Misery loves company, but NFL teams don't want to be stuck in this particular boat together. The majority of second-round picks around the league have yet to sign their contracts, thanks to the Houston Texans giving Jayden Higgins a fully-guaranteed four-year deal.
After Higgins got a fully-guaranteed deal, it seemed like there would be a stalemate for the rest of the second round as players suddenly had every reason to ask for their contracts to be fully guaranteed as well. Until recently, almost the entire second round remained unsigned, but the San Francisco 49ers might have just helped everybody out.
The 49ers got second-round pick Alfred Collins signed to his four-year deal, a $10.3 million contract with $9 million fully guaranteed, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.
Packers can close the deal with second-round pick Anthony Belton thanks to 49ers
The Green Bay Packers used their second-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft on North Carolina State offensive tackle Anthony Belton. You want to get every rookie out there on the field for his first training camp, but rookies who are not yet signed are not allowed to participate in on-field activities, per the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Even though Belton wouldn't technically be holding out as he awaits his deal, he would not be able to be on the field for a crucial camp.
And that's the case for every second-round pick around the league that hasn't signed his deal yet.
The deal between the 49ers and Collins paves the way for the Packers to get something done. Giving Collins $9 million of his $10.3 million contract fully guaranteed sets the new standard at 87 or 88 percent of the deal being guaranteed money.
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It's certainly a risk for teams to pay that much, especially when you consider the significant jump in percentage. Belton was the 54th overall pick in the draft this year, and last year's 54th overall pick -- Michael Hall Jr. of the Cleveland Browns -- received $4.38 million in fully guaranteed money on a deal that was worth $7.069 million in total. That's less than 62 percent of the contract as guaranteed money.
Higgins may not have paved the way for every single second-round pick to get a fully guaranteed deal, but he's undoubtedly paved the way for players to get a much higher percentage guaranteed. And if Belton is going to follow in the footsteps of someone like Collins, we could see him get an unprecedented amount of guaranteed money for that 54th overall pick slot.
In fact, you can probably bet on it at this point.
With Collins getting over 87 percent of his deal guaranteed, Belton stands to do the same. The path has been paved for the Packers to get their guy under contract and onto the practice field as training camp gets underway for rookies reporting on July 18 and veterans on July 23.