2nd Round Draftees Contracts

[zechs]

I mean.. sad reality is with contracts players hold more power then teams currently.

reason, all it takes is one team to agree to a dumb contract and all teams are held accountable as the precedent is set.
I mean we have seen this with the current state of qb contracts.. moment I believe it was the jags paid Lawrence like 57 million who as a qb had achieved dick, all other qbs Tua included could go. well this qb did nothing or my stats are better so there for I want this much.. and teams are kinda left with no leg to stand on.

only way this changes is if teams draw a line in the sand.. but its like with a strike, moment one team crosses the picket like its all for nothing, so after texans did this full guarented on a second rounder everyones now forced to comply.

Now I kinda agree with bengals inregards to not the rookie but another player they have who wants a reworked deal for more money, and there sayin erm no you have a contract.. and reason i agree is players want a rework/ more money for a good year, but we all know they wouldn't do the same to lower there pay for a bad year.. and all this does is create inflation.

anyways point being, with current second rounder draft situation ..unless alll the teams left agree between em to not it wont matter, soo sadly I feel players and agents have full power atm so every team left is prob gonna have to cough up. and sadly this will ripple to all following years.. in short texans were dumb as hell to do this

 

[Ray R]

I mean.. sad reality is with contracts players hold more power then teams currently.

reason, all it takes is one team to agree to a dumb contract and all teams are held accountable as the precedent is set.
I mean we have seen this with the current state of qb contracts.. moment I believe it was the jags paid Lawrence like 57 million who as a qb had achieved dick, all other qbs Tua included could go. well this qb did nothing or my stats are better so there for I want this much.. and teams are kinda left with no leg to stand on.

only way this changes is if teams draw a line in the sand.. but its like with a strike, moment one team crosses the picket like its all for nothing, so after texans did this full guarented on a second rounder everyones now forced to comply.

Now I kinda agree with bengals inregards to not the rookie but another player they have who wants a reworked deal for more money, and there sayin erm no you have a contract.. and reason i agree is players want a rework/ more money for a good year, but we all know they wouldn't do the same to lower there pay for a bad year.. and all this does is create inflation.

anyways point being, with current second rounder draft situation ..unless alll the teams left agree between em to not it wont matter, soo sadly I feel players and agents have full power atm so every team left is prob gonna have to cough up. and sadly this will ripple to all following years.. in short texans were dumb as hell to do this

What else is new? - LOL

 

[zechs]

What else is new? - LOL

not wrong, but well wasnt as bad as it is now.. but as said few teams making dumb decisions with contracts have just escalated it.

sure good for the players, not good for the teams thou.. needs to be a middle ground, cause tbh its not good for the sport in the long run

 

[MrClean]

How do people see the contract issue being resolved?
Will Ross/the front office (I have to admit I don't know who has the final say) cave and make Jonah Savaiinaea's contract fully guaranteed as the Texans and the Browns have done with Jayden Higgins and Carson Schwesinger?
How will the other owners/front offices react to the demands of their 2nd rounder picks?
Could we see a 'merry-go-round' of Round 2 players being waived and then perhaps picked up by other teams and signed to far cheaper contracts than a 2nd rounder would get or even 2nd Round picks ending up unemployed?
Your thoughts?

I don't think teams can waive unsigned draft picks. They will eventually sign or sit out the season and reenter the draft next year.

 

[Ray R]

not wrong, but well wasnt as bad as it is now.. but as said few teams making dumb decisions with contracts have just escalated it.

sure good for the players, not good for the teams thou.. needs to be a middle ground, cause tbh its not good for the sport in the long run

Now you are talking sense!!!

 

[Finsup1981]

Void years are the biggest joke in both NFL and MLB now. Ohtani's contract is an embarrassment. The Eagles have built a monster mortgaging the next decade. According to a Feb 2025 USA today article, the Eagles were ranked #1 in the NFL in void money, with $390.4M in void years. SF was second, almost $185M less. Miami had $70.6M. Jalen Hurts has ~$100M in void years, AJ Brown with $50M, Lane Johnson, Mailata, Barkley and Smith all $30M+.

