Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Nick Caserio makes history with NFL Draft pick that will change everything about rookie contracts

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Tyler Forness | Last updated May 8, 2025 9:49 PM ET

Once the NFL Draft concluded on Satruday, April 26th, the next logical step for teams and their draft picks was to sit down and get a contract signed.

Going into rookie minicamp, multiple draft picks have already signed. With the rookie contract slots and scale, those contracts are usually pretty bog-standard. There aren't that many things to discuss. It's usually how much money goes into the signing bonus and if there will be offset language or not included.

Houston Texans make NFL history with rookie contract

On Thursday afternoon, Houston Texans general manager Nick Caserio signed second-round pick Jayden Higgins to a four-year rookie contract. Normally, that wouldn't be very newsworthy, but being the 34th overall pick, there has been an increasing amount of fully guaranteed money.

The contract for Higgins was the first for a second-round pick to have the entire thing fully guaranteed.

All 1st-round picks have received fully guaranteed contracts the past three years, but no 2nd-rounders. The 100% guarantee for Higgins -- the No. 34 overall pick -- is up from 91.9% in the same slot last year and could impact other negotiations at the top of Round 2. https://t.co/T9bHbB3P5T
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) May 8, 2025

There are multiple layers to this discussion. Last year's 34th overall pick was wide receiver Ladd McConkey who went to the Los Angeles Chargers. He received 91.9% of his S9.95 million contract fully guaranteed. As Pelissero mentions, this could significantly change things for other contracts.

Now, the one thing that could be argued by other teams is the fact that the Texans didn't have a first-round pick after trading down with the New York Giants. The reality is that agents won't care about this piece of information. It will likely lead to more and more day two contract being fully guaranteed. Now, that's really good for the players overall, but the owners won't love that.

It will take some time to see how much this truly impacts things moving forward, but it's likely just the start.

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

More must-reads: