Alabama
Alabama Roots: NFL Draft picks sign for $137.6 million
Dallas Turner signed his first NFL contract with the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, the team announced, bringing all the players with Alabama football roots picked in the 2024 NFL Draft under contract in time for training camp.
The other 26 draft picks who had played for Alabama high schools and colleges already had signed their first contracts by the time the No. 17 pick and the Vikings got the details hammered out on his deal.
Each player picked in the NFL Draft receives a four-year contract, and the range in the total value of those deals for the Alabama-roots players in the 2024 draft stretches from around $26.045 million to about $4.101 million. The approximate value of the 27 contracts is $137.606 million.
The values of the contracts are based on the NFL’s salary cap of $255.4 million for the 2024 season and this year’s rookie compensation pool in a formula spelled out in the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the league and its players association. While the values of rookie contracts aren’t negotiable, other factors are, including the amount of guaranteed money.
It wasn’t always that way. Before 2011, all factors were in play for negotiation, and quarterback JaMarcus Russell (Williamson) signed the biggest contract for a rookie from an Alabama high school or college as the No. 1 pick of the 2007 draft at $61 million for six years with the Oakland Raiders.
One of this year’s draft picks isn’t in training camp and will never play in the NFL. A fourth-round selection of the Minnesota Vikings, former Alabama cornerback Khyree Jackson died in a traffic accident on July 6.
A rundown on what the drafted players who played at Alabama high schools and colleges signed for this year, with values from the sports financial web site spotrac.com:
J.C. Latham, offensive tackle, Alabama
First round, Tennessee Titans: Four years for $26.045 million, including a $15.762 million signing bonus. The contract is fully guaranteed and carries a team option for a fifth season.
Bo Nix, quarterback, Pinson Valley High School, Auburn
First round, Denver Broncos: Four years for $18.613 million, including a $10.357 signing bonus. The contract is fully guaranteed and carries a team option for a fifth season.
Dallas Turner, linebacker, Alabama
First round, Minnesota Vikings: Four years for $15.767 million, including an $8.287 signing bonus. The contract is fully guaranteed and carries a team option for a fifth season.
Terrion Arnold, cornerback, Alabama
First round, Detroit Lions: Four years for $14.344 million, including a $7.252 million signing bonus. The contract is fully guaranteed and carries a team option for a fifth season.
Ga’Quincy “Kool-Aid” McKinstry, cornerback, Pinson Valley High School, Alabama
Second round, New Orleans Saints: Four years for $9.157 million, including a $3.48 million signing bonus. The contract includes $7.282 million in guaranteed money.
Kamari Lassister, cornerback, American Christian Academy in Tuscaloosa
Second round, Houston Texans: Four years for $9.015 million, including a $3.376 million signing bonus. The contract includes $7.091 million in guaranteed money.
Chris Braswell, linebacker, Alabama
Second round, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Four years for $6.785 million, including a $1.755 million signing bonus. The contract includes $3.885 million in guaranteed money.
Jermaine Burton, wide receiver, Alabama
Third round, Cincinnati Bengals: Four years for $5.821 million, including a $1.053 million signing bonus. The signing bonus is the guaranteed portion of the contract.
Justin Eboigbe, defensive lineman, Alabama
Fourth round, Los Angeles Chargers: Four years for $4.859 million, including an $839,012 signing bonus. The signing bonus is the guaranteed portion of the contract.
Khyree Jackson, cornerback, Alabama
Fourth round, Minnesota Vikings: Four years for $4.847 million, including an $827,148 signing bonus. The signing bonus is the guaranteed portion of the contract.
Javon Baker, wide receiver, Alabama
Fourth round, New England Patriots: Four years for $4.807 million, including a $786,748 signing bonus. The signing bonus is the guaranteed portion of the contract.
Nehemiah Pritchett, cornerback, Jackson High School, Auburn
Fifth round, Seattle Seahawks: Four years for $4.399 million, including a $379,072 signing bonus. The signing bonus is the guaranteed portion of the contract.
Kris Abrams-Draine, cornerback, Spanish Fort High School
Fifth round, Denver Broncos: Four years for $4.368 million, including a $348,272 signing bonus. The signing bonus is the guaranteed portion of the contract.
Jaylin Simpson, defensive back, Auburn
Fifth round, Indianapolis Colts: Four years for $4.317 million, including a $297,012 signing bonus. The signing bonus is the guaranteed portion of the contract.
