More than three-fourths of the players picked in the 2025 NFL draft have signed their rookie contracts. But only two of the 32 second-round picks have signed, likely because of disputes between teams and agents about fully guaranteed contracts.
On May 8, the Texans gave Jayden Higgins, the second pick of the second round of the 2025 NFL draft, the first fully guaranteed contract ever for a second-round pick. On May 9, the Browns reportedly gave the first pick of the second round, Carson Schwesinger, a fully guaranteed contract as well.
Since then, no second-round picks have signed. That’s likely because other teams don’t want to follow the Browns’ and Texans’ lead and give fully guaranteed contracts to second-round picks. And agents are asking those teams, If other second-round picks are getting fully guaranteed contracts, why should my player take anything less?
The 30 unsigned second-round picks represent most of the rookies who haven’t yet signed. In the other six rounds combined, only 26 draft picks have not yet signed their rookie contracts: Via Spotrac.com, there are 12 unsigned first-round picks, four unsigned third-round picks, nine unsigned fourth-round picks and one unsigned sixth-round pick. Every other draft pick has signed his rookie contract.
The total value of the contracts for those 30 second-round picks is not in dispute: That’s set in advance by the NFL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, and there’s nothing for teams or agents to negotiate over. But fully guaranteeing those contracts is negotiable. And after the top two picks in the second round successfully negotiated for full guarantees, the 30 other picks want in on those guarantees, too.