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NFL contract chaos: 30 of 32 second-round picks still unsigned

We’re looking at the biggest rookie contract standoff in NFL history and it’s happening RIGHT NOW as teams report to training camp. So here’s what went down. The Texans broke precedent by giving Jayden Higgins a fully guaranteed rookie deal as the 34th overall pick. Never happened before for a second rounder. Then the Browns had no choice but to match it for Carson Schwesinger at pick 33 because how do you explain to your guy that the player drafted after him got better terms? Now we have 30 players saying “hold up, why don’t I get the same deal?” And honestly they have a point. If you’re pick 35 versus pick 34, what’s the real difference in value? These agents are smart and they’re not backing down. The problem is teams never budgeted for fully guaranteed second round contracts. That’s millions more in guaranteed money they weren’t planning to spend. But these players aren’t going to show up to camp and risk injury without getting paid like their peers. This could get ugly fast. Imagine your team’s second rounder missing weeks of crucial development time because of a contract standoff. Some of these guys like Will Johnson and Luther Burden were expected to contribute immediately. Now they might miss critical reps with their teams. The league created this mess by allowing the precedent to be set. Once that first domino fell with Higgins getting full guarantees, this was inevitable. You can’t expect players and agents to just accept less when comparable picks got more. My prediction? Teams are going to have to cave eventually. Missing training camp hurts everyone but rookies missing development time hurts them most. The NFLPA probably told these guys to hold strong because this could reshape the entire rookie wage scale going forward. What do you think happens here? Do teams cave and give out 30 more fully guaranteed deals? Or do these players miss significant time holding out? This is about to get very interesting very quickly. #NFL #RookieContracts #TrainingCamp

NFL contract chaos: 30 of 32 second-round picks still unsigned
Tag: TrainingCamp | zests.ai