"Under the old rules, Cam Newton might've commanded a rookie contract including up to $60 million in guaranteed money before taking an NFL snap.

And now?

With the NFL pushing for a rookie wage scale as part of a new labor deal, the quarterback chosen No. 1 overall by the Carolina Panthers and other high draft picks are undoubtedly braced to feel the effects of a major landscape change.

Last year's top pick, Sam Bradford, signed a six-year deal with the St. Louis Rams that guaranteed a record $50 million. In 2009, Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford got $41 million guaranteed as the No. 1 pick.

Any chance that Newton sees those type of numbers?

"I don't know about that," Panthers owner Jerry Richardson said during NFL meetings in Indianapolis last month. "We don't even have a system in place."

Unlike previous years, when the No. 1 pick was typically signed before the draft, Richardson contended that the Panthers had no pre-draft contract talks with Newton.

That's another unusual twist from a wild offseason dictated by an NFL lockout now in its 15th week.

Asked if it was unsettling to select Newton without knowing parameters of a rookie scale, Richardson said, "There are many things that we don't know, and that happens to be one of them. But I wouldn't say that's the most unsettling. Just one of them."

As NFL owners meet in Chicago this week, it is apparent a rookie scale won't be a major snag in reaching a labor deal. Not with larger revenue questions in play."