In 2011, the NFL and NFL Gamers Affiliation reached a deal on a brand new collective bargaining settlement. An enormous piece of the brand new settlement was a rookie wage scale, limiting how a lot gamers on their first NFL contracts could be paid. In 2010, Sam Bradford’s six-year, $78 million deal made him the highest-paid participant in NFL historical past regardless of by no means enjoying a snap, and homeowners pushed laborious for the change.
As a result of rookie wages have been slotted in ever since, and the penalties for holding out have been additionally drastically elevated, we haven’t seen numerous contract points with rookies within the final decade. This yr, it’s very totally different.
2025 second-round picks are unsigned throughout the NFL
On Could eighth, the Houston Texans inked their second-round choose, Jayden Higgins, to a typical four-year deal on the slotted thirty fourth general choose compensation price. Nothing about that was bizarre. However the contract was the primary absolutely assured contract for a second-round participant in NFL historical past. To that time, solely first-round gamers signed absolutely assured contracts.
At slot 33, the Cleveland Browns have been in a bind. Picks 32 and 34 each had absolutely assured contracts, in order that they must do it, too. The following day the Browns adopted swimsuit, signing Carson Swesinger to a completely assured deal.
That’s the place it’s ended. No different second-rounders have signed as all of them try to barter absolutely assured offers, as nicely. The Seattle Seahawks and choose 35 Nick Emmanwori are the following domino within the dialog, but when one other participant additional down the draft order will get a completely assured deal, the floodgates might open.
For a bit of context, final yr’s thirty third general choose, Keon Coleman of the Buffalo Payments, signed a four-year deal price $10,074,258 per Spotrac, a web site dedicated to sports activities contracts. $9,640,505 of it was absolutely assured. That’s a hair underneath 96% of it absolutely assured, and simply $433,753 in distinction. The sixty fourth general choice, San Francisco’s Renardo Inexperienced, had simply greater than 52% of his contract absolutely assured.
Why is absolutely assured cash essential in NFL contracts?
Not like within the different main sports activities, NFL contracts should not absolutely assured at signing until particularly written into the deal. It’s why you’ll generally see bloated per-year averages as a result of groups tack on an inflated yr or two on the finish to get the full wage increased for appearances however they haven’t any intention to pay that cash.
We noticed the energy of absolutely assured cash with the Russell Wilson transfer in Denver. The Broncos paid him almost $38 million in 2024 and he wasn’t even on their roster. They lower him, he signed with the Steelers, and Pittsburgh paid him simply $1.2 million.
The one approach for groups to get out of paying absolutely assured cash is that if the participant retires or screws up by being suspended or violating league guidelines. That sort of offset language is usually the premise for holdouts.
Shemar Stewart’s holdout is said to offset language
The Cincinnati Bengals and first-round choose Shemar Stewart are additionally in a contract stalemate proper now, nevertheless it’s not about assured cash, a minimum of not in the identical sense because the second-rounders. As a first-round choose, Stewart’s full four-year contract will probably be absolutely assured and the group could have a fifth-year choice.
Stewart and the Bengals are as a substitute combating over that offset language within the contract. Offset language is a clause or clauses added to a contract that may void future assured cash. They are often added for issues like weight fluctuations and even on-field efficiency, however more often than not they’re so simple as don’t get suspended.
Previously, the Bengals haven’t included offset language for first-round picks however they’re making an attempt to vary their very own precedent by inserting clauses into Stewart’s deal. That’s why he and his agent are digging in.
On the time of publication, there are three first-round picks that stay unsigned and 30 second-round picks have but to signal. Three third-rounders and 6 from the fourth spherical end up the listing.