I’m not a cap expert, how far out can they push out these void years? The bill has to come due at some time right?

Ohtanis they basically deferred the entire contract till after he retires, is that basically what void years are, or just when the player isn’t on that specific team?

Appreciate any insights you have on this subject

 

[Finsup1981]

I don't think teams can waive unsigned draft picks. They will eventually sign or sit out the season and reenter the draft next year.

Yea the only way for them to play for any other team this year is to get traded or like you said wait out the year and then re-enter the draft.

Wonder with all this NIL money, since these kids are making millions in college, if more of them choose to sit out a year if they don’t get drafted by the team of their choice or get the contract they want.

Unlike the NBA you can’t go the combine and do all the pre draft stuff and then decide to go back to school after getting an idea of where you’ll be drafted.

Will be interesting to see how everything plays out

 

[Supervox]

I don't think teams can waive unsigned draft picks. They will eventually sign or sit out the season and reenter the draft next year.

Thank you - I wasn't aware of that until you and Finsup1981 mentioned it.
I wonder how that would sit with the owners? Given the rumours (unsubstantiated, of course) that they decided en masse to show Shedeur Sanders (and any that might follow his example) that his behaviour before the draft is not the way to get selected, I wonder what they'd do to an entire group who decided not to sign their initial contract offers?
Over the years we've seen the league introduce restrictions and allow less and less leeway with rookie contracts - stipulating annual earnings etc; could we see even more - i.e. stipulating a max guaranteed?

 

[Nappy Roots]

I mean.. sad reality is with contracts players hold more power then teams currently.

reason, all it takes is one team to agree to a dumb contract and all teams are held accountable as the precedent is set.
I mean we have seen this with the current state of qb contracts.. moment I believe it was the jags paid Lawrence like 57 million who as a qb had achieved dick, all other qbs Tua included could go. well this qb did nothing or my stats are better so there for I want this much.. and teams are kinda left with no leg to stand on.

only way this changes is if teams draw a line in the sand.. but its like with a strike, moment one team crosses the picket like its all for nothing, so after texans did this full guarented on a second rounder everyones now forced to comply.

Now I kinda agree with bengals inregards to not the rookie but another player they have who wants a reworked deal for more money, and there sayin erm no you have a contract.. and reason i agree is players want a rework/ more money for a good year, but we all know they wouldn't do the same to lower there pay for a bad year.. and all this does is create inflation.

anyways point being, with current second rounder draft situation ..unless alll the teams left agree between em to not it wont matter, soo sadly I feel players and agents have full power atm so every team left is prob gonna have to cough up. and sadly this will ripple to all following years.. in short texans were dumb as hell to do this

Why is it sad. The players should be getting paid. You’d rather the mega rich owners make more money or the players the fans actually cheer for? I’ll never understand this thought.

Give the 2nd rounders full guarantee. They deserve it also.

 

[danmarino7051]

I’m not a cap expert, how far out can they push out these void years? The bill has to come due at some time right?

Ohtanis they basically deferred the entire contract till after he retires, is that basically what void years are, or just when the player isn’t on that specific team?

Appreciate any insights you have on this subject

In the NFL it’s 5 years. If a player has 3 years left on their contract, the team can spread out the money from signing bonuses or restructures for those 3 and then 2 more years.

 

[danmarino7051]

Why is it sad. The players should be getting paid. You’d rather the mega rich owners make more money or the players the fans actually cheer for? I’ll never understand this thought.

Give the 2nd rounders full guarantee. They deserve it also.

I’m all for the players getting paid. The thing I have a problem with in this case is that Shamar is getting all the money guaranteed unless he’s arrested or suspended. I don’t have a problem with teams protecting themselves in that way.

