Patriots’ TreVeyon Henderson joins trend of 2nd-round picks to earn fully guaranteed deals

Right before Patriots rookies reported for training camp on Saturday, the team handled one last bit of off-field business with one of their top draft picks.

TreVeyon Henderson and the Patritos agreed to terms on his rookie contract, with the running back signing a fully guaranteed four-year deal on Friday,

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported

Henderson’s contract is worth $11.143 million in total money, which includes a $4.74 million signing bonus,

The Boston Globe

‘s Christopher Price reported

Typically, there isn’t much negotiating that needs to be done between teams and draft picks when they sign their rookie contracts. Rookie scale contracts have been in place since the implementation of the 2011 CBA, with each draft pick being worth a certain amount of money over a four-year span.

However, an unprecedented situation occurred with second-round picks this offseason. The Texans signed wide receiver Jayden Higgins, whom they selected with the second overall pick in the second round, to a fully guaranteed contract in May. That made Higgins the first second-round pick to ever sign a fully guaranteed deal.

As a result, the market for rookies selected in the second round began to change, leading to a delay in deals getting done for those players. Entering this past week, only two players selected in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft had agreed to their rookie deals. The Browns gave linebacker Carson Schwesinger, who was selected with the pick before Higgins, a fully guaranteed deal a day after Higgins agreed to his contract in May.

Players who were picked around Henderson, whom the Patriots used the 38th overall pick on, began to receive fully guaranteed deals in recent days. Seahawks safety Nick Emmanwori (No. 35 overall pick), Dolphins guard Jonah Savaiinaea (No. 37 overall pick), and Bears wide receiver Luther Burden III (No. 39 overall pick) were among that group, essentially forcing the Patriots’ hand to give Henderson a fully guaranteed rookie contract.

Henderson’s contract agreement made him the 18th player selected in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft to agree to their rookie deal over a two-day span. Entering Saturday, 11 second-round picks remain unsigned, making them potential holdouts when their respective teams begin training camp practices this week.

The Patriots won’t have that concern, though. By signing Henderson, all 11 players from their 2025 draft class have signed their rookie deals.

While Henderson was the Patriots’ second-round pick, his selection seemed to be the most-praised of New England’s picks in the 2025 draft. The Ohio State product was a multi-threat player out of the backfield during his college career, rushing for 1,016 yards on 7.1 yards per carry this past season. He also had six receiving touchdowns over his four-year college career.

But what scouts and draft experts

seemed to like the most out of Henderson, though, is his pass-blocking ability

“My favorite thing that I’ve seen in this draft is the pass protection tape for TreVeyon Henderson. There’s nothing like it,” NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah said when the Patriots drafted Henderson in May. “He’s one of the best pass-protecting running backs I’ve ever evaluated.”

The Patriots will have their first training camp practice on Wednesday, but Henderson likely won’t be able to show off his pass-blocking skills for a bit. The first few practices are mandated to be padless, so Henderson will have to show what he can do without the pads next week.