For sixteen members of Northwestern’s 2025 squad, the moment many of them have been waiting for since they first put on a pair of shoulder pads is finally here.
The 2026 NFL Draft kicks off Thursday night. With it, players have 257 potential opportunities to hear their names called in Pittsburgh, a sign that opportunity has come, and an NFL front office wants them to play for its team.
The process through which collegiate athletes get to the NFL, however, is anything but clear. Despite the larger-than-life atmosphere surrounding professional sports and its hefty salaries, the National Football League is ultimately a business and operates as such.
As NU alumni and athletes alike know, securing an entry-level position often entails multiple interviews, layers of red tape, a general lack of transparency and, ultimately, more failures than successes. While the nature of professional sports makes it difficult to remember, being a pro athlete is still a job, with new hires subject to the same difficulties.
Before any ’Cats hear their names called Thursday night, here’s what you need to know about NU’s graduating class and the logistics behind the 2026 NFL Draft.
How to watch
The 2026 NFL Draft begins Thursday at 7 p.m. CDT. The three-day event will be held on Pittsburgh’s North Shore and broadcast live on NFL Network, ABC and ESPN. The night comprises the first of the draft’s seven rounds, in which its initial 32 selections will be made.
Day 2 of the draft resumes Friday at 6 p.m. and covers rounds two and three, concluding with the 100th overall selection this year. Saturday spans the final four rounds, with the all-day affair beginning at 11 a.m.
Potential Northwestern draftees
After no ’Cat was drafted last year for the first time since 2022, NU will, in all likelihood, be represented at this year’s draft.
NU’s group of prospects is led by tackle Caleb Tiernan, a widely-projected Day 2 pick. Tiernan was one of three former ’Cats to participate in the NFL Combine earlier this year, and his impressive athletic testing results in Indianapolis turned heads in the media and from teams alike.
Tiernan was joined by one of his peers on the line, guard Evan Beerntsen, at the combine.
Beerntsen made the most of his lone year in Evanston, skyrocketing up draft boards and earning the No. 15 guard ranking in NFL draft analyst Dane Brugler’s annual top-300 board in his final year of eligibility. In total, five members of the NU O-line room, including all but one of its primary starters from the past season, could make their way onto an NFL roster next season.
Quarterback Preston Stone, running back Cam Porter and tight end Lawson Albright round out an eight-man class for the ’Cats’ offense.
On the other side of the ball, defensive lineman Aidan Hubbard was NU’s only defensive combine invitee and is the group’s highest-rated prospect on most draft boards. Hubbard graduates as the ’Cats’ fifth all-time leader in sacks, with 20.5 across his four years of playing time in Evanston.
Five other NU starters will also have a chance at going pro this year. Defensive lineman Carmine Bastone, who sported a No. 1 jersey as this year’s “Wildcat,” and linebacker Mac Uihlein were vocal mainstays in the ’Cats’ locker room, and defensive lineman Najee Story, cornerback Fred Davis II and safety Garner Wallace anchored their position groups alongside them.
The ’Cats also graduate two specialists, with long snapper Liam Reardon and punter Luke Akers participating in NU’s Pro Day ahead of their potential ventures into professional play. It’s unlikely either will be drafted — only four special teams players were selected in 2025, none of whom were taken in the first five rounds — but both may get looks as undrafted free agents.
Reardon finished the season as PFF’s highest-graded long snapper in the FBS and garnered additional media attention with a forced fumble and recovery on the same play during NU’s game at Wrigley Field against Michigan.
Akers earned an All-Big Ten Honorable Mention, averaging a career-best 45.0 yards per punt. He also displayed some versatility throughout the season, performing well in occasional stints as the team’s kickoff specialist and place-kicker.
Next steps
The journeys of first-round picks through the spring and summer of their rookie seasons are well-documented. From the draft to rookie minicamp, preseason performances and everything in between, the draft’s marquee selections live the next few months in the limelight.
