Why Are 94% of the Second-Round Picks Still Unsigned?

In 2010, the Los Angeles Rams selected Sam Bradford at the top of the first round. After making him the first pick in the NFL Draft, he was ready to secure a pay day following a prolific career with the Oklahoma Sooners, and he signed a six-year, $78 million deal ($50 million of guarantees), the largest contract ever for an NFL rookie at the time.

The following year, the NFL and NFLPA came together to negotiate the 2011 collective bargaining agreement (CBA); part of that deal included the introduction of the rookie wage scale.

With this new scale, all rookies' contracts were locked into a fixed number dependent on their draft position. The only points of negotiation included the finer details, like the language and the percentage of the contract that is guaranteed.

For reference, under the current CBA, 2025 No. 1 pick quarterback Cam Ward signed a four-year, $48.7 million fully guaranteed rookie contract, still short of the guaranteed cash Bradford walked away with a decade and a half ago.

But this season, there has been a disturbance in the system, and that has led to 30 of the 32 second-round picks remaining unsigned as of July 14, with the first official holdout (Los Angeles Chargers WR Tre Harris) becoming the first to make a stand and hold the line as training camp comes around the bend.

On May 8, former Iowa State standout Jayden Higgins signed his rookie deal with the Texans, a seemingly innocuous deal worth $11.7 million over four seasons, fully guaranteed.

However, the newest Houston Texans wide receiver was drafted at No. 34 in the NFL Draft, not in the first round, and he surprisingly became the first non-first-round pick to sign a fully guaranteed deal — and that's when the picket line was drawn.

The very next day, the Cleveland Browns signed rookie linebacker Carson Schwesinger to a four-year contract, also fully guaranteed. Given Higgins' deal, this made sense; Schwesinger was drafted No. 33, the first pick in the second round, and the spot directly preceding Higgins, giving him obvious headway in a discussion around his own fully guaranteed deal.

But since those two days in mid-May, when Higgins and Schwesinger re-wrote what a rookie second-round pick's contract could mean, no second-round pick has landed a deal.

That guaranteed money is where the conversation starts, as confirmed by NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport. "With 30 of the 32 second-round picks unsigned because of a disagreement over guaranteed money, Harris makes the first official stand," Rapoport reported regarding Harris' holdout.

Harris was drafted as the No. 55 pick in the second round. The Chargers were the first team to hold training camp, and he was the first draftee to make a statement. With the deadline for LA's rookies to report coming and going on July 12, the former Ole Miss star decided to hold firm.

This unified front from the 2025 second-round picks will be one of the top storylines to monitor during training camp. Will they rewrite precedent in the NFL, or will the line be broken? There are a few key inflection points to keep in mind as these rookies eye a change in the system.

Over the last few years, the NFL has seen the guaranteed rookie contracts expand, with the cutoff point for 100% guarantees moving from the mid-20s in 2020 to the end of the first round by 2022. However, 2022 also marked a key season for the second-rounders, with the first half of the round seeing significant increases in guarantees over the following seasons.

Nick Emmanwori, a safety for the South Carolina Gamecocks, was drafted at No. 35 by the Seattle Seahawks, making him next in line after the Schwesinger-Higgins front. Seattle's rookies will report for training camp on July 15. However, even Emmanwori might be waiting on another shoe to drop: New Orleans Saints quarterback Tyler Shough.

Shough was drafted with the 40th pick and was the only quarterback taken in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft; if any position has the cache to command a guaranteed deal, it's the one under center.

The 14 veteran players with the most guaranteed money at signing on their current deal are all quarterbacks, proving the financial benefit of being a top-half-of-the-league passer. As a result, the pressure could be on Shough to land his own guaranteed deal with the Saints.

Given the high-stakes nature of the position and the Saints' desperation for a signal caller after Derek Carr's retirement, his status on July 23 will be key.

However, even if Shough provides additional leverage for Nos. 35-39, the ongoing legal situation with Quinshon Judkins (No. 36 pick) could significantly cost the rest of the second round leverage down the line. The former Ohio State running back was arrested right before training camp, and the unsigned rookie could impact the rest of the round beyond costing himself significant capital and opportunity.

The Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, New York Giants, and San Francisco 49ers are preparing for rookies to report on July 15, along with Seattle, and all eyes will be on the second-round picks.