The New England Patriots are already dealing with a major training camp headache with their start date quickly approaching

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Kyle Crabbs | Last updated Jul 14, 2025 7:10 PM ET

The New England Patriots spent much of their offseason focused on improving the supporting cast around young quarterback Drake Maye. That includes the team's efforts in the 2025 NFL Draft, which saw them draft offensive players with all four of their top-100 draft selections.

Training camp opens next week for the masses across the NFL, including New England. But barring a major change of momentum, they'll be facing the start of camp without one of those top four picks on offense.

Rookies across the NFL are generally signed, sealed, and delivered these days — unless you were drafted in the second round in 2025. There, 30 out of 32 draft choices have yet to sign a contract amid disputes surrounding the nature of fully guaranteed rookie contracts.

TreVeyon Henderson remains unsigned amid second-round standoff

Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Henderson, the 38th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, is New England's lone unsigned rookie. It's no fault of the Patriots, unless you're hoping to see them throw norms to the wind and simply offer the next fully guaranteed second-round contract. Prior to this year, the league had never seen a second-round player collect full guarantees.

But for the Patriots, it may behoove them to consider being among the teams that cross the line and concede. Henderson offers a chance for New England to become much more explosive in the run game and offer value out of the backfield in the passing game. He was generally considered one of the most well-rounded backs in the class of 2025.

Pushing him into missed time by splitting hairs over a handful of percentage points of guaranteed salary across the life of a four-year contract feels like a needless line to draw in the sand.

Teams that pick later in the round would be making more concessions by surrendering full guarantees. The difference in percent of the contract guaranteed from the 2024 NFL Draft ranged from 95.7% guaranteed (33rd overall) to 52.4% guaranteed (64th overall). Henderson, as the 38th overall pick sits in a draft slot that got 83% of the contract fully guaranteed in 2024.

New England has plenty of momentum after an exciting offseason of player and coach additions. A rookie holdout wouldn't be the end of the world, but it sure would be a nice extra distraction to avoid for a team that's trying to get back to their winning ways. We'll know in a little over a week just how serious Henderson is about holding out for a breakthrough.

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

More must-reads: