Two Cincinnati Bengals rookies from the club's 2025 NFL Draft class remain unsigned, but one of them may put pen-to-paper on his contract very soon.
Linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr., Cincinnati's second-round pick, has yet to sign his deal along with the vast majority of other second-rounders. This hold up was caused because the first two picks of the round, wide receiver Jayden Higgins of the Houston Texans and linebacker Carson Schwesinger of the Cleveland Browns, signed fully guaranteed contracts. Fully guaranteed deals have never been given out to players drafted outside the first round before, so 30 of the remaining picks from the round, including Knight, were on standby to see if that were possible for all of them.
Until one of the picks changed that, which now opens to door for Knight and the Bengals to come together.
Alfred Collins signs rookie deal that's not fully guaranteed
As first reported by ESPN's Adam Schefter, the San Francisco 49ers signed defensive tackle Alfred Collins to a four-year, $10.3 million rookie deal with $9 million of it being guaranteed.
Collins was the 43rd overall pick, the 11th in the second round, and 21 other players went off the board before the third round began. Knight was one of those 21 picks, six picks after Collins at 49th overall to be exact.
What matters here is precedent. Since Collins didn't follow in Higgins and Schwesinger's footsteps and secure a fully guaranteed deal, he allowed every team that drafted players below him in the round to negotiate deals that also aren't 100% guaranteed.
When it comes to the eight players picked between Higgins, the 34th pick, and Collins, it's still realistic for them to push for 100% guaranteed contracts since they were picked ahead of Collins. This isn't the case for Knight.
Bengals have more leverage to sign Knight
Cincinnati now can use San Francisco continuing precedent with mostly guaranteed deals for second-rounders drafted after the first two picks of the round. This gives the Bengals the specific leverage they expected to have when they first drafted Knight.
This should mean a deal will come together soon, because Knight's camp doesn't have this bargaining chip at their disposal anymore.
It's a loss for Knight and 28 other players, but a major win for all of those clubs.
Cincinnati is not out of the woods yet. They still have their independent contract issues with first-round pick Shemar Stewart and All-Pro defensive end Trey Hendrickson.
Those negotiations are ongoing, but things were at a complete standstill with Knight.
Until right now.
