Tyler Shough "super optimistic" about getting contract completed before camp

Tyler Shough still does not have a contract despite training camp opening later this month. He is not panicking.

The Saints rookie quarterback is one of 30 second-round picks still unsigned. Texans receiver Jayden Higgins, the 34th overall pick, became the first second-round pick ever to receive a fully guaranteed contract, and the Browns followed by giving linebacker Carson Schwesinger, the 33rd overall pick, a fully guaranteed deal.

Now, every player in the second round wants a fully guaranteed contract.

“The whole second round, [we’re] just seeing kind of where things lie,” Shough told Matthew Paras of The Times-Picayune diuring the Manning Passing Academy. “There’s not like a demand or — obviously, you’re super optimistic. That’s just part of it, this whole process, so yeah, we’ll see.”

Shough, who is competing for the starting job with Spencer Rattler and Jake Haener, participated in the team’s offseason program. He did so after signing a participation agreement, which provides financial protection against an injury before a rookie contract is signed.

“I want to fight for as much as we can get, but at the same time, there’s a lot of things that have yet to unfold with other guys ahead [of me],” Shough, the 40th overall pick, said. “For me, the biggest thing was getting here, learning the playbook and doing everything I can.”