Packers' rookie pool announced

With no first-round pick, Green Bay ranks lower than normal, Packer Report's Steve Lawrence reports.

Due in part to not having a first-round draft pick, the Green Bay Packers will have a total of $4,076,190 to sign their nine draft picks and undrafted rookies, according to a source at the NFL Players Association.

The Packers traded out of the first round of the draft last month and selected wide receiver Jordy Nelson No. 36th overall. Last year’s 36th pick, Philadephia Eagles quarterback Kevin Kolb, signed a four-year deal worth $4.32 million, with $2.62 million guaranteed.

Partly because Kolb is a quarterback, that represented an 11.5 percent increase over 2006’s 36th pick, Patriots receiver Chad Jackson.

The Packers’ rookie salary pool ranks 19th out of the NFL’s 32 teams. That pales to 2006, when the Packers were given a league-high $6.647 million to sign 12 picks, including No. 5 overall selection A.J. Hawk. In 2007, the Packers had $4.907 million to sign their league-high 11 draft picks, including No. 16 overall selection Justin Harrell.

The Chiefs have the highest rookie salary pool, $8.22 million, to ink their NFL-high 12 draft picks, according to ESPN.com.