Why arent the 2nd rd'ers signing?

[MaroonBells]

I don't disagree. I am in favor of players getting paid. But the NFL is governed by a CBA. The current one will eventually yield to a new one. Just as rookie salaries became fixed depending on where the rookie was taken in the draft, the parties to a new CBA can agree that only the contracts for the top 50 players taken in the draft will be fully guaranteed. The trend is towards more guaranteed contracts, but I don't think the owners will just let that happen without putting up a fight.

They’ll put up a fight. Might even win, pressing pause on the escalating guarantees. But only temporarily. As teams become more and more profitable, agents will expect them to take on more and more risk.

[dadevike]

They’ll put up a fight. Might even win, pressing pause on the escalating guarantees. But only temporarily. As teams become more and more profitable, agents will expect them to take on more and more risk.

No doubt that as the NFL's TV and streaming revenues continue to increase - sometimes explosively - player salaries will also continue to increase. But no matter what the cap is, teams will continue to push up against the higher and higher salary cap. I think that is really the issue with the guarantees. Not just owners but GMs absolutely HATE paying players that do not contribute. It is not primarily an injury issue. It is mostly the notion that drafted players outside the top 50 (more or less) are a crapshoot and GMs will not want to guaranty their contracts. And I do not see that sentiment ever changing.