Agent’s Take: What is holding up NFL Draft second-rounders from signing rookie deals?

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Players selected in the NFL Draft began signing at a much faster pace starting in 2012 because of the rookie wage scale implemented in the 2011 NFL collective bargaining agreement after the lockout ended. There are very few negotiable items with rookie contracts anymore. Each pick has a salary floor and ceiling based on draft position. All of these contracts are four years in length, except teams have an option for a fifth year with first-round picks that must be exercised after the third year of the deal.

Out of the 257 players selected in the 2025 NFL Draft, 220 have already signed contracts. Only three first-round picks remain unsigned. Two-way standout Travis Hunter, who was selected second overall by the Jacksonville Jaguars, is the only top-five pick who hasn’t signed. More notably, the Cincinnati Bengals are engaged in a dispute with 17th overall pick Shemar Stewart over contract language relating to the voiding of his salary guarantees.

The most surprising development is that 30 of the 37 unsigned draft picks are from the second round. The last time so few players were signed from any of the seven rounds in an NFL Draft was 2020 when there wasn’t much incentive for early signings since the COVID pandemic eliminated in-person offseason workout programs. Just like with this year’s second round, only two first-round picks were signed by the middle of June 2020.

All of the second-round picks were already signed by this time last year. Ladd McConkey, who was selected 34th overall or with the second pick in the second round by the Los Angeles Chargers, completed the signings on June 17.

The Houston Texans got the ball rolling on this year’s second-round signings by giving 34th overall pick Jayden Higgins (the second pick in the second round) an unprecedented contract on May 8, a day before the rookie minicamp started. Higgins became the first second-round pick in NFL history to get a fully guaranteed contract. McConkey has 62.5% of his fourth-year salary in 2027 fully guaranteed. The other three years of McConkey’s contract were completely secure at signing.

The Cleveland Browns quickly followed suit the next day with Carson Schwesinger, the first pick in the second round, by also fully guaranteeing his entire contract. Without the Texans breaking new ground, Schwesinger’s deal may not have been fully guaranteed. Keon Coleman, 2024’s first pick of the second round, has 80% of his 2027 compensation with the Buffalo Bills fully guaranteed. That’s up from the 70% 2023’s first second-round pick Joey Porter Jr. received as a fourth-year guarantee from the Pittsburgh Steelers. 

The second-round signings have come to a grinding halt because of 40th overall pick Tyler Shough, who was the eighth player selected in the round. According to sources, Shough is insisting on a fully guaranteed contract since he is expecting to be the New Orleans Saints‘ starting quarterback for the 2025 regular-season opener with Derek Carr recently retiring.

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The last 2024 second-rounder to have any money guaranteed in the fourth year was Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Braden Fiske, who was the seventh pick. Fiske has $50,000 guaranteed in 2027, which is 0.51% of his fourth-year salary. 

Occasionally, quarterbacks are able to extract structural concessions from teams that players at other positions can’t. All six of the quarterbacks taken in 2024’s first round were able to get their respective signing bonuses paid in a lump sum. Nobody else in the first round had a lump-sum signing bonus payment. Jalen Milroe and Dillon Gabriel are the only 2025 third-round draftees who have their contracts structured with minimum base salaries in the final three years where the remainder of the salary for these years is in training camp roster bonuses. The Seattle Seahawks and the Browns selected Milroe and Gabriel 28th and 30th, respectively, in the round.

The agents representing the players taken with the third through seventh picks in the second round are in a holding pattern given that they are well aware of Shough’s contract demands. This is because of the NFLPA keeping the agents abreast of key developments in a draft round that could potentially impact the players they represent. The same type of coordination by NFL teams is collusion, which is prohibited by the CBA.

Shough getting a fully guaranteed contract or security for a substantial portion of his fourth-year compensation in 2028 will give the unsigned picks ahead of him more ammunition to do the same. There was a similar occurrence with 2022’s second round. The Texans fully guaranteed the entire third-year salary in 2024 for Jalen Pitre, who was the fifth pick of the second round. Landon Dickerson, the same pick in 2021 by the Philadelphia Eagles, had 40.72% of his 2023 or third-year salary guaranteed. Only the top-two second-round selections, Tyson Campbell (Jaguars) and Elijah Moore (New York Jets) in 2021 had complete security for their third contract years.

The Tennessee Titans and Jets eventually fully guaranteed the third year for Roger McCreary and Breece Hall, 2022’s respective third and fourth picks in the second round. Their deals were finalized a little over two months after Pitre signed in May when the start of training camp was approaching during the latter part of July. 

The third-year guarantees for the two picks immediately after Pitre went from 20% and 7.03% in 2021 to 90.26% and 80% in 2022. Nobody after the seventh pick had any money guaranteed beyond the second contract year in 2021. The eighth, ninth, 10th, 11th and 12th picks in 2022, respectively, got 75.03%, 70.02%, 65%, 60.49% and 55.61% of third-year salary fully guaranteed. 

The players selected within a few picks after Shough are also hoping to benefit from a trickle-down effect for any headway he makes with his fourth-year guarantee. For example, Will Johnson, who was selected by the Arizona Cardinals with the 15th pick in the second round, will likely be looking to get his entire third-year salary guaranteed as well as some portion of his fourth year in 2028. Tyler Nubin, 2024’s 15th pick in the second round, has 78.5% of his third-year salary in 2026 fully guaranteed. The New York Giants didn’t guarantee any of his 2027 salary. 

Having the third year completely secure extended to Jackson Powers-Johnson, who the Las Vegas Raiders selected with 2024’s 12th pick in the second round. Fourth-year contract security stopped in 2024 with Cardinals’ second-round pick Max Melton. The 11th pick of the round has a $50,000 guarantee, which is 2.49% of Melton’s salary, in 2027.

The Pitre effect continued to the 15th pick in 2022 where the Washington Commanders guaranteed 8% or $110,991 of Phidarian Mathis‘ 2024 salary. Players selected at the bottom of this year’s second round are waiting to try to capitalize on Shough by getting any amount of their third-year salary guaranteed. The final five picks in 2024 don’t have anything guaranteed in 2026.

At some point as training camp draws near next month, second-round picks will start agreeing to terms if Shough is still unsigned. Reaping the benefit of Shough won’t be a compelling enough reason for the agents of the other second-round picks to have their clients miss days of training camp.

It remains to be seen whether Shough will win his standoff with the Saints. How the Titans handled second overall pick Marcus Mariota in 2015 could be instructive. 

Mariota was the last 2015 regular draftee to sign. The delay was because of a disagreement over offset language. Mariota obtained provisions that none of the Titans’ other first-round picks following him have gotten in their contracts. His training camp roster bonuses in 2016 through 2018, where most of the money was in the last three years of his rookie contract, didn’t have offsets. The concession was made because the Titans didn’t want Mariota missing the start of training camp in a contract dispute since he was going to be the opening day starting quarterback.

This news was originally published on this post .

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