 

[PSU Cane]

In the NFL it’s 5 years. If a player has 3 years left on their contract, the team can spread out the money from signing bonuses or restructures for those 3 and then 2 more years.

Yes it's 5 years total, with the number of void years being 5 minus the amount left on the contract....so what the Eagles do is an extension and make it 5-1, so 4 years of void years. Hurts, Brown, Dickerson, Smith, Barkley, Mailata, and Baun all have 4 void years.

 

[zechs]

Yes it's 5 years total, with the number of void years being 5 minus the amount left on the contract....so what the Eagles do is an extension and make it 5-1, so 4 years of void years. Hurts, Brown, Dickerson, Smith, Barkley, Mailata, and Baun all have 4 void years.

wait is that the actual maths on it? interesting

 

[Mello Yello]

I mean.. sad reality is with contracts players hold more power then teams currently.

reason, all it takes is one team to agree to a dumb contract and all teams are held accountable as the precedent is set.
I mean we have seen this with the current state of qb contracts.. moment I believe it was the jags paid Lawrence like 57 million who as a qb had achieved dick, all other qbs Tua included could go. well this qb did nothing or my stats are better so there for I want this much.. and teams are kinda left with no leg to stand on.

only way this changes is if teams draw a line in the sand.. but its like with a strike, moment one team crosses the picket like its all for nothing, so after texans did this full guarented on a second rounder everyones now forced to comply.

Now I kinda agree with bengals inregards to not the rookie but another player they have who wants a reworked deal for more money, and there sayin erm no you have a contract.. and reason i agree is players want a rework/ more money for a good year, but we all know they wouldn't do the same to lower there pay for a bad year.. and all this does is create inflation.

anyways point being, with current second rounder draft situation ..unless alll the teams left agree between em to not it wont matter, soo sadly I feel players and agents have full power atm so every team left is prob gonna have to cough up. and sadly this will ripple to all following years.. in short texans were dumb as hell to do this

The other side of this also holds a lot of water.

These "bad contracts" are another means of competition, parity and balance...things which drive the NFL.

If the teams you're competing against are signing bad deals, well, that's good for you.


Just because Nike is charging $80 for a sweatshirt, doesn't mean it's the only option. The value of rookie-deal QBs is transforming the NFL and making clear the need to build a solid team onto which you can drop your young QB...Russell Wilson, Pat Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Brock Purdy, CJ Stroud, Jalen Hurts, Jayden Daniels...all of them benefitted tremendously from landing in a place where early success (partly a function of the teams they went to) led to enhanced productivity and a win-win situation for both the teams and the QBs involved.

Big contracts aren't inherently bad...they just create competition. In many ways, the NFL wants that.

Cheap owners like Mike Brown hurt themselves as the cap is based around letting owners with deep pockets bend the rules by adjusting the immediate cash given straight to players in bonuses.

Likewise, Owners who can rest on their past accomplishments and infrastructure investments, like say Jerry Jones, are enticed to do that and see their teams fall victim to their own lack of initiative.

 

[ThePeopleShow13]

I expect guaranteed contracts to be a big sticking point in the next CBA.

I think the owners are not going to be happy with the outcome.

I also think the big disparity between vet min and the huge numbers a few player's make needs to be addressed. No way should a vested vet be paid so much less than many unproven rookies. You would think mid and bottom tier players would rebel within the union.

I'm all for taking the sleight of hand out of contracts, as well as getting rid of the void years BS.

You can remove the sleight of hand from contracts, but it doesn’t change the main issue the NFL has.

Player salaries have risen just as fast, or faster, than the salary cap. The amount of money these players get makes it close to impossible to build a competitive team and stay cap compliant. Obviously the Eagles are an extreme example but basically every team with a QB off their rookie contract has to do it to compete.

I agree that players will push hard for these contracts in the next CBA, but it will only make it more difficult for teams to compete. Some players make over $2M a game; a short term IR stint is millions of lost dollars. It’s not like Baseball where there are 162 games and the highest paid player makes ~$400K a game.