With the recent signing of fourth-round choice Dadrion Taylor-Demerson, the Arizona Cardinals have only one unsigned draft pick: running back Trey Benson.
The 6-foot, 216-pounder from Florida State was the second selection in the third round (No. 66 overall) and is one of only five unsigned choices in the round. Two others are the first and third picks in the round: Jets wide receiver Malachi Corley and Commanders guard/tackle Brandon Coleman, respectively.
The other two are Buccaneers safety Tykee Smith (26th pick in the round) and Bills defensive tackle DeWayne Carter (32nd).
While the only guaranteed money for third-round picks is in the signing bonus, those players do receive base salaries in 2025-2027 that are higher than the league minimum.
To provide a general area of what Benson’s deal will be, we can look at the contracts signed by the fourth pick in the round, Patriots tackle Caedan Wallace, and the fifth choice, Chargers linebacker Junior Colson.
Wallace: $6,043,304 total value; $1,215,128 signing bonus; $1,098,782 salary-cap charge in 2024. The base salaries are $795,000 this year; $1,069,696 in 2025; $1,344,392 in 2026 and $1,619,088 in 2027.
Colson: $6,027,006 total value; $1,203, 276 signing bonus; $1,095,819 2024 cap charge. His base salaries are $795,000 this year; $1,068,955 in 2025; $1,342,910 in 2026 and $1,616,865 in 2027.
The difference in total value between Wallace and Colson is a little more than $16,000, so it’s easy to see that Benson’s deal will be worth more than Wallace, but not by much.
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