As training camp nears, most NFL teams still have a common piece of business pending. All but one of the 32 first-round picks have signed their rookie contracts but, as of Wednesday afternoon, 30 of the 32 second-round picks from the 2025 NFL Draft remain unsigned. Only the first two selections of the second round — Carson Schwesinger (Cleveland Browns, No. 33) and Jayden Higgins (Houston Texans, No. 34) — had signed. In an unprecedented development for players selected after the first round, both players received fully guaranteed contracts — seemingly setting the stage for all second-round picks to try to demand the same.

On Wednesday evening, however, the first domino may have fallen when the San Francisco 49ers agreed to a deal with defensive tackle Alfred Collins — the No. 43 pick — that includes an 88 percent guarantee of his deal, a league source told The Athletic’s Vic Tafur. That’s a jump from the 78 percent guaranteed deal that the Arizona Cardinals’ Max Melton got as the 43rd pick in 2024, but not the fully guaranteed total players had been seeking.

Does that create the framework for the rest of the second-round picks to sign and report to camp? We’ll see in the coming days, but first let’s examine how this logjam began.

On May 8, the Texans agreed to a fully guaranteed, four-year deal with Higgins, who is represented by agent Chris Cabott of Equity Sports. Since the CBA agreement in 2011, which heavily regulates rookie contracts, rookie signings, or otherwise, new draftees haven’t made many headlines. However, there are some terms up for negotiation and given the league’s copycat nature, things evolve every year. Former NFL agent Joel Corry did a great job detailing the trends that built up to this point.

The important thing to remember is that while there are salary floors and ceilings, guarantees are negotiable and Cabott broke through a glass ceiling when he landed Higgins a fully guaranteed deal. The other key part to keep in mind is a semantics note: If the unsigned second-round picks remain unsigned entering training camp, they will not be labeled as holdouts — and thus not subjected to fines — because they are not under contract.

Browns provide a blueprint

As is the case even with veteran contracts, both sides — the team and the player — must determine where their leverage lies. Immediately after the Texans signed Higgins, the second pick of Round 2, the Browns moved quickly to sign Schwesinger, the first pick of the second round. While the Browns could have played hardball and pointed to every second-round pick over the past decade-plus, the writing was on the wall with Higgins’ deal coming together at the No. 34 pick. The Browns accepted their fate and knocked out their business with Schwesinger.

It’s highly unlikely that each of the remaining 29 second-round picks compromises the start of their NFL careers and drags this situation deep into training camps. Everybody involved is playing a waiting game. The Los Angeles Chargers are the first team to open training camp when they hit the field Thursday. Their second-round pick, receiver Tre Harris, has not yet reported and Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz had no timeline Wednesday for when he expects to see him.

“I hope it’s done soon,” Hortiz said, speaking before the Collins deal was agreed to. “I hope he gets out here in practice. Practice is vital for everyone — not just him, everybody. There’s a reason we come to camp.”

The question around the league had been a matter of which domino would fall first. As Hortiz put it, “Somebody’s got to sign.”

That somebody is now Collins. Will the eight players drafted between Higgins and Collins now simply fall in line somewhere between that 88 percent and 100 percent guaranteed? Will all those players drafted above Collins — and even some below him — still aim for the fully-guaranteed deal? The more data points added to the mix, the quicker the signings could flow.

“I get it on both sides,” Hortiz said. “I’m not mad. It’s the business side of it.”

Who’s involved?

Obviously, the players and teams are at the center of the controversy but the parties in this off-the-field game go deeper. After there are steps taken forward, the NFLPA does not like to go back, so it is pushing for players to hold their ground and get the best deal possible — as their second-round peers in Houston and Cleveland did.

The agents are another key factor. Some agents view this sort of thing as their regular season, trying to make sure their clients get a better deal, or at least an equal one, than the agents representing other players. There’s also the fact that some agents have multiple interests in the pool. For example, Drew Rosenhaus/Rosenhaus Sports represent Buffalo Bills defensive tackle T.J. Sanders, selected 41st, and Seattle Seahawks tight end Elijah Arroyo, selected 50th. Although there is a gap in draft slots, if the agent lands a fully guaranteed deal for one client, they would likely want to do the same for another client.

The teams are obviously trying to nip things in the bud and not compound on what the Texans and Browns have already done. The can of worms is already open but the NFL — which is dealing with its own controversy — is trying to limit the damage.

The Tyler Shough factor

The No. 40 pick potentially carries a lot of say in how this goes across the board. With Derek Carr’s retirement, Shough is in line to be the Week 1 starter for the New Orleans Saints. Surely, Shough doesn’t want to begin his big chance by missing valuable training camp practices. On the flip side, the Saints don’t want to sabotage their potential quarterback of the future over the matter of guaranteeing some money.

Depending on which side blinks first, the table could get set for many second-round selections. Shough’s status as a quarterback helps him in negotiations over his second-round peers. Still, landing a fully guaranteed deal could be great news for the players selected around Shough. Maybe the No. 40 pick is the delineation point for how far the guaranteed contracts stretch.

The Saints’ rookies and veterans report for camp on the same day, July 22.

Senior writer Daniel Popper contributed to this report. 

(Top photo of Alfred Collins: Michael Zagaris / San Francisco 49ers / Getty Images))