The stalemate between second-round picks and NFL teams began to finally awaken this week. With multiple players drafted in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft finally starting to sign their rookie contracts. Some teams have followed the Houston Texans' lead and have given out their first-ever fully guaranteed contract to a second-round pick.
One recent player to sign was WR Luther Burden Jr., who was drafted with the 39th pick by the Chicago Bears and landed a fully guaranteed contract. Burden was selected just one pick ahead of when the New Orleans Saints drafted QB Tyler Shough, which seems to make the Saints' next steps pretty obvious.
All signs point towards the Saints giving Tyler Shough a fully guaranteed rookie contract
The situation with Shough isn’t one that either side probably expected when he was the 40th overall pick in this year’s draft. As more deals come through around the league and full guarantees become more popular for second-round selections, New Orleans is backed into a corner with the young quarterback. Simply put, the 10% or so of Shough’s dues that the Saints may be negotiating over should prevent them from getting a deal done with him. Even if the team struggles massively this season and are back on the rookie QB market next offseason, that small portion of Shough’s deal wouldn’t prevent them from moving on, anyway. Besides, Kellen Moore and co. are hoping that Shough could prove plenty of folks wrong and be the long-term starter for New Orleans.
Shough's development is one of the most important tasks facing the Saints this season and beyond. They are banking on Shough being the answer at QB, and they need to begin this process on the right foot. The Saints' roster of rookies and veterans all report for training camp on Tuesday, July 22. And by the time the team is altogether, it is crucial that Shough's contract is signed. Even if that means they have to follow the unpopular new trend around the league of giving a second-round pick a fully guaranteed contract. In this case, I don't believe the Saints have much of a choice, and while it may hurt some in the organization to make this compromise, the hope is that they will be better off for the foreseeable future because of it.
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