ROOKIE CONTRACTS: Which Teams Have the Best Nucleus of Talent on Rookie Deals?

Locked On NFL Scouting with the Draft Dudes - Daily podcast covering NFL and College Football scouting

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4.6 • 966 Ratings

🗓️ 18 February 2026

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Which NFL teams boast the strongest young core with top talent still on rookie contracts? Joe Marino and Kyle Crabbs sort through every franchise, revealing how draft hauls from 2023 to 2025 have set up the Detroit Lions, Seattle Seahawks, Los Angeles Rams, Houston Texans, Philadelphia Eagles, and Los Angeles Chargers for future dominance. Find out which teams soared to the top by scoring big in the draft, and which clubs—like the Minnesota Vikings, Denver Broncos, and Kansas City Chiefs—face concerns due to a lack of rookie contract production. Key segments spotlight impactful young stars such as Jahmyr Gibbs, Sam LaPorta, Puka Nacua, Devon Witherspoon, and Jalen Carter, while breaking down why the Seahawks' recent draft classes have redefined team building. The discussion raises tough questions: Are the Rams the NFL's masters of late-round value? Can the Vikings reverse their slide under draft capital woes? Hear the full breakdown and discover which front offices are hitting or missing in the modern NFL.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Which team has the best collection of players on rookie contracts?
0:04.4	We've been after it for the last two days.
0:06.3	We're going to tie a ribbon on it and share the results today on the Locked on NFL
0:10.2	Scouting podcast.
0:16.2	You are locked on NFL scouting with the draft dudes, your daily podcast for NFL and college football scouting.
0:24.9	Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day.
0:30.7	What's better than this?
0:32.4	It's guys, being dudes here on the Locked-on NFL Scouting podcast.
0:37.0	Part of the Locked-on podcast network, now the lockdown NFL scouting podcast. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network,
0:38.8	now the number one sports podcast network. We're the draft dudes. I'm Joe Marino from
0:43.7	Lockdown Bills. He's Kyle Crabs from Lockdown Dolphins. And we are your NFL experts here
0:47.8	with you daily to talk team building across the league. We want to issue a big thank you.
0:52.2	Shout out and welcome to our everydayers. Those of you who never miss a single episode, we appreciate y'all being here very, very much. Today's episode is brought to you by Fandul. Use your profit boost on an NBA future and get entered for your chance to win a trip to the NBA finals. Play your game with Fandul, the official sports betting partner of the NBA.
1:13.9	Joe, happy hump day to you.
1:16.2	It's Wednesday, February 18th.
1:21.8	This time next week will be in the middle of the NFL Combine.
1:29.6	I believe it will be the second half of GMs and head coaches will be speaking one week from today at the NFL comine.
1:33.3	And then what on field starts what Thursday? Thursday, I believe, yeah.
1:34.1	Yeah, all right.
1:35.3	So, you're for it.
1:36.9	Saddle up.
1:39.5	One player right now.
	...

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