Report: Guaranteed money holding up Peppers' rookie deal

Thanks to the rookie wage scale in the collective bargaining agreement, NFL teams rarely have any issues signing their draft picks to their first professional contracts.

However, seven first-round picks remain unsigned, including Cleveland Browns safety Jabrill Peppers.

Peppers, who was taken at No. 25 overall, has yet to put pen to paper reportedly because of issues with the amount of guaranteed money in his deal, a source told Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk on Monday.

Florio notes that Peppers' standoff is likely a byproduct of the fact that Oakland Raiders cornerback Gareon Conley, who was selected one pick before Peppers, also remains unsigned and is the only other player outside the top 10 without a deal.

The reason for Conley's delay is that he's the subject of an unresolved sexual assault case. Without Conley's deal to set the ceiling on Peppers' negotiations, the guaranteed money has become one of the primary problems, adds Florio.

New York Giants tight end Evan Engram (No. 23) and Atlanta Falcons defensive end Takkarist McKinley (No. 26) both received full guarantees through their first three years, with Engram receiving a fourth-year guarantee of $1.55 million to McKinley's $655,000. That leaves a large gap of $900,000 for the Browns and Peppers to negotiate.

Cleveland has already signed its two other first-round selections, defensive end Myles Garrett and tight end David Njoku, to their respective rookie deals.