Morris Claiborne is only flying in to shake hands with Jerry Jones for the first time today, but the LSU cornerback probably already knows how much the Cowboys owner will be paying him in the coming years.
Because of the slotting of draft pick salaries, Claiborne can expect to make a little bit more than last year's sixth-overall pick, Julio Jones of the Atlanta Falcons.
Jones signed a fully-guaranteed, four-year deal worth $16.2 million. He counted just under $3 million against the cap in the first year of the deal, which esalates to roughly a $5.15 million charge in the final season of the contract.
While the money is totally guaranteed, Claiborne will make far less than the No. 6 pick in years previous to last year's introduction of the new rookie wage scale.
Seattle picked tackle Russell Okung at No. 6 in 2010, later signing him to a six-year deal worth as much as $58 million, with $30 million in guarantees.
Jones said the new wage structure makes it more palatable to trade up into the top 10 because there is less financial risk associated with those picks now. At the same time, teams who own early picks shouldn't necessarily be so motivated to trade down.
"It looks like it's creating some action that hadn't been there before and that really was a big goal of the CBA," Jones said. "Those picks had just gotten so outlandish relative to the financial aspect of the thing. It's not the case now."