Keilan Robinson, running back, Alabama
Fifth round, Jacksonville Jaguars: Four years for $4.302 million, including a $281,956 signing bonus. The signing bonus is the guaranteed portion of the contract.
Javon Solomon, linebacker, Troy
Fifth round, Buffalo Bills: Four years for $4.274 million, including a $254,276 signing bonus. The signing bonus is the guaranteed portion of the contract.
Kimani Vidal, running back, Troy
Sixth round, Los Angeles Chargers: Four years for $4.227 million, including a $207,436 signing bonus. The signing bonus is the guaranteed portion of the contract.
Jase McClellan, running back, Alabama
Sixth round, Atlanta Falcons: Four years for $4.214 million, including a $194,368 million signing bonus. The signing bonus is the guaranteed portion of the contract.
Tejhaun Palmer, wide receiver, UAB
Sixth round, Arizona Cardinals: Four years for $4.205 million, including a $185,228 signing bonus. The signing bonus is the guaranteed portion of the contract.
D.J. James, cornerback, Spanish Fort High School, Auburn
Sixth round, Seattle Seahawks: Four years for $4.204 million, including a $184,432 signing bonus. The signing bonus is the guaranteed portion of the contract.
Will Reichard, kicker, Hoover High School, Alabama
Sixth round, Minnesota Vikings: Four years for $4.191 million, including a $170,620 signing bonus. The signing bonus is the guaranteed portion of the contract.
Tylan Grable, offensive tackle, Jacksonville State
Sixth round, Buffalo Bills: Four years for $4.19 million, including a $169,912 signing bonus. The signing bonus is the guaranteed portion of the contract.
Nathaniel Watson, linebacker, Maplesville High School
Sixth round, Cleveland Browns: Four years for $4.183 million, including a $162,724 signing bonus. The signing bonus is the guaranteed portion of the contract.
Cedric Johnson, defensive end, Davidson High School in Mobile
Sixth round, Cincinnati Bengals: Four years for $4.158 million, including a $138,388 signing bonus. The signing bonus is the guaranteed portion of the contract.
Justin Rogers, defensive tackle, Auburn
Seventh round, Dallas Cowboys: Four years for $4.108 million, including an $87,640 signing bonus. The signing bonus is the guaranteed portion of the contract.
Marcus Harris, defensive tackle, Park Crossing High School in Montgomery, Auburn
Seventh round, Houston Texans: Four years for $4.105 million, including an $85,480 signing bonus. The signing bonus is the guaranteed portion of the contract.
Jaylen Key, safety, Alabama
Seventh round, New York Jets: Four years for $4.101 million, including an $80,736 signing bonus. The signing bonus is the guaranteed portion of the contract.
FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OURNFL PAGE
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at@AMarkG1.
Jones transferred to Alabama from Wake Forrest prior to the 2024 campaign.
Alabama defensive back DaShawn Jones has officially declared for the 2026 NFL draft.
A senior out of Baltimore, Maryland, Jones was an excellent rotational piece in the Alabama secondary throughout the 2025 campaign. Jones joined the Crimson Tide in 2024 after transferring in from Wake Forrest, and the defensive back took full advantage of the opportunities he was given and thrived in Tuscaloosa as a result. The former three-star prospect recorded 11 solo tackles and one interception this season, as the playmaker will now turn his attention towards the NFL draft in April.
Jones was ranked as the No. 137 cornerback and the No. 1551 overall player from the class of 2021, per the 247Sports Composite rankings, prior to attending Wake Forest to begin his collegiate career. The talented defensive back played far above his expectations over the course of his college career, as the former Demon Deacon was a solid contributor during his time at both Wake Forrest and Alabama.
Jones could quickly prove to be an excellent pick up for any team that choses to draft him, as the promising playmaker’s time in Tuscaloosa officially comes to an end.
Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion.
Driver license, please
A case we followed here in 2022 has found its way to the Alabama Supreme Court.
AL.com’s Sarah Whites-Koditschek reports that the question is whether Alabama Police officers can demand to see people’s driver licenses or other IDs if they have probable cause.
In 2022, Childersburg Police answered a call about somebody on the property of people who were not home. The man, Michael Jennings, said he was watering flowers for his neighbors. The officers told him to provide an ID. He would only give his name as “Pastor Jennings” and refused to provide identification. Eventually the officers arrested him on a charge of obstructing government operations.
