A look at Jaylen Wright’s projected rookie contract
Former Tennessee running back Jaylen Wright just became the 11th Vol to be selected in the NFL Draft during Josh Heupel era on Rocky Top. Wright was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the fourth round with the 120th pick overall.
Over the last three seasons at Tennessee, Wright totaled 2,297 yards and 18 touchdowns on 368 attempts. He had 409 yards and four touchdowns as a freshman in 2021 and 875 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2022. He averaged 4.8 yards per carry in 2021 and 6.0 yards per carry in 2022.
ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. and Field Yates last week projected Wright as a third-round pick in their three-round NFL mock draft. Wright was the second running back off the board in the ESPN mock draft, with only Texas running back Jonathon Brooks projected ahead of him, so his slide into Saturday comes as a bit of a surprise given the third round run on running backs.
Now, Wright is set to be paid with his rookie contract, according to Spotrac.com.
Wright’s rookie deal is projected at $4,792,600 over four years with a guarantee signing bonus of $772,600
NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah has been high on Wright for sometime shown the draft process and believes he brings plenty to the next level.
“Jaylen Wright’s so explosive and so dynamic,” Jeremiah said this week during a conference call previewing the draft. “In terms of finding fits for him and those guys, look, the speed play is anywhere. I always go back to Kansas City continuing to add speed. I don’t care how many running backs, how many guys they have.
“When I see guys with big-time juice like that, that’s the first team that jumps into my mind.”
