Secret Snag Why Seahawks Rookies Nick Emmanwori and Elijah Arroyo Are Still Waiting to Sign

Draft Day Two for the Seattle Seahawks in April was an active one, and an exciting one. General manager John Schneider was so excited about landing South Carolina safety Nick Emmanwori that he engineered a trade up to No. 35, the third pick in the second round, to get him.

Then at No. 50, Seattle’s regularly scheduled second-round pick, the Seahawks took Miami tight end Elijah Arroyo — a player who Schneider has originally slated as a top-15 selection. Though Arroyo was fully healthy in 2024, his knee injury that curtailed his previous two seasons caused him to fall to where the Seahawks could grab him.

The day was an unqualified success with the two draft picks. But that was six weeks ago.

With the first week of June wrapping up and Seattle’s mandatory minicamp now scheduled to start on Tuesday, a date pushed up from July 17, neither Emmanwori nor Arroyo has signed a Seahawks contract.

What’s going on?

Dollar Value of Contracts Not at Issue

All nine of the Seahawks other 2025 draft picks have inked their deals — and both of the Seattle second rounders have been active in organized team activities (OTA), which are voluntary. So if either prospect had an issue with the Seahawks’ offers presumably they would not be there.

To be clear, the size of each draft pick’s rookie contract is not up to the Seahawks. The NFL collective bargaining agreement sets the value of that contract for each draft slot. According to the sports business site Spotrac, based on those predetermined contract values, Emmanwori will receive a contract for $11,588,298 over four years. Arroyo’s four-year rookie deal is set at $8,805,580.

But there’s a catch.

The NFL CBA sets the amount of each contract, but the specific details beyond the overall cash total remain up for negotiation. One detail in particular is at issue in the case of the two second-rounders. In fact, the issue is a problem for second-round picks league-wide.

That issue is guaranteed money.

As Mike Reiss of ESPN.com reported, traditionally, second-round picks have received only partially guaranteed contracts. Fully guaranteed contracts have been reserved for first-rounders while giving full guarantees to second-round selections has been “a rarity.”

Browns, Texans Shake up Second-Round Signings

But that all changed this year, at least for two teams. The top two picks in the 2025 second round belonged to the Cleveland Browns and the Houston Texans. They took UCLA linebacker Carson Schwesinger, and Iowa State wide receiver Jayden Higgins, respectively.

Then, the Browns and Texans proceeded to give those two players fully guaranteed contracts.

Why the Browns and Texans broke with tradition remains unclear. The fact that they displayed such generosity threw the entire second-round class into turmoil, as agents for all 30 other picks in the round now reportedly want the same consideration for their clients.

According to information from The Football Database, as of June 5, all 30 remaining second-round picks are currently unsigned.

“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,” Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk explained. “Agents are asking those teams, if other second-round picks are getting fully guaranteed contracts, why should my player take anything less?”

Will Emmanwori and Arroyo eventually sign their deals? That appears highly likely. But the Seahawks can either break the dam themselves by giving the pair fully guaranteed deals, or wait until agents relent and accept more conventional second-round contracts for their clients.

Either way, it appears that Seahawks fans will need to exercise some patience with the two promising rookies.