The Denver Broncos did not make a pick in the 2026 NFL Draft until the third round, No. 66 overall. The selection of Tyler Onyedim out of Texas A&M came after the team traded out of the second round with the Buffalo Bills.
Onyedim is planned to be part of a group of young defensive linemen looking to replace John Franklin-Myers, who left in free agency. The Broncos are excited about Onyedim's future, but he remains unsigned to this point.
Most of the players who were selected in this year's draft have signed their rookie contracts. However, as pointed out in this piece by Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk, the first six players selected in the third round and the first seven selected in the fourth round have yet to sign their deals. The main reason for this? They are trying to leverage a deal to get more money.
Last year, the Cleveland Browns gave second-round pick Carson Schwesinger a fully guaranteed rookie contract, making him one of the first second-round picks in league history to get that kind of a deal. However, that started a bad precedent.
The New Orleans Saints then gave second-round pick Tyler Shough a fully guaranteed contract. This year, this idea is spilling into the third and fourth rounds of the draft. It seems that the players' union is encouraging these players to take somewhat of a stand to earn additional provisions in their contract, similar to what players drafted higher than them are getting.
Likely on the advice of their agents, these 13 players are doing this together, looking to pinch every penny possible out of their new teams. While you can't blame the players for taking the advice of their agents, it is fair to ask what this does to a brand-new relationship with the team that drafted them.
It worked out well for Schwesinger, who won the 2025 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Award. Shough is the quarterback of the future in New Orleans. But inevitably, one of these deals is going to backfire and in those cases, that player will have a difficult time getting a second contract with that team.
Onyedim is likely going to sign one of these deals, but he's joining one of the best defenses in the league and if he slips behind the likes of Sai'vion Jones or Eyioma Uwazurike early in training camp and watches most of this season from the sidelines, that contract will be placed under heavy scrutiny.
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You can't blame players for looking to get the most bang for their buck, but the flip side of the coin seems to suggest they're playing with fire, to a certain extent.
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