second-round pick Andrew Mukuba to report to training camp on time has opened.

The only two players selected in the second round that had signed at the start of the week were Cleveland linebacker Carson Schwesinger, the first player taken in the second round, and wide receiver Jayden Higgins, the second player taken in the round.

Both received guaranteed deals, an unprecedented occurrence for second-round picks, which created a standoff between teams and the remainder of the players chosen in the second round.

The landscape finally changed Wednesday when the San Francisco 49ers signed defensive tackle Alfred Collins.

Collins, according to ESPN, received a four-year deal worth $10.3 million with $9 million guaranteed. He was the 11th pick of the second round.

That deal appeared to break the ice and opened an avenue for some compromise among the second-round picks. Since Collins signed, the Chicago Bears have signed two of their three second-round picks (defensive tackle Shemar Turner and offensive tackle Ozzy Trapilo) and reports started gushing in the rest of the day about other second-round picks signing.

Mukuba, a safety out of Texas, was the final player taken in the second round and the 64th overall pick in the draft. His slot calls for a four-year deal worth $7.155 million.

A season ago, the 64th overall pick was San Francisco cornerback Renardo Green and the guaranteed percentage of his contract was 52.4%, which was lower than the 52.7% Chicago defensive tackle Zaach Pickens received as the same pick in 2023.

The 22-year-old Mukuba will hope to improve on that amount of guarantee in his deal with the Eagles, but he also knows that he has an opportunity to become a starting safety during his rookie season after the team traded C.J. Gardner-Johnson to the Houston Texans in the offseason.

Under the rules, Mukuba would not be subject to any fines or discipline if he remained unsigned and did not report to training camp next week with the Eagles, but his absence would come with some consequences. Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio has said Mukuba is battling for a starting job with Sydney Brown and Tristin McCollum and any missed reps by Mukuba during camp would severely hinder his place in the competition.

Mukuba is considered by many to be the favorite in the safety competition and now it seems a lot more likely than it was at the beginning of the week that he’ll sign a deal and report with the rest of his teammates for the start of training camp.

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Bob Brookover can be reached at [email protected]