📰🏟️ Front office trick

Good morning. Today you’ll learn why 30 of the 32 NFL second-round draft picks are still unsigned, a trick baseball teams are using to drive up attendance, and much more.

—Peter & Kyle

On the clock: This newsletter takes ~4.17 minutes to read (1,109 words).

Enjoying these emails? Help us grow by forwarding one to a friend.

Did someone you know do this^ to you? Subscribe here for free.

🏈 MONEY MOVES

Why 30 of the 32 NFL second-round draft picks are still unsigned

Beware: winter is coming, and the Unsigned are massing like the Unsullied. As NFL teams prepare to kick off their respective training camps before the end of the month, 30 of the league’s 32 second-round draft picks still remain without contracts.

It’s all because of the *Cajun voice* gar-on-tees

The only two second-rounders that have inked deals so far are the #1 pick of the round, LB Carson Schwesinger (Browns), and the #2 pick of the round, WR Jayden Higgins (Texans). 

Both of their contracts are fully-guaranteed, a first for second-round picks in the latest collective bargaining agreement (CBA)—which was supposed to prevent this sort of thing from happening.

• Following a string of high-profile lockouts that included WR Michael Crabtree and former-#1 pick QB JaMarcus Russell, the 2011 CBA introduced a rookie wage scale.
• It established a hard ceiling for first-year contracts, financial guidelines for each draft slot (slot money), and stipulated each contract be four years in length.

This left guaranteed money as one of the only deal points left to negotiate. First-rounders didn’t maneuver their way into receiving full guarantees until 2022, with this year’s second-round holdouts hoping to similarly move the needle in that direction.

Who will blink first? Movement could happen soon between the Saints and QB Tyler Shough (#40 overall), who’s in a strong negotiating position since he’s expected to be taking snaps under center for the team to start the season, and/or the Browns and RB Quinshon Judkins (#36), whose negotiating power was reduced over the weekend after being arrested on a domestic violence charge.

It’s not just rookies…NFL veteran contract guarantees have also been a hot topic, like that store at the mall we all make fun of but secretly love. A report published in June claims that the league encouraged teams to reduce the guaranteed dollars in veteran contracts, citing an independent arbitrator’s findings.

🔥 IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PRIZEPICKS

Get off the sidelines and into the action

PrizePicks operates in 40+ states, including California, Texas, and Georgia, letting you get real-money action on your favorite sports and players.

• 📱 Pick & Play: Just pick MORE or LESS on a few player stat projections
• 🥳 Enjoy the action and win up to 2000x your cash
• 💰 Use code PRESS50 to get $50 INSTANTLY in Lineups when you play your first $5

⏱️ CATCH UP QUICK

Headlines de la semaine

👀 A one-inch Hawk-Eye measurement decided the MLB HR Derby. Mariners star Cal “Big Dumper” Raleigh took home the HR Derby title with a major assist from modern technology. In his semifinal matchup with Athletics DH Brent Rooker, which went to a tiebreaker where the longest HR wins, both sluggers appeared to tie once again, with hits measuring the same distance. But Hawk-Eye’s hi-tech system of cameras put Raleigh’s ball at 470.61 feet to Rooker’s 470.53 feet, handing Big Dumper the victory—though some experts are skeptical of the system being that accurate. It marks the latest controversy involving Hawk-Eye, which experienced two high-profile mishaps at Wimbledon earlier this month.

📺 It Just Means More (viewers): Netflix teams up with the SEC. The streaming giant this week announced its first foray into the world of CFB, a new docuseries called SEC Football: Any Given Saturday, premiering August 5. The seven-episode show, from the producers of Drive to Survive, will offer a behind-the-scenes look at teams across the SEC during the 2024-25 season, its first with 16 teams. Netflix also dropped the series’ first trailer this week—check it out here.

🏀 Portland is reigniting the Fire. The city’s new WNBA expansion team unveiled plans this week to readopt the same name from when the Rose City had a WNBA squad in 2000-02. The old Portland Fire disbanded after a short three-year stint, due to owner Paul Allen’s financial challenges tied to the NBA’s Trailblazers, and remain the only franchise in WNBA history, current or former, to have never made the playoffs. The new edition of the Fire will begin play in the 2026 WNBA season alongside the Toronto Tempo, with three more expansion teams set to enter the league by 2030.

⚾ GO ‘HEAD

Baseball teams are using bobblehead giveaways to drive up attendance

A new dance is sweeping MLB front offices: The Bobble. Teams have been tripping over themselves to hold limited bobblehead giveaways, as these games often correlate with blowout attendance figures.

