Former Arizona OL Jonah Savaiinaea agrees to rookie deal with Dolphins

All 4 Wildcats picked in April have signed

The NFL Draft was nearly three months ago, and not long after that most of the players taken in the first round signed their first pro contracts. That included former Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, who as the No. 8 overall pick signed a 4-year, $27.9 million contract with the Carolina Panthers that included nearly $17 million as a signing bonus.

Players in the second round, though, were much slower to get locked in. According to CBS Sports only two of the 32 hadn’t signed entering this week, a holdup due mostly to agents hoping they could get deals similar to what the Houston Texans gave No. 34 overall pick Jayden Higgins. Higgins became the first second-round pick to have his entire contract guaranteed.

Many second-rounders have since inked their deals including ex-Wildcat offensive lineman Jonah Savaiinaea, who was taken 37^th overall by the Miami Dolphins in April. And according to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, Savaiinaea is guaranteed every penny of that deal.

Spotrac.com has Savaiinaea’s deal at $11,322,475 over four years, an average of just over $2.83 million per season. His signing bonus is $4,874,528, and his base salary as a rookie will be $840,000.

Savaiinaea’s deal isn’t much smaller than what fellow former UA offensive lineman Jordan Morgan got in 2024 after the Green Bay Packers took him in the first round at No. 25. Morgan’s 4-year contract is worth about $14.2 million, with a signing bonus of more than $7.1 million, and he earned $795,000 in base salary last season.

The other rookie deals signed by UA players who were drafted this spring went to kicker Tyler Loop (4 years, $4.45 million) as a sixth-round pick of the Baltimore Ravens and running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt (4 years, $4.3 million) as a seventh-round pick of the Washington Commanders. Both are only guaranteed their signing bonuses, though, with Loop getting $244,722 and Croskey-Merritt $105,428.