Eagles’ star rookie may miss start of training camp due to ongoing battle over guaranteed contracts

When star Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith was asked about the team’s most impressive rookie during OTAs this past spring, he had a quick response... even if he couldn’t pronounce his new teammate’s name.

“The guy from Texas? The safety,” Smith said, referring to Eagles second-round pick Andrew Mukuba, "just seeing him out there, seeing the way he moves around, things like that, the way he goes about his business.”

Mukuba is about to embark on a summer of opportunity with the reigning Super Bowl champions. With C.J. Gardner-Johnson now a member of the Houston Texans, Philly has a starting safety spot open for competition. Mukuba will be battling with Sydney Brown and Tristin McCollum for the right to start alongside Reed Blankenship to open the 2025 season.

The growing concern for Mukuba and the Eagles? If training camp started today, the former Texas Longhorns star wouldn’t be on the practice field.

Mukuba is one of 30 second-round draft selections who have yet to sign their rookie contracts. The hold up is over guaranteed money, after the Texans gave No. 34 overall pick Jayden Higgins the the first fully guaranteed rookie contract for a second-round pick in NFL history. The Browns also gave linebacker Carson Schwesinger, the first pick of this year’s second round, a fully guaranteed deal, and the ripple effect could soon be felt across the NFL as teams get set to opeen training camp. The Eagles are scheduled to report on July 22.

How much will Andrew Mukuba’s rookie contract cost the Eagles?

Because the NFL scales all rookie salaries under the current CBA, the Eagles, Mukuba’s representation, and the general public know the max potential value for the No. 64 overall draft selection.

Mukuba’s contract will be four years with a max total value of $7.16 million over the duration of the deal. The guaranteed portion of the salary and other details, like the timing and structure of how the signing bonus will be paid out, is what’s currently being negotiated.

Will the Eagles give Mukuba a fully-guaranteed rookie contract?

Philadelphia has over $30 million in salary cap space for 2025 alone. Guaranteeing $7 million over four years to a potential Week 1 starter like Mukuba feels like an easy solution for GM Howie Roseman and company.

It’s a lot more complicated than that, though. 

NFL owners don’t want to see fully guaranteed contracts become the norm in their sport. They want to guard their version of the salary cap, which works to keep player salaries in check while protecting teams from the risk of financial losses due to player injuries. With 53-man active rosters, the NFL can't adopt a system like the NBA or MLB, where the rosters are smaller and the players have more individual power (and higher, guaranteed salaries). This is how the business gets done in the NFL, and the players tend to get the short end of the stick when it comes to the financials.

What if... Mukuba hasn't signed his contract by July 22?

For Mukuba and the Eagles, contract negotiations essentially have an eight-day deadline.

If the deal isn't done by Philly's training camp reporting date on July 22, Mukuba will immediately start missing valuable reps and falling behind his teammates. Last summer, Cooper DeJean missed the start of camp due to a hamstring injury sustained while training at home in Iowa. He fell behind, ended up in defensive coordinator Vic Fangio's doghouse to open the season and didn't start his first game at cornerback until Week 6.

That's an extreme example, but a rookie missing reps at camp isn't going to sit well with Fangio, especially with solid players like Brown and McCollum back after helping the team win a Super Bowl title.

Roseman and the Eagles could easily stop the nonsense with Mukuba, follow what the Texans and Browns did with their second-round picks, and open training camp with full attendance. But this negotiation is more about precedent than football at this point, and Eagles fans can only hope it doesn’t take another week-plus to figure out a solution.

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