Can a college football player opt out of the draft?

Under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement college players get into the NFL by being drafted (in which case their negotiation rights are held by the clubs that drafted them) or by being subject to the draft and NOT being drafted, in which case a player is a free agent. read more

Teams choose which players they will have exclusive rights to in terms of where they can play professional football for the current league year. Players don’t enter the draft - they are entered into the draft. The league looks at about 3,000 college football players and determines which of them are draft eligible. read more

College players are not automatically placed in the draft pool, they need to opt in. This is an agreement that they will play for the team that drafts them, or at least, they are not able to play for any other team. If they register for the draft and do not get selected, then they are free to sign with any team they choose as an undrafted free agent. read more