That is not the case for all rookies, though, and the inner workings of the NFL machine can be surprisingly mysterious for a viewer looking to keep up with their favorite college athletes at the next level.
Those selected in the middle rounds traverse the same calendar of events but tend to receive less media attention and playing time for their efforts. However, the majority of NFL players don’t hear their name called in the first two days of the draft.
Of the 756 rookies to sign their first pro contracts in 2025, 13% were chosen in the first three rounds and 21% waited until the last day of the draft to hear their name called. The nearly two-thirds of other prospects that got a shot at their NFL dreams went undrafted — and for many of them, that can actually be a good thing.
Why? Because NFL careers are famously short.
Around the margins, specialists and quarterbacks are the most likely to make it to a second contract. But for NU’s 13 prospects with other sets of talents, their position groups spend fewer than four years in the league on average, with many playing for only one or two years of their rookie deals. As such, the terms of a player’s first contract are often the most impactful.
Undrafted free agency is a perilous place, but it also provides added flexibility. Undrafted free agents, as the name suggests, have relatively more agency in their contract negotiations.
Using the contract of the final pick of last year’s draft — New England Patriots cornerback Kobee Minor — as an example, the length and pay of his four-year, $4.3 million deal was predetermined by the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement.
The total amount guaranteed is technically up for negotiation — a fact that made headlines this past year. But with little leverage at the bottom of the draft, Minor’s $101,672 total guaranteed at signing is standard affair.
To note, the rookie pay scale adjusts every year as the league’s salary cap grows, as does the league minimum salary, which serves as a baseline for all UDFA deals. Their contracts face a different set of restrictions, mandated to be three-year deals and subject to a separate total cap for contracts given out by any one team. However, there is no exact pay scale for drafted players.
With extenuating circumstances allowing two players to already ink deals, the pair’s three-year, $3.1 million contracts set a baseline just below the per-year-average of this year’s future final draftee. Following deals will likely vary only slightly in their totals, as the difference in the highest- and lowest-paying UDFA contracts last season was just $55,000.
But with the leverage to sign with any team, the cream of the undrafted crop typically receive more guaranteed money than their late-round draftee peers.
Among the 499 UDFAs to sign a contract in 2025, 157 of them negotiated higher guarantees than those received by Minor, including former NU wide receiver AJ Henning, who will receive $135,000 from his first contract with the Miami Dolphins.
For players on the roster bubble, guaranteed money is key.
When a player is released by their team and subject to waivers, other teams have the ability to claim them, retaining their existing contract. If they go unclaimed, however, their contract is terminated, as was the case for Henning and Minor.
Both cleared waivers after being released in August and re-signed to their respective teams’ practice squads. The two receive a $13,000 weekly salary during the season but have no guaranteed money left on their contracts.
For the nearly 90% of UDFAs who did not make their teams’ initial 53-man roster this past season, any cashflow from the guarantees of a terminated contract go a long way.
Nearly a third of all UFDAs will earn at least $100,000 from their first contract, but a nearly equal split receive either less than $10,000 or no guaranteed money at all.
One of Minor’s peers on the Patriots practice squad, former NU tight end Marshall Lang, was guaranteed only $5,000 of his $2.97 million contract with the Seattle Seahawks. After being released and bouncing between the two teams’ practice squads, Lang’s career earnings total just under $50,000, according to Spotrac.
Getting drafted is the most reliable way to make it to the NFL, but regardless of which ’Cats have their names called in Pittsburgh later this week, there may be opportunities for the other members of the graduating class to play football at the professional level — and the days after the draft will be equally, if not more, important for those new rookies.
Email: [email protected]
X: @aboyko_nu
Related Stories:
— ‘A blessing’: Cam Porter participates in Northwestern Pro Day after season-ending injury
— Football: Northwestern stars on and off the field at 2026 NFL Combine
— Football: What’s next for Northwestern’s slate of undrafted free agents