I generally understand the process for the teams’ draft order, but clueless about the players’ side. Like how are players selected for the drafting list, are professional players with expired contracts eligible for that list, can teams just sign contracts with players before or without going through the draft etc.?
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So, the draft is only for new players coming out of college football. Players already inside the NFL are basically free to renegotiate contracts once their existing one runs out.
The draft is only for new players, usually having just finished whatever amount of college sports they are playing (though the NHL drafts players early and lets them continue amateur play). Bad teams pick first, as a way to distribute the talent more evenly throughout the league. Generally, you can only play for the team that drafts you until the end of your first contract.
Players whose contracts expire can choose their team and contract, though there are some rules governing that as well (restricted free agents can be offered the same contract terms their own team as another and be forced to take it).
The key word you seem to be missing here is entry. They aren’t just drafts, they’re ENTRY drafts for players entering the leagues for the first time. Players can’t just sign contracts without going through the draft process.
If they go through the draft process and are not selected then they can sign whatever contract they want as undrafted free agents.
The drafts are technically “amateur drafts”. Once a player signs their pro contract and joins their union they are no longer considered an amateur and ineligible for the draft. The only main requirement for both drafts is how long you’ve been out of high school. For the NFL it’s 3 years and for the NBA it’s 1 year. The NBA recently stopped high school players from declaring for the draft. If you meet those requirements, you fill out some paperwork to the leagues and they verify your eligibility. If you’re drafted but you don’t want to sign with the team that drafted you, you would have to sit out the year and re-apply for the following years draft. That rarely ever happens though because the cost would be too high for the player.
The draft is for new players. Typically high level collegiate players (for football and basketball) declare for the draft, this is actually a somewhat involved process as they discuss with agents/analysts about how high they might be picked since this will impact their short and long term income potential and if they should declare or wait a year to potentially improve their prospects.
After the draft, if a player declared and went unpicked, they are free to sign with a team for a negotiated contract, but these typcially suck as undrafted players are considered lower tier. If a player is expected to be good, teams will draft them to make sure the team gets that player instead of risking the player negotiating with another team.
For football, a player cannot enter the league without declaring for the draft, and after their first declared year, they can’t go back into it. I believe the NBA is the same way, but I know they’ve developed a minor league recently and am not familiar with the process there.
The drafts only include players coming out of college or foreign players who have not been drafted (NBA) coming into the league for the first time. Any college player who graduates or completes their eligibility is automatically eligible, otherwise players can declare to enter the draft. In the NBA, players can declare for the draft any time after their first year of college (or a year after graduating from high school). For the NFL, players can declare for the draft after 3 years of college or post-graduation from high school.
Leagues typically hold workouts called combines for players likely to be drafted to be scouted, where they may do physical tests like sprints, jumping and bench presses, as well as show off sport-related skills like throwing/catching a ball or shooting.
Players who are eligible for the draft but go undrafted can then sign with any team as an undrafted free agent. Players cannot sign with a team prior to the draft.
Veteran players are not part of the draft. Players with expired contracts are just free agents.
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