OXNARD, Calif. -- The Los Angeles Rams held their annual rookie signing day Thursday, officially signing their six-man draft class, including No. 1 overall pick Jared Goff, to their first NFL contracts.
Goff, receivers Pharoh Cooper and Mike Thomas, tight ends Tyler Higbee and Temarrick Hemingway and linebacker Josh Forrest signed their rookie contracts at the team's football headquarters in Oxnard. The team announced the signings via Twitter.
Goff's four-year contract is worth $27.9 million with more than $18.5 million guaranteed. It also includes the standard fifth-year option that goes with being a first-round draft pick.
It's official! Jared Goff has signed his contract! Congrats @JaredGoff16! pic.twitter.com/zEocLfvA1q
— Dani Klupenger (@daniklup) June 9, 2016
The rest of the league had already signed most of its draft class, but the Rams do things a little differently in an effort to educate their rookies before handing over large sums of money.
The Rams have been holding a sort of "rookie school" since the group arrived after the draft. La'Roi Glover, the team's director of player programs, brought in experts to offer seminars on money management, buying or renting a home and other important life skills.
This year's education also included some help from the league, which dispatched representatives to each NFL city to give more personalized attention to each team than the annual rookie symposium could provide.
There isn't much drama to rookie deals since the new collective bargaining agreement came into effect in 2011 and the rookie salary cap was put in place. The contracts are essentially slotted and there's little room for negotiation, which means it's not all that difficult to get deals done. That's why most other teams are able to quickly sign their rookies after the draft.
In the past few years, the Rams have traditionally signed their rookie class at some point in mid-June. They signed their 2013 group on June 13 and the 2014 and 2015 classes on June 12.
