Signing a 6th round pick that you just drafted is not really noteworthy but the Eagles have done something a little different with Cameron Williams that hasn’t really been seen before. In this case the Eagles guaranteed Williams $475,000 of his salary, bringing his total guarantee to $676,568 rather than the $201,568 that would normally come from the slot. The guarantee is split as $375,000 in 2025 and $125,000 in 2026. There is also a small salary increase in the first two years of the contract.

I had heard through the grapevine that the Eagles have been trying to do this for some time in order to try to set a new precedent for their contracts, but this was the first one to take the deal. In return for the salary guarantee the Eagles have a split salary in the 3rd year of the contract, which is not typical of drafted player contracts. A split salary brings a player’s salary down if he lands on a reserve list.

Why would the Eagles want to do this? You can’t rework a rookie’s contract until year 4 so if a player has an injury history you cant modify the deal to account for that. Philly has often done this with their players in year 4 if the situation calls for it so it would make sense if they are attempting to get it covered for year 3 as well by including it in their rookie deals.

The additional guarantee to the Eagles is almost meaningless. A $375,000 guarantee in 2025 is not much higher than a Practice Squad salary so most of the salary is covered. Plus the odds are against cutting a 6th round pick that early, and even if they did the guarantee would then transfer. A $125K guarantee in 2026 is really only meaningful if he is out of the league next year.

There is more Williams could have pushed for. He could have maxed out his contract value in 2026 and 2027 the way the picks in the first three rounds maximize their contract value. He could have pushed all of the guarantee to 2026 or 2027 which would have been more meaningful since those are years more likely to be released and potentially not land back on an active roster.

A pretty minor development but considering how many teams are giving UDFA’s big P5 bonuses this could end up being a strategy other teams besides the Eagles use moving forward to try to get more injury protection on the back end of a rookie contract.