Rookie contracts are far less complicated than they once were. Recent NFL CBAs have slotted the deals with clear parameters and maximums, providing a framework that leaves little to haggle over. First-round contracts, for example, are fully guaranteed at preset amounts.
The most interesting aspect remaining is how far down the draft board fully guaranteed contracts are given. Agents manage to shift the goal posts each year. Last year, a hold-up in contract talks for early-round selections left most second-round picks unsigned shortly before training camp, though the dominoes fell once deals at the top of the round started getting done.
It made second-round pick WR Germie Bernard the most interesting case study. One of just four picks left unsigned (QB Drew Allar, RB/WR Eli Heidenreich, and OT Max Iheanachor are the others), Bernard’s contract terms may have just been cemented by the Atlanta Falcons.
Thursday, the Falcons announced they signed CB Avieon Terrell, taken 48th overall, to his four-year rookie contract. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport added that Terrell’s deal is fully guaranteed. He becomes the lowest draft pick to receive 100 percent guarantees.
Given that Germie Bernard went one pick ahead, No. 47 overall, it’s likely his agents, Steve Caric and Molly McManime of THE·TEAM, will demand the same. No agent wants to get a worse deal than a player selected later than their client. Terrell’s deal likely boxes Pittsburgh into a corner to give Bernard a fully guaranteed contract.
Fortunately, it won’t change much. The majority of Bernard’s deal was already going to be guaranteed. Last season, 46th overall pick TE Terrance Ferguson had over 82 percent of his deal guaranteed. Linebacker Demetrius Knight, the 49th pick of 2025, had 80 percent guaranteed.
Still, a fully guaranteed deal goes that extra step. Pittsburgh can try to wiggle out of it. Perhaps they can cite Terrell being the Falcons’ first selection in the draft, Atlanta didn’t have a first-round pick, as a difference. That argument, however, is unlikely to work.
It’s news Omar Khan and Cole Marcoux probably didn’t love to hear. If there’s a silver lining, it could speed up the time it takes to get Bernard’s deal done. If there’s nothing to haggle, Bernard could get signed sooner than expected, potentially as early as before Monday’s OTAs begin.
Once his deal is inked, his sole focus can be on the field and maximizing his rookie year.
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