Thirteen draft picks from April's selection remain unsigned as voluntary workouts close and mandatory minicamp approaches. The holdouts cluster in rounds three and four—slots 65 through 135—where offset language and guaranteed money percentages have quietly hardened into team policy after years of individual variance.
The unsigned group includes four third-rounders and nine fourth-rounders spread across eleven franchises. Two picked in the top 100 have not reported. None are first-round selections, where the CBA's slotting system eliminates most negotiating latitude. The pattern emerged in late April, roughly three weeks after the draft, when agents representing small-school edge rushers and cornerbacks began declining standard four-year templates that included offset provisions on Year Three and Four base salaries.
Offset language allows teams to recoup guaranteed money if a player is cut and signs elsewhere before his rookie deal expires. The clause matters most for Day Two picks, who receive 60-80% guaranteed compensation but lack the first-round prohibition on offsets. For a fourth-rounder earning $4.2M over four years with $950K guaranteed, an offset clause means a team pays nothing if the player signs a $1.2M veteran minimum deal after a Year Two release. Agents for defensive backs from FCS programs argue their clients' combine metrics—sub-4.4 forty times, 40-inch verticals—justify first-round offset treatment. Teams counter that CBA slot values already dictate the dollar figure; language is the only remaining variable.
The leverage sits with franchises. Unsigned players accrue no service time and forfeit $12,000 weekly per diem stipends during training camp. A fourth-rounder missing all of July and August loses roughly $85,000 in camp payments and risks being placed on the Reserve/Did Not Report list, which tolls his contract and extends team control. The CBA prohibits fines during voluntary workouts, but mandatory minicamp in June carries $16,716 daily penalties for unexcused absences—a figure that climbs to $50,000 per day once training camp opens in late July.
Three of the unsigned thirteen share the same representation: a boutique agency that negotiated offset removal for a fifth-round safety in 2024 after a similar May standoff. That deal became template for other mid-round DBs, particularly corners from smaller conferences who test well but lack Power Four tape. This year's group includes two All-American corners from the Big Sky and a nickel from the SWAC who ran 4.38 at the combine. Their agents cite the 2024 precedent; teams note that player signed only after his franchise missed on two veteran corner targets in free agency and needed camp bodies.
The unsigned list includes one punter, selected 119th overall, holding out over split-salary treatment of his Australian Rules Football contract buyout. His prior league claims he owes $180K AUD for early termination; the NFL team proposed structuring that as a signing bonus to be recouped if he is cut, effectively reducing his guaranteed money by the buyout amount. The player's agent has requested the team pay the buyout separately, preserving his $870K guaranteed figure. The franchise counters that no punter drafted after Round Three has ever received that treatment.
The impasse carries modest competitive risk. None of the thirteen were projected starters in April depth-chart projections. Eight play defensive back or edge, positions with deep veteran free-agent markets through June. Two franchises with unsigned third-rounders have already signed veteran corners to one-year, $1.8M deals with no guarantees—insurance against a prolonged holdout but also signal that the draft pick's leverage is exhausted.
Historically, 94% of Day Two picks sign before the final week of May. The 2022 class saw eleven unsigned players into June; ten signed within 72 hours of mandatory minicamp. The outlier, a fourth-round guard, held out through August and signed only after a projected starter tore his ACL in the preseason opener. He never started a game and was cut the following March.
Two franchises with multiple unsigned picks—one NFC team has three fourth-rounders unsigned—face salary-cap complications if all thirteen sign simultaneously in late June. Signing bonuses for Day Two picks range from $600K to $1.2M and prorate over four years, but the initial cash outlay compresses into a single week if players sign together. One team deferred $3.2M in veteran restructures to preserve June liquidity for this scenario.
The next decision point is June 10-12, when all thirty-two teams hold mandatory minicamp. Players who skip accrue fines immediately, and the CBA grants no appeal process for unexcused absences during mandatory events. Agents representing the unsigned group have requested to attend minicamp on a "watch only" basis without signing, preserving their holdout while avoiding fines. The league office has not issued guidance on whether teams must permit that attendance.
One unsigned third-rounder is a long snapper, a position where replacement-level talent is fungible and holdouts carry almost no leverage. His agent has requested a three-year deal instead of the standard four-year rookie contract, arguing the player's Australian rugby background and 29-year-old age justify veteran treatment. The team has declined and signed a veteran long snapper to compete in camp, a move that effectively ends the rookie's holdout leverage.
Watch for mass signings in the 72-hour window before June minicamp, when fine exposure begins and agents exhaust their offset-language arguments. Two teams with unsigned fourth-round edge rushers are expected to structure "de facto" offset removal by frontloading Year One and Two guarantees, leaving Years Three and Four as non-guaranteed base salary where offset language becomes moot. That compromise preserves team language while giving agents a talking point. The punter and long snapper situations resolve separately, likely in late June once their respective teams finalize special-teams coaching hires and can present clear competition depth charts.
The 2027 draft class is already watching. If any of the thirteen extract offset removal or split-salary buyout treatment, the precedent cascades into next year's negotiations for all Day Two picks from non-Power Four programs.