Why Mad Dog has the 49ers as genuine Super Bowl contenders (2:03)
Chris “Mad Dog” Russo believes a combination of winning culture and a soft schedule will make the 49ers contenders this season. (2:03)
Nick WagonerJul 16, 2025, 11:35 PM ET
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- Nick Wagoner is an NFL reporter at ESPN. Nick has covered the San Francisco 49ers since 2016, having previously covered the St. Louis Rams for 12 years, including three years (2013 to 2015) at ESPN. In over a decade with the company, Nick has led ESPN’s coverage of the Niners’ 2019 and 2023 Super Bowl run, Colin Kaepernick’s protest, the Rams making Michael Sam the first openly gay player drafted to the NFL, Sam’s subsequent pursuit of a roster spot and the team’s relocation and stadium saga.
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The San Francisco 49ers reached a contract agreement with defensive tackle Alfred Collins on Wednesday night, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The rookie deal is worth $10.3 million over four years and includes $9 million guaranteed, sources said. It’s a pact that is expected to have more wide-ranging implications in the NFL given that, before it, there had been an impasse between the league and all but two players drafted in the second round this year.
Sources told Schefter that Collins’ signing is expected to trigger multiple other second-round deals. Before Collins, the only two second-round picks to sign their rookie contracts were Cleveland Browns linebacker Carson Schwesinger and Houston Texans receiver Jayden Higgins. Schwesinger and Higgins were the first two picks of the second round (Nos. 33 and 34, respectively) and became the first pair of second-rounders to sign fully guaranteed rookie contracts, doing so in early May.
Those agreements helped create a stare-down between teams and second-round selections as the rest of the round waited to see if they, too, could land contracts with full guarantees or at least get increases in the amount of guaranteed money on their deals.
While Collins did not get the full guarantees that Schwesinger and Higgins received, his $9 million guarantee clears the $6.93 million guaranteed to Arizona Cardinals cornerback Max Melton when he was selected in the same spot in the second round of the 2024 NFL draft.
In striking a deal with Collins, the No. 43 pick out of Texas, the Niners now have their entire 11-man draft class in the fold before they open training camp July 22. San Francisco’s rookies reported for the start of training camp Tuesday, creating renewed urgency for the team to get Collins signed before it welcomes the full squad next week.
Collins is expected to have a significant role on the 49ers’ revamped defensive line as a rookie. The team parted ways with both 2024 starters on the interior in Javon Hargrave and Maliek Collins and selected Collins after he posted 141 tackles, 18 for loss, and 7 sacks in 64 games for the Longhorns. While he was around for the team’s offseason program, he did not participate in any of the organized team activities or minicamps because of a calf injury.
