With the start of training camp just days away, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been plagued by an issue affecting several teams this offseason: they haven’t signed their second-round pick. When the Houston Texans signed second-round receiver Jayden Higgins to a fully-guaranteed, four-year contract worth $11.7 million, it sent shockwaves through the NFL. Second-round picks don’t typically receive fully-guaranteed deals, so this was a significant development.
The Cleveland Browns followed suit, giving linebacker Carson Schwesinger a fully-guaranteed $11.8 million contract. So like any good business people, the other unsigned second rounders demanded full guarantees in their rookie contracts as well.
Of course, the teams weren’t on board with that, leading to a standoff between second rounders and NFL teams. That resulted in 30 out of 32 second-round picks being unsigned entering the week of July 13— the first week a team started training camp. However, on Wednesday, there was a development that could soon bring a resolution to all of these other situations.
The San Francisco 49ers signed their second-round pick Alfred Collins to a four-year deal worth $10.3 million, with over $9 million guaranteed. While not the fully-guaranteed deal players were hoping for, it is expected to provide a format for the other second rounders to get signed.
One of those second rounders is cornerback Benjamin Morrison, who the Buccaneers selected with the 53rd-overall pick. Morrison is expected to compete for a starting spot if he can stay healthy, but he has to get signed first for that to happen. The Collins deal could help that happen soon. Tampa Bay, and other franchises, could just follow the same structure of the deal, and offer it to their second rounders.
From there, the ball will be in the court of the unsigned players. Will they still hold out for fully guaranteed deals, or will they be willing to accept the contracts that are just short of fully guaranteed.