There are still 40 unsigned draft picks with a month left until training camp begins. As Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio observed, 30 were drafted in the second round. The Seattle Seahawks have nine of their 11 draft picks under contract, with second-rounders Nick Emmanwori and Elijah Arroyo yet to put pen to paper.
While you may not have been informed that there would be math in this article, if there are 32 picks in the second round and 30 still haven’t signed yet, that means only two second-rounders have inked their contracts. I’ll spare you the ChatGPT search and give you the answers:
LB Carson Schwesinger – Cleveland Browns (No. 33 overall pick)
WR Jayden Higgins – Houston Texans (No. 34 overall pick)
The Seahawks, of course, traded up to No. 35 to draft Emmanwori.
What do Carson Schwesinger and Jayden Higgins’ contracts have in common?
Higgins was the first second-rounder in NFL history to sign a fully guaranteed rookie contract. Schwesinger soon followed and those two have seemingly set a new standard previously reserved for first-rounders.
Did the Seahawks not have an unprecedented second-round contract recently?
It wasn’t too long ago that the Seahawks had their own NFL first. In 2023, outside linebacker Derick Hall had the bulk of his signing bonus paid before training camp and he had $100,000 of his fourth-year salary guaranteed.
What are some other examples of Seahawks second-round pick contracts?
The Seahawks didn’t have a 2024 second-rounder so we can’t go that route, but their other 2023 pick in that round was Zach Charbonnet, who has no guaranteed salary over his final two seasons. Neither Boye Mafe nor Kenneth Walker, Seattle’s two second-round choices in 2022, has any guaranteed money entering the 2025 season.
So the unusual freeze in which almost the entire NFL hasn’t signed its second-round picks can be directly attributed to the Houston Texans guaranteeing Jayden Higgins’ entire contract. Rookie holdouts in this era are extraordinarily rare so it’s not reason for concern, but this does shed light on the lengthy wait compared to the other rounds.
Emmanwori and Arroyo will eventually get signed; it’s just a matter of whether they’ll follow the footsteps of Higgins and Schwesinger. Don’t panic until there’s reason to panic. We may be witnessing the start of a new NFL trend, which I’m sure would delight the NFLPA.
