Las Vegas Raiders And Promising Wide Receiver Appear To Have Contract Dispute

   

The Las Vegas Raiders are in the middle of OTAs with one rookie still unsigned. The Raiders had an extensive draft class in 2025, taking 11 players in April. Up to this point in the offseason, Las Vegas has signed 10 of those picks.

Las Vegas Raiders coach Pete Carroll on radio row during the NFL Scouting Combine at the Indiana Convention Center.

Jack Bech is the odd man out in Las Vegas.

The Raiders selected the six-foot-one, 214-pound wide receiver with the No. 26 pick in the draft. The 22-year-old is coming off a strong 2024 campaign, when he recorded 1,034 receiving yards and nine touchdowns for TCU.

Bech isn’t alone in being a second-round pick still unsigned before mandatory minicamp in June. Only the first two picks in the second round, linebacker Carson Schwesinger (Cleveland Browns) and wide receiver Jayden Higgins (Houston Texans), have agreed to deals with their respective teams.

Second-round picks are holding out for better deals

TCU wideout Jack Bech during the 2025 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Mar 1, 2025; Indianapolis, IN, USA; TCU wideout Jack Bech during the 2025 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Higgins and Schwesinger became the first ever NFL players to sign fully guaranteed contracts in the second round. Per Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk, there is a belief that fully guaranteed deals are the holdup for Bech and other second-round players.

“But only two of the 32 second-round picks have signed, likely because of disputes between teams and agents about fully guaranteed contracts…Since then, no second-round picks have signed,” Smith wrote. “That’s likely because other teams don’t want to follow the Browns’ and Texans’ lead and give fully guaranteed contracts to second-round picks.

“And agents are asking those teams, If other second-round picks are getting fully guaranteed contracts, why should my player take anything less?”

What would the Las Vegas Raiders likely offer Jack Bech?

TCU wideout Jack Bech during the 2025 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium
Mar 1, 2025; Indianapolis, IN, USA; TCU wideout Jack Bech during the 2025 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The total value for Bech’s contract cannot change, per the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. He’s set to sign a four-year deal worth $16.8 million.

What might the Raiders want to give Bech in guaranteed money?

Las Vegas agreed to fully guarantee $6.8 million of 2024 second-round pick offensive lineman Jackson Powers-Johnson’s four-year deal worth $8.8 million.

Las Vegas Raiders guard Jackson Powers-Johnson (58) enters the field before the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Allegiant Stadium.
Dec 22, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Las Vegas Raiders guard Jackson Powers-Johnson (58) enters the field before the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images