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Former Notre Dame star Benjamin Morrison just had his fate decided by something completely out of his control

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Ryan Roberts | Last updated Jul 17, 2025 11:26 AM ET

What’s an NFL offseason without a little bit of drama?

With training camps opening up all across the league, it feels like it would be down time for excitement, preparation, and anticipation for the 2025 season to officially begin. Instead, we are watching the majority of the NFL rethink their standards for contracts given to second round draft picks. Everyone can blame Houston Texans rookie wide receiver Jayden Higgins, who was the first second rounder to receive a fully guaranteed first contract.

Now with Higgins having the entirety of $11.7 million fully guaranteed, the rest of the second round rookies drafted behind him were looking for the same thing, at least presumably. That includes former Notre Dame star cornerback Benjamin Morrison, who was drafted No. 53 overall by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Morrison, along with 30 other second round rookies, were left in limbo, seeing if the fully guaranteed standard would create a ripple effect.

We had our first legitimate movement in quite some time on Wednesday night, when the San Francisco 49ers agreed to a four-year, $10.3 million deal with defensive tackle Alfred Collins. Of that total contract, $9 million was guaranteed. Collins was the No. 43 overall selection in this past draft.

The next big domino in the second round has fallen: 49ers’ second-round pick Alfred Collins, the No. 43rd overall selection, reached agreement tonight on a four-year, $10.3 million deal that includes over $9 million guaranteed and now is expected to trigger multiple second-round… pic.twitter.com/iiIWgOCh7p
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 17, 2025

While the Collins camp set a new standard for guaranteed money for that No. 43 draft slot, it being a not fully guaranteed contract does lose some leverage for the other “holdouts”, or at least those behind him such as Morrison. Right or wrong, that one agreement set a precedent and got things rolling. Now picks 44 to 64 have a lot less negotiation power than they did just half a day ago.

It will be interesting to see if we now see a lot more contract movement done quickly, or if this inconsistency complicates things even more. Common sense would say the former, at least to a degree.

For Morrison, he’s in a very interesting case coming back from a hip and shoulder surgery over the last year. With those injury question marks, along with the Collins’ news, it’s unlikely that the Morrison camp has much of an argument for a fully guaranteed contract. The most likely outcome is that the total percentage of the contract being fully guaranteed is increased from last year’s No. 53 overall selection, tight end Ben Sinnott.

No matter what Morrison ends up getting paid, and when, Fighting Irish fans will all be pulling for him. When he was healthy, Morrison was one of the better cornerbacks that Notre Dame had in a long time. Let’s hope those injuries are behind him, and a lot more good football and money is in his future.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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