Shemar Stewart’s holdout from the Cincinnati Bengals doesn’t look too bad with nearly every second rounder selected in April’s NFL Draft still unsigned. While Stewart was a first round selection, with the bulk of the second selections teetering on holdouts with training camp coming up this month, it’s sparking league-wide chaos.
According to a Yahoo Sports story, rookie contract holdouts are rare thanks to rookie scale contracts, which were introduced as part of the 2011 collective bargaining agreement. Other notable rookie holdouts include Joey Bosa back in 2016 and Roquan Smith in 2018.
As much as you could blame the rookies for not taking the money they’re offered because it’s already a pre-established scale, you can’t be mad at them when other players selected in the round are getting fully guaranteed contracts. It’s not like they’re all trying to get paid like first rounders, they just simply want to have more guaranteed money.
Shemar Stewart's contract drama was just the beginning for NFL rookies
The NFL is one of the few sports that doesn’t have fully guaranteed contracts upon signing, unless otherwise negotiated. So it makes sense players are fighting for more guaranteed money on the front end. It’s not a big ask and it’s not something that teams should really push back on.
Carson Schwesinger of the Cleveland Browns and Jayden Higgins of the Houston Texans, the first two picks of Day 2 of the NFL Draft, each signed fully guaranteed contracts. That’s thrown a ripple into every other players negotiations in the second round. One of the notable second round holdouts is Tre Harris of the Los Angeles Chargers.
Ian Rapoport reported that Harris is officially a holdout with Chargers rookies due to report for training camp on Saturday. It could be the start of more second round rookie holdouts. Which is a sign maybe change is needed.
Why NFL rookies want more guaranteed money
It doesn’t seem like these players are demanding more money, simply more guaranteed money. It’s a sign the next collective bargaining agreement will feature more guaranteed money for rookies as well as NFL players. It would probably be hard to convince owners to go fully-guaranteed contracts for every contract. NFL rookies put their bodies on the line each and every week, so it should come as no surprise that early Day 2 picks are pushing for more guaranteed wages.
But it’s something that if rookies are starting to push back now, could create a headache until the next CBA, which isn’t until 2031.