I have been asked hundreds of times why NFL players lack the fully guaranteed contracts of their brethren in the NBA and Major League Baseball. Beyond suggested reasons such as football’s high injury rate (good reason if you’re an owner), the funding requirement (outdated) or blaming the NFLPA for lack of guarantees in the CBA (there are no requirements in the NBA or MLB CBAs either), the true reason is simple: lack of precedent.
Without any precedent of fully guaranteed veteran contracts to negotiate off of, agents and players have had nothing to argue. I have always said that for a full guarantee to happen, there needed to be a player with extreme leverage using that leverage to break the seal.