The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will see its 2025 draft class report to training camp on July 21 and one key rookie may not be attendance.
Cornerback Benjamin Morrison, who was taken with the 53rd overall pick in the draft, is one of the 30 second-round rookies that have yet to sign their rookie contract. The reason why this is happening is because of the guaranteed money allocated in each respective deal and it all came to a head when the Texans gave receiver Jayden Higgins, the 34th overall pick in the draft, a fully guaranteed contract and then the Browns followed suit and gave linebacker Carson Schwesinger, the 33rd overall pick in the draft, the same kind of deal.
Every single penny of Higgins' $11,700,824 will eventually go into his bank account, as well as the $11,800,400 that Schwesinger signed for. Those two deals have put teams in wait-and-see mode when it comes to their own respective second-rounders contracts and that's created a logjam entering training camp.
This past Saturday, we saw what eventually happens if a deal doesn't get done before rookie report dates and that came via Los Angeles Chargers rookie Tre Harris' holdout. Harris, like every other rookie that has yet to reach a deal, is forbidden from participating in Chargers camp until something gets figured out.
And that's exactly what the Bucs are dealing with when it comes to Morrison and his availability for training camp.
Morrison won't even be able to "hold-in", which could easily hamper the Bucs' playoff aspirations
In terms of a Bucs vacuum, this is a pretty big deal. We all know Jamel Dean is a very good corner, but he can't stay healthy for the duration of an entire season. There's bound to be a point in time where he goes down for an extended period and the Bucs need someone to replace their 1B corner.
Ideally, that would be Morrison who steps up. While his career won't be defined by what happens in 2025, the Bucs are legit playoff contenders with logical Super Bowl aspirations. Meaning, they need all hands on deck and in full capacity, for the season.
Last year, we saw what can happen when the wrong guys are playing outside corner. The Bucs' pass defense was routinely taken advantage and breakdowns were a pretty consistent theme throughout the season. There's a better chance that a limited Morrison doesn't fix that problem - it only causes it to persist.
Eventually, in time, things would work out. But we are talking strictly about the 2025 season and when you're a playoff contender, every single year matters.
The Bucs will eventually get this figured out, but let's just hope it's not too late when things are all said and done.
An idea of what Benjamin Morrison's rookie deal could look like with the Bucs
Safety Nick Emmanwori, the former Bulldog and current Seattle Seahawk, was the 35th overall pick in the draft, which is obviously one spot behind Higgins. What happens with his deal likely impacts the remaining order along the way. He's the name to watch moving forward.
When it comes to what Morrison's contract could look like, we just go back to Ben Sinnott's deal with the Washington Commanders. The former Kansas State tight end was the 53rd pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, which sets a blueprint, so to speak, of what could happen with Morrison this year.
His overall deal is worth $7,227,950. Operating off the information we have, Schwesinger's deal is a 17.13% increase over what Keon Coleman's deal was last year. Therefore, Morrison's deal is likely to come in around the $8,456,701 mark, but that's totally unofficial as we only have two current second-round deals to work off in terms of projections.
In totality, it's not a lot of money. However, the best and worst NFL contracts are built around the structure, not the dollar amount. It'll be interesting to see if the Bucs, along with the vast majority of the rest of the league, can figure this out before respective camp dates start across the board.
