Wisconsin's Austin Brown gets eye-popping guaranteed money from the Colts

The Wisconsin Badgers got shut out of the NFL Draft but are among the top teams in sending players to the NFL via UDFAs. 11 different Badgers agreed to NFL deals to begin the process of working their way onto a permanent NFL roster by week 1. Not all financial deals are publicized for UDFA signings, and the only real difference between UDFA signings is the guaranteed money. All sign league minimum deals. So when Austin Brown's guaranteed money with the Colts was released, it was eye-popping.

Austin Brown signed a UDFA deal with the Indianapolis Colts, and the guaranteed money is $272,500. That's a huge guaranteed amount and basically equal to a year's salary of a practice squad player. It shows the Colts did not want to lose him to another team and were willing to overpay any other sharks circling.

Austin Brown reportedly has 272k in guaranteed money from the Colts

Related: 4 Wisconsin UDFAs who have the best shot to make a Week 1 NFL roster

That money is due to Brown regardless of whether he makes the roster, practice squad, or is ultimately cut. That's very important to note, as the belief in him is clearly strong enough to give him that deal.

Most UDFA signings, the guaranteed money is more like 5-10k; occasionally, you'll see other deals like Brown's, but they aren't extremely common.

It could be due to having Hunter Wohler already on the roster as a backup safety. A player that GM Chris Ballard clearly likes and said would have had a big role for the Colts had Wohler not been injured before the season. Brown is from the same school and pipeline and even played alongside Wohler.

There may be something they saw in Brown that got them excited to pair him with Wohler in the same room again. Regardless, it's a huge signing bonus, and there's clearly a belief from the Colts that Brown will make the roster, or worse case, join the practice squad in Indianapolis.

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