The Houston Texans really liked Florida running back Dameon Pierce, which is why they took him with the No. 107 overall pick in Round 4 of the 2022 NFL draft.
The Texans also liked Pierce enough to give him an extra $25,000, and now it has impacted the signings of most fourth-round picks across the NFL.
According to Mike Garafolo from the NFL Network, only a little over 23% of the fourth-round picks from the 2022 have been signed, and it largely has to do with how the Texans handled the Pierce contract. Houston gave Pierce an additional $25,000 over the minimum salary for a fourth-round selection, which has led to other agents asking for the same value for their clients.
Given that Houston took Pierce with the second pick in Round 4, it has created quite the logjam.
Fourth-round picks have been the slowest to agree to deals, in large part because the #Texans have RB Dameone Pierce (second pick in the round) an extra $25k over the minimum, so now every agent behind him is asking for the same. Below pic: Number of signings as of yesterday. pic.twitter.com/pUTui1Um7g
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) June 9, 2022
The Cleveland Browns’ Perrion Winfrey and Cade York are two good examples of fourth-round picks that have yet to sign with their team.
The Texans were able to get all nine of their draft picks under contract during organized team activities.