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Let’s roll back the clock — it looked like some momentum was building towards the New Orleans Saints signing their last remaining pick in the 2023 NFL draft in early June, when two of the players selected in front of Saints defensive end Isaiah Foskey inked their deals within hours of one another. That established a precedent we’ve been looking for as teams and players’ agents look to the market to settle any remaining contract disputes.
Only a deal didn’t materialize. Foskey still has not signed anything more than a month later, and with Saints rookies reporting for training camp on Tuesday, July 18, it’s fair for fans to feel a little concern.
But this isn’t a problem unique to Foskey and the Saints. Per NFL salary cap analyst Miguel Benzan (PatsCap on Twitter), 23 of 31 first-round picks have signed their rookie deals (74.1%). A 94.8% majority of the league’s third-round picks are under contract, as are 93.9% of fourth-round picks. Everyone selected in the fifth, sixth, and seventh rounds have put pens to paper.
It’s all about the second rounders; Benzan’s research found that only 19 of the 32 players have signed with their teams (59.3%), with more unsigned sign-round picks (13) than every other round combined (12). So Foskey isn’t the only second-round draft pick dragging this out.
We saw the same thing last summer with Alontae Taylor, who didn’t sign until July 19. Why is the second round such a minefield in NFL contract negotiations?
Because the most important figures in NFL rookie contracts — length and per-year salary — are now tied to draft slots, there aren’t many points left for teams and agents to haggle over anymore. The remaining hurdles center on contract guarantees and offset language in case the player is released before the four-year deal expires (leaving the Saints with some dead money to pay out). Foskey is projected to receive a fully-guaranteed third year in his contract but that’s something the Saints and his representatives are likely debating. Cash flow, guarantee trigger dates, and signing bonus structure are also points of contention.
Let’s look at the second rounders and their contract status. Six of the players taken in front of Foskey have signed with their teams, but ten of the twelve rookies selected immediately after him have not (including the next eight in a row). His agents probably represent some of those players as well, and the precedent they’ll set in negotiating his contract with New Orleans will impact their discussions with other teams. They owe it to their clients to get the best deal, even if it means drawing out negotiations with some teams late into the summer.
The good news is that the frustrating contract holdouts and public disputes we’ve seen before are a thing of the past. Because so many factors in contract negotiations are standardized under the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement, it’s only a matter of time until the Saints get Foskey to sign on the dotted line. He’s been a full participant in their offseason program so far and is expected to report on time and do everything he can to find success when the team kicks off training camp later this week. Hopefully the team can formally put a pin in this (and a pen in his hand) sooner rather than later.
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