles. I thought this was that.
Very worthwhile pick up as a UDFA. Hope he gets well and can end up playing, if not for KC somewhere.
I’m shocked he was signed. After reading his medical history, there is a very real chance of the lights going out from one wrong hit (much more than normal).
Tyreek Hill is no longer on the Chiefs,