Rams Terrance Ferguson Has Argument For Fully Guaranteed Deal

Ferguson's lack of a deal is part of a league-wide holdout of second-round picks, done so in pursuit of a fully guaranteed deal. Here's where things stand Saturday morning.

According to NFL Network's Mike Garafolo, the Dolphins have signed Jonah Savaiinaea to a fully guaranteed deal. Savaiinaea is the 37th overall pick.

According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the Patriots and TreVeyon Henderson, the 38th pick, have agreed to a fully guaranteed deal.

According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the Bears and Luther Burden III, the 39th pick, have agreed to a fully guaranteed deal.

Let's recap. From the first pick in the second round, pick 33 all the way to pick 39, those players have all signed fully guaranteed deals, except for Quinshon Judkins. However, all signs point to him getting a fully guaranteed deal as well.

Pick 40 is Tyler Shough. He has massive leverage in negotiations as he's expected to be the Saints' QB1 following the retirement of Derek Carr.

At the very least, he should receive a deal that has 95 percent of his money guarenteed.

Why? Because pick 41, Buffalo Bills T.J. Sanders signed his deal with 95 percent of his money guaranteed.

That takes us to pick 42, the first tight end selected in the second round, New York Jets' Mason Taylor.

"Jets and 2nd round rookie TE Mason Taylor have agreed terms on 4-year, $10.46 million deal with 91.3% of deal guaranteed ($9.56 million), per his agent Sammy Spina," wrote NFL Network's CameronWolfe.

"Taylor gets 60% of year 4 salary guaranteed, 55% increase from slot No.42 last year. Fully camp ready."

Alfred Collins, pick 43, the man who broke the inital deadlock, signed an 88 percent guaranteed deal with the 49ers.

Pick 44, Cowboys Donovan Ezeiruaku, threw a wrench in things with his deal. Ezeiruaku's first three years of his deal are fully guaranteed, with the final year being guaranteed at only 38%.

That's about 84.5 percent guaranteed, a massive drop from the first non-fully guaranteed deal.

Then the shoe dropped. Pick 45, the Indianapolis Colts' J.T. Tuimoloau, signed his deal on Friday night. The problem is that terms have yet to be released.

This is where the rubber meets the road. There's a clear pattern of reduced guarentees and the rate of reduction from player to player. Once Tuimoloau's figures are released, there's a baseline for negotiations.

Now it's up to Ferguson's agents to figure out their next plan and for Ferguson himself to figure out exactly what matters to him in these negotiations.

However, if he wants guarantees close to Taylor, that's a fight that could prolong negotiations.

If he wants to though, all Ferguson needs to ask the Rams is if a little over $2 million, spread over four years is enough for the Rams to have him miss training camp.

If he asks that question, the Rams may not have a satisfactory answer, so believe, while unlikely, a fully guaranteed deal is still on the table.