Most of the mystery around the Miami Dolphins’ biggest rookie contract question has been answered thanks to an AFC East rival
An AFC East rival appears to have helped make a decision for the Miami Dolphins regarding their 2026 rookie class.
The question is not whether or not the Miami Dolphins are going to get their 2026 NFL Draft class signed. Of course they will. They always sign.
There is some question about when they will sign. But that’s more of a subplot to the whole process. The biggest question about the Miami Dolphins and rookie contracts lies with second-round draft choice Jacob Rodriguez. Because last year, the NFL saw second-round contracts drag all the way to the start of training camp in a bid to secure fully-guaranteed contracts.
It worked. The first eight picks of the 2025 NFL Draft’s second round (including Miami OG Jonah Savaiinaea) secured fully guaranteed four year deals. For the folks who hate math, that’s players picked No. 33 through 40 overall. The question for 2026 is whether or not more players from this year’s second round (including Rodriguez, picked No. 43) will secure a fully-guaranteed contract. The New York Jets appear to have made that decision for many.
The Miami Dolphins’ negotiation with Jacob Rodriguez over guarantees appears to be over before it started…thanks to the New York Jets
Miami’s pick of Rodriguez, at No. 43 overall, sits just outside the range of second round rookies who got full guarantees in 2025. But New York just finalized a major bump in guarantees to their rookie pick at No. 50 overall. Cornerback D’Angelo Ponds has signed his four-year contract with the Jets. They’ve fully guaranteed him 90% of the four year value of the deal.
That is, obviously, not a fully guaranteed contract. But the shift from what the 50th pick got in 2025 is a big development. Last year’s 50th overall pick, Seattle tight end Elijah Arroyo, got just 78% of his rookie contract fully guaranteed. A 12% jump in guarantees from one year to another is a massive leap. And it sets a precedent for those contracts in the “limbo” of actually negotiating out possible fully guaranteed deals.
This now becomes a precedent for every second-round contract that wasn’t fully guaranteed last year. And the math? Well it’s pretty straight forward.
If we assume every non-fully guaranteed second-round contract between 40 and 49 (Ponds was 50th) receives the same 12% leap in guarantees? Picks 41 through 45 would be accelerated to reaching 100% based off the Jets’ boost to pick No. 50. Last year’s 45th overall pick, Colts DE JT Tuimoloau, received 88% of his four-year contract fully guaranteed.
So reading between the lines: expect Rodriguez’s four year deal with Miami to be fully guaranteed when pen hits the paper.
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