When Jets rookies report for training camp on Tuesday, one of them won’t be there.
As noted by Rich Cimini of ESPN.com, second-round running back Breece Hall is the team’s only unsigned draft pick.
The situation will be confusing to many, since most of the 2022 draft picks are signed. That’s because the 2011 labor deal made these deals so much easier to negotiate.
But here’s the problem. Although the dollars are set by a formula, the guarantees are not. Over the past 11 years, agents have managed to get more guaranteed money for players taken later in the draft. Currently, all first rounders get four-year, fully-guaranteed contracts. (When the new CBA was finalized, only the first 20 or so players taken in the first round did.)
Now, players at the top of the second round are getting three of four years fully guaranteed. The problem for the Jets is that the player taken immediately after Hall, safety Jalen Pitre, got three years fully guaranteed from the Texans.
As a result, Hall (taken fourth in round two) isn’t signed. Neither are the first three players taken in round two: Buccaneers defensive end Logan Hall, Packers receiver Christian Watson, and Titans cornerback Roger McCreary.
Given the Pitre deal, nothing short of three years fully guaranteed will get these deals at the top of round two done. And that could cause these players to miss out on opportunities to hit the ground sprinting as they prepare for their rookie seasons.