Sports

And then there were four.

After months of slow negotiations, another second-round draft pick agreed to his rookie contract this morning: The Bears and second-round defensive tackle Shemar Turner agreed to a deal, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.

That means there have now been four second-round picks to reach contract agreements, with 28 more to go.

The top two picks of the second round, Browns linebacker Carson Schwesinger and Texans wide receiver Jayden Higgins, got unprecedented fully guaranteed rookie contracts. That led agents for other second-round picks to demand that their clients get big guarantees, too, and teams weren't willing to meet those demands. So the other 30 second-round picks went unsigned for more than two months.

But yesterday 49ers defensive tackle Alfred Collins agreed to a deal that was 87 percent guaranteed, making him the third 2025 second-round pick to sign. And Turner's signing today makes him the fourth 2025 second-round pick to sign. There's no word yet on how much of Turner's deal is guaranteed.

Turner, who played his college football at Texas A&M, was the 30th pick of the second round. The Bears hope he makes an immediate impact on their defensive line, and other NFL teams surely hope his contract is one that will help to grease the skids and get the rest of the league's second-round picks into training camps soon.

While Aaron Rodgers was taking his time to decide whether or not to sign with the Steelers, longtime Pittsburgh defensive lineman Cam Heyward made some pointed comments about his hesitancy to join the team.

Heyward said he wouldn't make any pitch to Rodgers about signing because "either you want to be a Pittsburgh Steeler or you don’t" and added that it would be "no skin off my back" if Rodgers opted not to hop aboard. Now that Rodgers has taken the plunge, Heyward says that he has no doubts about whether the veteran is fully invested in what the team is doing.

"It just felt like he has bought in, and it worked out for the best," Heyward said this week on “The Rich Eisen Show”. "I know sometimes we live in a society where we want things now. But patience has a way of paying off. And to now see he's a Pittsburgh Steelers and just him walking through the locker room asking questions how we do things. He's bought in and that's all I can ask for our quarterback. As a teammate, I'm excited to go work with him."

Rodgers has signaled that he will be one and done with the Steelers and that means everyone in Pittsburgh will have to be all the way in for the Steelers to have the kind of postseason success that's eluded them since they lost to Rodgers in Super Bowl XLV.