• In April, the Pirates earned a rare sellout on Paul Skenes Bobblehead Day, while the Reds drew their highest attendance in ballpark history for Elly De La Cruz Bobblehead Night.
• The LA Dodgers set their 2025 home attendance high in June on Ice Cube Bobblehead Night, drawing 54,154 fans.
• And it’s not just MLB clubs. The Brooklyn Cyclones, the Mets’ High-A minor league affiliate, draw 30% bigger crowds than normal games when it’s a bobblehead night, assistant GM Billy Harner told Front Office Sports.

This dancing doll 🤝 sports collab hasn’t been around for long. Bobbleheads, potentially the only things more agreeable than AI, have been around since the 17th or 18th century. But it wasn't until May 9, 1999, when the Giants provided a Willie Mays bobblehead to the first 20k fans who entered Candlestick Park, that their popularity exploded, Front Office Sports reports.

It’s not all nostalgia…The figurines also bring hustlers out to play. Shohei Ohtani bobbleheads recently given away by the Dodgers are being sold online for anywhere between $100-$2,500, while George Costanza bobbleheads scheduled to be passed out by the Yankees in August are already receiving presale orders up to $250.

💬 WORD ON THE STREET

Overheard

“[They] underwent extensive drop testing against the physical demands of the sidelines.”

The NFL and Sony this week revealed next-gen coaching headsets for the 2025-26 season that come with a series of enhanced features…including a greater ability to handle temper tantrums from lineman-sized man babies.

Sony says its new headsets, built over the course of a year with input from NFL coaches, went through rigorous testing to ensure they could withstand being thrown or spiked by a frustrated coach.

Other features include:

• The ability to handle extreme temperatures or precipitation.
• The latest noise-canceling tech to block out crowds.
• A custom-built mic that isolates the coach's voice, blocks their mouth from lip-readers, and automatically mutes when lifted.

Sony is taking its NFL debut seriously. The company’s headsets were tested in a wide variety of environments—including home freezers and showers—to ensure Sony avoids a repeat of the Microsoft Surface tablet’s rocky NFL start in 2013, when coaches and players publicly trashed the devices for not working.

🔥 IN PARTNERSHIP WITH ARRO

How to get your credit score unstuck

Most people think building credit takes years. They're wrong. An Arro credit card accelerates your credit growth while rewarding everyday spending.

• 💳 Start with up to $200 credit, increase to $2500 through responsible use
• 🥳 Earn 1% cash back on gas and groceries, including Target and Walmart
• 👍 Artie, your AI coach, provides personalized guidance for building healthy financial habits.

Disclaimer: The Arro Card is issued by Community Federal Savings Bank, member FDIC, pursuant to license by Mastercard International. Here is their Privacy Policy.

📰 NEWS

What else is happening

• All of the big questions looming over the second half of the MLB season.
• The Mountain West and Pac-12 failed to reach a pac-t; the pair are headed back to court after failing to resolve their ~$55 million-plus poaching fees case by Tuesday's deadline.
• MLB Home Run Derby viewership was up 5% YoY, peaking at 6.3M viewers. The Big Dump Bump in effect.
• …while the All-Star Game saw a slight drop in viewers, despite having its first swing-off.
• Oakmont Country Club has banned golfer Wyndham Clark from its property after he damaged his locker following a missed cut at last month's US Open.
• Fox Sports is reportedly finalizing a TV deal with Dave Portnoy and Barstool Sports.

🤔 TRIVIA

Last call for bets

It’s time for Franchise Roulette.

The roules rules: Below we’ve compiled three facts about a professional sports franchise—your challenge is to guess which franchise we’re talking about. Eligible franchises are those currently playing in the Big 4 (MLB, NHL, NFL, NBA).

Today’s team:

• Won a championship three years after starting play as an expansion team. It’s also the only men's major pro sports team in its state to ever win a championship.
• Plays at a home stadium named after a bank.
• Has changed its logo/uniform color scheme four times. One of those variations heavily incorporated the color purple.

Hint: MLB

🌐 WEB GEMS

Interesting things to click

🏀 In the know: NBA commissioner Adam Silver discusses expansion, the aprons and a streaming future.

👀 Watch: Potentially the greatest hitter of all time, Barry Bonds, break down his best career moments.

🎯 Read: A teen darts prodigy is becoming bigger than the game itself.

📨 Goodreads: Sportswriter and Producer for Shadow Lion, Tom Brady’s media company, Danny Healey shares stories, lessons, hot takes, and more from his life in sports media and start-ups. Subscribe free.*

*A message from our partners

🤔 ANSWER

The Arizona Diamondbacks