FRISCO, Texas — Life as a second-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft has been smooth sailing for Dallas Cowboys 44th overall pick edge rusher Donovan Ezeiruaku.
“It’s going really well … I’m living the dream honestly,” Ezeiruaku said Tuesday at Dallas’ mandatory minicamp. “I graduated from school, so this is just football right now. So I don’t have to worry about anything else. It’s really good.”
Except for one thing: the Boston College All-American doesn’t have a signed rookie contract. NFL first-round picks typically receive mostly or fully guaranteed contracts. Second-round picks do not usually receive such a contract. That could be changing as player agents and front offices are at a collective impasse.
“The top two picks getting the fourth year fully guaranteed is slowing down the process near the top of the round,” said CBS Sports contract guru Joel Corry, who is a former agent. “I’m not sure why picks at the bottom of the second round haven’t gotten done yet.”
The Houston Texans signed Iowa State wide receiver Jayden Higgins, the second pick of round two, to the first fully-guaranteed contract for a second round pick on May 8, and a day later, the Cleveland Browns signed the first pick of the second round — UCLA linebacker Carson Schwesinger — to a fully-guaranteed deal. None of the 30 other second round picks, which include Ezeiruaku, have been signed since as their respective teams are fighting against creating the precedent that second-round picks should receive fully-guaranteed rookie contracts.
“I’m here doing what I have to do every single day,” Ezeiruaku said. “That’s between the organization and my agent. I have full faith that they’re going to get that done. When it’s ready, it’ll be ready and I’ll sign that piece of paper. Until then, I’m doing what I have to do here.”
What Ezeiruaku is learning from Micah Parsons
One of the perks of being a rookie edge rusher with Dallas is being able to learn from four-time Pro Bowl edge rusher Micah Parsons, something Ezeiruaku is fully embracing.
“It’s been good, we actually went to dinner last night,” Ezeiruaku said. “We had a little d-line dinner last night, and were just chopping it up the whole time, getting to know each other. It’s been really cool. Definitely picking his brain as somebody who you got to learn a few things from that guy. It’s been really good.”
Parsons is present but not physically participating in mandatory minicamp while awaiting a new contract, but he’s ensuring his young defensive line teammates understand the finer points of playing the position in the NFL. Basically, he’s acting like an extra coach on the field to Ezeiruaku and others.
“Just being vocal and understanding what looks right,” Parsons said Tuesday. “They’re going through the drills and guys ask me ‘how do I look?’ The simple things. ‘Well how’s my footwork.’ It’s not always the major things that make football great. It’s always the small details, the footwork, the positioning, the angles, things like that. I think I can contribute, and we’ll go in and we’ll watch film together, and I could tell guys what I see from a vivid experience about going through a lot.”
Impressions of Ezeiruaku from Dallas’ offseason
Ezeiruaku, whose 16.5 sacks at Boston College last season were the second-most in college football, has looked smooth so far in the Cowboys’ offseason program. He’s even been dropping into coverage in the flat on some plays in team drills, showcasing a coverage fluidity that he wasn’t asked to put on display much at Boston College. That’s why he’s drawing (really) rave reviews from Dallas’ coaching staff.
“He’s doing great. He’s doing really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, great,” Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer said Tuesday. “And again, you know, it’s the business side, it’s going to get done. But you can’t watch the guy and not get excited just watching them do the things that we’re doing out there on the grass, the things that we saw coming out of Boston College. And then the work ethic is elite.”
Even though Schottenheimer used the word “really” eight times to accentuate how great Ezeiruaku has been thus far as a Cowboy, Parsons made sure to lay down the law that the edge rusher position group is going to be “the egoless [position] room.”
“There are no egos in this room, and I said ‘don’t be afraid and don’t take constructive criticism as hate or heat towards you,'” Parson said.
” Everyone gets it. I told them welcome me if I’m BSing, tell me to get the f— on, you know what I mean? … At the end of the day, everyone’s s— stinks you know what I mean? Like, you can’t hide it. We’re all not perfect. That’s kind of what I told him [Ezeiruaku] early on. I’ll be excited to work with him a little bit more in camp, but I specifically told him ‘I’m happy you like to play on the right side because I don’t like to do it that much. So when you’re out there, I know I don’t have to argue with you about it.'”
The rookie doesn’t care where he lines up to kickoff his NFL career as long as he’s on the field. That’s certainly the attitude of a player who will remain on Parsons’ good side for the foreseeable future that will begin whenever he signs his Cowboys rookie deal.
“It’s definitely preference, but to me it doesn’t matter,” Ezeiruaku said. “If we’re on the field together, and he wants that side, I’ll take this side. Or we can flip flop. It’s just matchups, and you got to get a rhythm and the flow of the game. That’s what we’re going to go on.”
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Author: Garrett Podell
June 11, 2025 | 10:55 am