Attorney Ed Haden is representing the city and a group of police officers. He argued before the justices that state law gives officers with probable cause the authority to identify people, and that means a full name verified by identification.
Jennings attorney Henry Daniels argued the opposite, telling the justices that “Entitlement to live one’s life free from unwarranted interference by law enforcement or other governmental entities is fundamental to liberty.”
How low can you go?
Alabama’s preliminary, seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for December came in at a low 2.7% and was accompanied by record-breaking employment totals, reports AL.com’s Heather Gann.
Alabama Department of Workforce Secretary Greg Reed announced the figures on Wednesday.
Records fell for the number of people counted as employed and wage and salary employment. The difference between those two stats is that “wage and salary employment” doesn’t include a few types of workers such as the self-employed.
Alabama’s 2.7% rate was down from 3.3% in November ’24. And it was tracking well below the national rate.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. unemployment rate was 4.6%. That’s low, historically speaking, but the highest it’s been since September 2021.
RIP, songwriter Jim McBride
Huntsville native, country-music songwriter and Alabama Music Hall of Famer Jim McBride has passed away, reports AL.com’s Patrick Darrington.
McBride, who was from Huntsville, wrote or co-wrote No. 1s such as Johnny Lee’s “Bet Your Heart on Me” and Waylon Jennings’ very last chart-topper, “Rose in Paradise.”
With legends such as Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson and George Jones cutting his songs, he became a Nashville mainstay himself during the 1980s. In the country-music business, a lot of figures like McBride aren’t the household names of the recording artists, but the smart recording artists are going to gravitate to somebody who can take a song or a hook or an idea and turn it into something that might hit. So the songwriters become famous inside the industry and many of them are like family to the Opry stars and in high demand for late-night guitar pulls. We had another one — Bobby Tomberlin — on the podcast on Sept. 12, and he told some great stories about that life.
Well, one of those smart recording artists who wound up in McBride’s orbit in the late ’80s was a fresh-faced Alan Jackson. Their songwriter partnership produced the No. 1 songs “Someday” and CMA Single and Song of the year “Chattahoochee” as well as many others, including the Top 5s “Chasing That Neon Rainbow” and “(Who Says) You Can’t Have it All.”
That alone is a career.
Jim McBride was 78 years old.
Quoting
“To all our ICE agents in Minnesota and across the country: if you are violently attacked, SHOOT BACK.”
U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, in a response to a woman’s being shot and killed in Minnesota on Wednesday after she allegedly tried to drive her SUV into an immigration officer.
By the Numbers
60%
That’s the percentage of Alabamians in an AL.com survey that said they expect to spend more on housing or rental costs this year compared to 2025.
Born on This Date
In 1977, actress Amber Benson of Birmingham.
The podcast
Alabama football will see one of its ex-starters next season. Wilkin Formby is joining Texas A&M out of the transfer portal, after three seasons with the Crimson Tide.
Formby shared the news to his Instagram account on Wednesday. He opted to enter the transfer portal after the 2025 season came to an end with a 38-3 loss to Indiana in the Rose Bowl.
The Tuscaloosa native and Northridge product played both guard and tackle this past season. Coaches praised his versatility.
“Wilkin obviously has the athleticism to to play inside, and the size,” offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb said in September. “So I think there’s a couple things that happen for Wilkin in there, his natural pad-level because he’s got his hand in the dirt, and he’s got a good base and wide frame, so he’d done a really nice job in there. So we keep working on that and expand. As long as he can stay right-handed, playing on the right side, I think the transition for him is easy.”
Formby started out the year at right tackle, where he had previously played. He eventually moved over to guard, after Michael Carroll emerged as a viable tackle option.
The departure of Formby is part of a larger renovation of the Crimson Tide’s offensive line, which has now lost every starter besides Carroll. Kadyn Proctor and Parker Brailsford opted to leave early for the NFL Draft, while Geno VanDeMark, Kam Dewberry and Jaeden Roberts are out of eligibility.
Alabama is also losing several reserve linemen to the portal. Arkel Anugwom is entering, joining Olaus Alinen (who committed to Kentucky), Joseph Ionata and Micah DeBose.
UA has made one offensive line pickup from the portal. Former Michigan center Kaden Strayhorn is joining the Tide.
Alabama will face Formby in Tuscaloosa this season. Texas A&M visits Bryant-Denny Stadium on Oct. 24.
Undergraduate players can opt to enter the transfer portal through Jan. 16.
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