The 2024 NFL Draft wrapped up this weekend in Detroit as Notre Dame had a successful 3 days adding to its long list of players who were selected by the world’s top professional league. A few players were picked much higher than predicted which is always great to see for them and their families.

Here’s a recap of the weekend:

Notre Dame Draft Picks

OT Joe Alt
1st Round, 5th Pick
5th Overall
Los Angeles Raiders

After being locked in to the no. 7 overall pick in nearly every mock draft imaginable with not many predicting it would change for the better, Joe Alt ends up going 2 picks higher to the Chargers anyway. With the sharp tiered structure of rookie contracts at the top of the NFL Draft it’s a decision that will net the former Irish tackle an extra $7.1 million in total salary and $5.2 million in a signing bonus from just the 7th pick as previously predicted. In total, Alt will sign a $33.1 million deal and $20.9 million signing bonus.

With Los Angeles keeping promising 4th-year left tackle and former 1st round pick Rashawn Slater the assumption is that Alt will begin his career at right tackle in 2024. This is the highest Notre Dame draft pick since Rick Mirer went 2nd overall in 1993.

As an aside, I think it’s lame when guaranteed top picks don’t attend the NFL Draft. Back in 2007, there was a big story about tackle Joe Thomas skipping the draft to go fishing with his dad and ever since then it’s become fashionable to skip out.

Who thinks a set up like this is a good idea???

Going to the draft and being present is so much awesome free advertising for Notre Dame! Not only do you look like a giant goober having a birthday party sitting at home instead but it’s so much less intimate than if you’re on location with your closest family. You’re also not wearing a nice suit and your significant other is much more likely to be part of a meme.

OT Blake Fisher
2nd Round, 27th Pick
59th Overall
Houston Texans

Blake Fisher surely was confident in his abilities, got a lot of good advise, and/or both because the former Irish right tackle exceeded all expectations going late in the 2nd round to the rising Houston Texans. This was 63 spots higher than my scouting report prediction recently!

At this draft slot, Fisher is expected to sign a 4-year deal worth $6.5 million with a $1.5 million signing bonus.

The Texans just restructured right tackle Tytus Howard’s contract recently to save some cap space. He had a lot of money converted into a signing bonus and will still carry a not insignificant $8.4 million cap hit this year. Howard has also been banged up a lot and is coming off a knee injury suffered late last year. His cap hit jumps up to $23 million for 2025 and with an out in his contract after 2024 you can bet Fisher should be the long-term future after his rookie season.

LB Marist Liufau
3rd Round, 24th Pick
87th Overall
Dallas Cowboys

This is great news for Liufau who gets selected in the late 3rd round and goes an insane 132 picks higher than my prediction. In terms of money our prediction would’ve had him signing a 4-year deal around $4.14 million and now that’ll jump up to $5.7 million with a much larger signing bonus at nearly $1 million.

Liufau will walk into a situation in Dallas where there will be a decent amount of opportunity.

The Cowboys signed veteran Eric Kendricks to a 1-year deal this off-season and at 32 years old he’s hardly the future. The team also saw 28 year old Leighton Vander Esche medically retire recently after 6 seasons in Dallas. Third-year pro Damone Clark comes back after leading the team in tackles but the Cowboys have a ridiculously small amount of cap money tied up at the linebacker position (just $8.66 million before rookie contracts, a quarter of which is dead cap money from Vander Esche) and Liufau could be a backup almost immediately in 2024.

CB Cam Hart
5th Round, 5th Pick
140th Overall
Los Angeles Chargers

Hart ended up being the 19th corner selected in this year’s NFL Draft, although he still went about half a round higher than I projected with his scouting report. At this slot, he will be sign a 4-year contract worth just a little over $4.3 million including a $355,000+ signing bonus. Does Jim Harbaugh like these Notre Dame players or what?

The Chargers were looking for depth at corner and some long-term help at the position. They’ll get just that with Hart while the team also took Maryland corner Tarheeb Still just 3 picks earlier in the 5th round.

LB JD Bertrand
5th Round, 8th Pick
143rd Overall
Atlanta Falcons

It’s a weird situation where patience was growing thin with Notre Dame’s linebackers last year but 2 Irish players at this position were just picked in the same draft for the first time since 2002 when Rocky Boiman went 133rd overall and Tyreo Harrison went 198th overall.

At this draft slot, Bertand will sign a $4.3 million contract with a $349,000 signing bonus.

This is a decent home for Bertrand who could walk into a backup role behind Kaden Elliss who signed a 3 year deal for $21.5 million last off-season. Of course, the talk in Atlanta is already high on Bertrand contributing immediately on special teams.

RB Audric Estime
5th Round, 12th Pick
147th Overall
Denver Broncos

Estime was the 11th running back off the board which about where most mock drafts had him on their boards. However, only 1 running back was selected in the first 2 rounds so everyone else slid a little further down in the overall pecking order. At this slot, Estime will sign a deal for $4.3 million with a $337,000 signing bonus.

On paper, this doesn’t look like a great situation with the Broncos bringing back their top 3 rushers from 2023, plus they signed a futures contract with Tyler Badie back in January, too. However, I’d expect Denver to make some roster moves if Estime proves to be as productive as we think he can be.

For example, Samaje Perine has one more year left on his deal and he wasn’t used enough nor effective enough last year to justify his $4.5 million cap hit. The Broncos could cut him and take the $1.5 million dead cap hit in this situation. That would leave former 2nd round pick and the team’s 2023 leading rusher Javonte Williams in the last year of his rookie contract and former undrafted free agent Jaleel McLaughlin with 2 years remaining on a team-friendly deal as competition for Estime.

DE Javontae Jean-Baptiste
7th Round, 2nd pick
222nd Overall
Washington Commanders

Washington taking JJB in the 7th round makes it 7 overall picks for Notre Dame in this draft, the most since 2021 when 9 Fighting Irish heard their name called. At this slot, the contract value for JJB will be $4.1 million with a $114,000 signing bonus.

This will be a close one for a roster spot in 2024. The Commanders signed former Dallas Cowboys edge rusher Dorance Armstrong this off-season to a 3 year $33 million contract and also dipped into the Dallas roster to sign Dante Fowler to a 1 year deal worth $3.25 million. If JJB can stick around in the franchise there could be more playing time available after 2024.

Free Agents

QB Sam Hartman
Washington Commanders

CB Thomas Harper
Los Angeles Chargers

PK Spencer Shrader
Indianapolis Colts

The decision for Hartman to sign with Washington is a head scratcher. The Commanders just took Jayden Daniels 2nd overall where they’ll be committing major investment as the future of the franchise. The team also signed Marcus Mariota to a 1 year deal and also inked a one year deal with Jeff Driskel and Jake Fromm is still on the books with a 1 year deal, as well.

The aforementioned Still mentioned above projects to play nickel for the Chargers so Thomas Harper will be competing with the 5th round pick for a roster spot in Los Angeles.

The Colts signed former 5th round pick Matt Gay last off-season and he has 3 more years left on his deal, although he missed 8 field goals in his debut season with Indianapolis.

Rookie Camp Invites

LS Michael Vinson
Indianapolis Colts

Can Vinson walk in the footsteps of JJ Jansen and carve out a NFL career as a long snapper? The veteran Jansen just signed yet another 1 year deal with Carolina and will be playing his 16th season with the Panthers in 2024.

Condolences to Michael Bryan and any other Falcons fans amongst us.