{"id":2585,"date":"2025-07-17T10:58:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T10:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/2585\/"},"modified":"2025-07-17T10:58:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T10:58:09","slug":"is-49ers-alfred-collins-the-first-domino-in-nfls-second-round-pick-standoff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/2585\/","title":{"rendered":"Is 49ers\u2019 Alfred Collins the first domino in NFL\u2019s second-round pick standoff?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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<\/a> remain unsigned. Only the first two selections of the second round \u2014 Carson Schwesinger (Cleveland Browns, No. 33) and Jayden Higgins (Houston Texans, No. 34) \u2014 had signed. In an unprecedented development for players selected after the first round, both players received fully guaranteed contracts \u2014 seemingly setting the stage for all second-round picks to try to demand the same.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday evening, however, the first domino may have fallen when the San Francisco 49ers agreed to a deal with defensive tackle Alfred Collins \u2014 the No. 43 pick \u2014 that includes an 88 percent guarantee of his deal, a league source told The Athletic\u2019s Vic Tafur. That\u2019s a jump from the 78 percent guaranteed deal that the Arizona Cardinals\u2019 Max Melton got as the 43rd pick in 2024, but not the fully guaranteed total players had been seeking.<\/p>\n

Does that create the framework for the rest of the second-round picks to sign and report to camp? We\u2019ll see in the coming days, but first let\u2019s examine how this logjam began.<\/p>\n

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\u2019t made many headlines. However, there are some terms up for negotiation and given the league\u2019s copycat nature, things evolve every year. Former NFL agent Joel Corry did a great job detailing the trends<\/a> that built up to this point.<\/p>\n

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 \u2014 and thus not subjected to fines \u2014 because they are not under contract.<\/p>\n

Browns provide a blueprint<\/p>\n

As is the case even with veteran contracts, both sides \u2014 the team and the player \u2014 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\u2019 deal coming together at the No. 34 pick. The Browns accepted their fate and knocked out their business with Schwesinger.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope it\u2019s done soon,\u201d Hortiz said<\/a>, speaking before the Collins deal was agreed to. \u201cI hope he gets out here in practice. Practice is vital for everyone \u2014 not just him, everybody. There\u2019s a reason we come to camp.\u201d<\/p>\n

The question around the league had been a matter of which domino would fall first. As Hortiz put it, \u201cSomebody\u2019s got to sign.\u201d<\/p>\n

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 \u2014 and even some below him \u2014 still aim for the fully-guaranteed deal? The more data points added to the mix, the quicker the signings could flow.<\/p>\n

\u201cI get it on both sides,\u201d Hortiz said. \u201cI\u2019m not mad. It\u2019s the business side of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Who\u2019s involved?<\/p>\n

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 \u2014 as their second-round peers in Houston and Cleveland did.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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 \u2014 which is dealing with its own controversy<\/a> \u2014 is trying to limit the damage.<\/p>\n

The Tyler Shough factor<\/p>\n

The No. 40 pick potentially carries a lot of say in how this goes across the board. With Derek Carr\u2019s retirement, Shough is in line to be the Week 1 starter for the New Orleans Saints. Surely, Shough doesn\u2019t want to begin his big chance by missing valuable training camp practices. On the flip side, the Saints don\u2019t want to sabotage their potential quarterback of the future over the matter of guaranteeing some money.<\/p>\n

Depending on which side blinks first, the table could get set for many second-round selections. Shough\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

The Saints\u2019 rookies and veterans report for camp on the same day, July 22.<\/p>\n

Senior writer Daniel Popper contributed to this report.\u00a0<\/p>\n

(Top photo of Alfred Collins: Michael Zagaris \/ San Francisco 49ers \/ Getty Images))<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As training camp nears, most NFL teams still have a common piece of business pending. All but one…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2586,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[436],"tags":[49,48,1724,1737,2210,1734,514,948,82,575],"class_list":["post-2585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cleveland-browns","tag-houston-texans","tag-los-angeles-chargers","tag-new-orleans-saints","tag-nfl","tag-san-francisco-49ers","tag-sports","tag-sports-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2585"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2585\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}