New Second-Round Contract Guarantees Provide a Rare Win For NFL Players

The end of summer has brought a parade of bad headlines for the NFLPA, but the start of training camp also brought something else: a rare win for NFL players in getting more from their teams.

It’s a fine-print victory, but most of the league’s second-round draft picks held off on signing for more than two months, waiting until the past week to sign their rookie contracts and making gains in how much of those deals are fully guaranteed.

For the last two collective bargaining agreements (CBAs), going back to 2011, there was little to be negotiated in NFL rookie contracts, with the total value all but locked into slotted amounts, each pick getting slightly less than the pick before. In terms of guarantees, it had worked out that all first-round picks got fully guaranteed deals, all picks from the third round had no guarantees beyond their signing bonus, leaving the second round in the middle of things.

Before this year, no second-round pick had gotten a fully guaranteed rookie contract, though last year’s top second-rounders were close, getting as much as 95%. The Houston Texans broke precedent when they gave the No. 34 pick, receiver Jayden Higgins, a fully guaranteed contract two weeks after the draft, all but forcing the Cleveland Browns to do the same with the No. 33 pick, linebacker Carson Schwesinger.

Then, the rest of the second round stopped signing deals. Nobody broke ranks, with no agent or player wanting to be the one who would sign for less. That meant going all summer without signing bonuses worth as much as $5 million, though some agents can float short-term advances to players, knowing a deal will eventually be signed.

They participated in offseason practices and meetings like any signed rookies, but they waited until within days of the start of training camp, and NFL teams relented. Seven of the top eight picks in the round got fully guaranteed deals, the last being New Orleans Saints quarterback Tyler Shough, who’d been taken with the 40th overall pick. Last year’s No. 40 pick, Philadelphia Eagles corner Cooper DeJean, had about 80% of his rookie deal guaranteed, so in Shough’s case, the guarantee increased by about $3.3 million, a substantial increase.

The lone exception at the top of the second round was Browns running back Quinshon Judkins, whose leverage took a hit when he was arrested in Florida on domestic violence and battery charges. The rest of the second round hasn’t gotten fully guaranteed deals, but they’ve gotten a higher percentage guaranteed than their counterparts in last year’s draft, typically about 10% more.

Guaranteed money is an unexpected place for players to gain ground, because it’s only relevant in a worst-case scenario: a draft pick playing so poorly they’re cut before their rookie deal is over. It doesn’t happen often — if you look at the 2021 draft class, which just finished its rookie deals after last season, only five players were cut early, and four of them in the fourth and final season.

To find a second-round pick cut before their third year, you have to go back to 2017 and Seahawks defensive tackle Malik McDowell, who never played a snap for Seattle but had a non-football injury from a preseason ATV accident, as well as arrests that would have voided any guarantees under clauses common in NFL contracts. To find a second-rounder cut so early for just poor play, it goes back to 2016 and Tennessee Titans defensive end Kevin Dodd, cut after two seasons. He never played again.

Now, to guard against guarantees in contracts, many NFL teams will insist on including “offset language,” which means any money guaranteed when a player is cut is diminished by anything he makes from another team. If a player is claimed off waivers, the new team assumes the remaining guaranteed money, but if he goes unclaimed, the original team gets relief from any contract the player signs within the timeframe of the rookie contract. So teams are only impacted financially if a draft pick is cut and out of the league entirely.

What’s next? This year’s progress in better guarantees for draft picks means they’ll seek more of the same in 2026 — it could be that half the second round has fully guaranteed contracts, or it could be that the top of the third round can now seek partial guarantees where none exist now.

When revenue, and thus the salary cap, increase as steadily as they have for the NFL, the expectation for any contract’s parameters starts at what the same pick got last year, so any step forward — like in guaranteed money here — is a victory that perpetuates into future seasons moving forward. If players stay on the roster as they often do, it has no impact on the player or team, but the changes can help the few players who aren’t able to play out their rookie deals.

Greg Auman is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He previously spent a decade covering the Buccaneers for the Tampa Bay Times and The Athletic. You can follow him on Twitter at @gregauman.

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