Mike Macdonald faced a new, potential crisis on Tuesday, but the 38-year-old, Seattle Seahawks second-year head coach was far from alone. This crisis is hitting every team in the NFL â except for the two that caused it.
But the crisis hits Seattle especially hard because Seahawks second-round draft pick Nick Emmanwori is at the center of it. Emmanwori, a safety out of South Carolina who has drawn comparisons to Baltimore Ravens two-time All-Pro Kyle Hamilton, apparently failed to show up for the opening of Seahawks training camp on Tuesday.
The Seattle training camp at Virginia Mason Athletic Center in Renton, Washington, is not scheduled for a full opening until July 23, but the organization’s 11 draft picks and 15 remaining undrafted free agents were required to report eight days early.
Emmanwori a No-Show as Seahawks Rookies Report
According to reports by media observers at the training facility, Emmanwori was not seen with the other rookies on Tuesday â and neither was the Seahawks’ other pick from the draft’s second round, former Miami Hurricanes tight end Elijah Arroyo.
ESPN Seahawks correspondent Brady Henderson reported that Emmanwori and Arroyo were not among the rookies seen entering the Renton Training Center on Tuesday.
Tacoma Tribune reporter Gregg Bell also noted the two rookies’ absence.
“All signs into the evening were that Emmanwori and fellow second-round draft choice Elijah Arroyo, a tight end from Miami, did not report with the other Seahawks rookies, including nine other draft choices from May,” Bell wrote in a report published late on Tuesday. “Itâs not yet a holdout. Seattleâs first practice of training camp is next week.”
As has been widely reported, after the players drafted with the top two picks of the second round, UCLA linebacker Carson Schwesinger and Iowa State wide receiver Jayden Higgins, were given unprecedented, fully guaranteed contracts by the teams that drafted them â the Cleveland Browns and Houston Texans, respectively â the other 30 picks in Round 2 declined to sign their contracts, seeking the same generous treatment.
Fully guaranteed deals had been reserved exclusively for first-round draft picks, until now.
Emmanwori the ‘Trigger Man’ For League-Wide Crisis
Why are all eyes on Emmanwori? Simply because he was the third player selected in the second round.
As a Wall Street Journal report on what the paper called an “unprecedented, leaguewide standoff,” noted, “NFL dealmaking typically relies on past precedent in contract negotiations.”
The Browns and Texans set a new precedent â one that the other 30 teams have so far refused to honor. But with Emmanwori as the highest-drafted player left unsigned from the second round, whether or not he signs his deal â or holds out for a fully guaranteed contract â will set a precedent for the remaining 29 players in the round.
With Emmanwori so far apparently a no-show at Seahawks camp, he appears to be leaning toward the holdout route.
Guaranteed money is important to NFL players because if they are cut from their teams, any money they are owed is voided â unless they have a guarantee in their contracts.
Second-round rookie contracts cover the first four years of a players career. Any player who doesn’t make it the full four years, and does not have guaranteed money, is simply out of luck.
“From 2011 to 2021, 87 of 349 (24.9 percent) second-round picks were cut prior to the end of their fourth season,” the Journal reported.
“Emmanwori is the trigger man on the leagueâs impasse with second-rounders,” the Tacoma Tribune‘s Bell reported. “There are 25 other teams with 29 second-round picks other than Seattleâs all waiting to see what Seahawks general manager John Schneider does with Emmanworiâs deal.”
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