Three Days and Counting

Written by Matthew Heuett

Monday, 26 July 2010 14:07

With three days to go until rookies report to Seahawks training camp on Thursday, I thought it might be helpful to look at how the signing of the NFL's 2010 draft class has been proceeding.

Teams usually sign their draft picks in reverse order of when they were chosen, and this year is no exception. Of the 193 players chosen in rounds three through seven, only 16 remain unsigned (6 third rounders, 5 fourth rounders, 1 fifth rounder, 1 sixth rounder, and 3 seventh rounders). Compare that to the 64 players taken in the first two rounds, of whom only 9 have been signed to contracts (1 first rounder and 8 second rounders). The Seahawks' draft signings mirror this trend -- the team has signed all of its picks from rounds four and later (they had no third round pick), but still hasn't signed second round choice Golden Tate or first rounders Russell Okung and Earl Thomas.

First, the good news: there is a high probability that Golden Tate will be signed in time for the start of training camp. Most draftees in the top two rounds are not signed until the player chosen immediately after them has been signed to a contract; teams use those contract numbers to ensure that they aren't overpaying players and agents use them to make sure their clients aren't getting stiffed. In Tate's case, the players chosen after him (61^st overall pick Vladimir Ducasse) and before him (59^th overall pick Montario Hardesty) have already been signed by their teams, which greatly narrows down the possible range for his contract figures. Granted, there's always room for plenty of disagreement over the details of his contract, but if I had to guess I would say that we will see Tate on the field this weekend at the latest.

Which brings us to the bad news. At this point, it is still theoretically possible that Russell Okung and Earl Thomas will be signed prior to the beginning of training camp, but I wouldn't bet on it. To date, the only first round pick to be signed is Dez Bryant, who was chosen 24^th overall. If Okung and Thomas had been chosen, say, 23^rd and 25^th overall, Bryant's numbers would be helpful in speeding up their contract negotiations. Unfortunately, they were chosen 6^th and 14^th, so chances are good that they will both be spending the first few weeks somewhere other than the shores of Lake Washington.

[CORRECTION: Training camp begins for rookies and veterans alike on Saturday, so rookies will not be reporting to VMAC on Thursday. So yes, I referenced the wrong calendar dates entirely, but in my defense sometimes I am pretty dumb. -Ed.]

Comments (9) Add Comment

I was so upset last year
written by GnarlyHawk, July 26, 2010

Over Curry holding out. I hope we don't see hold outs this year. Curry is still on my s-list too, especially after that year he had.

oh ya
written by Doug Hanson, July 26, 2010

every day of camp they miss is deeply harmful to their success, I wish they would figure that out and start signing these guys...

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written by tomandrachelle, July 26, 2010

You guys seem to forget that these players are only one play away from being done in the NFL. If they have a serious injury, (Like Sergio Kindal's fractured skull) they won’t have the opportunity to provide for their family in this way again. They don't get guaranteed contracts like the NBA or MLB. Due to this issue the more Guaranteed money they can get in their first contract, the better for them and their families. Remember that this maybe the only contract they sign. They have to make the most of it. I know that if I were a player I would put my family and my livelihood as a higher priority than making the fans or the team happy. I see two comments complaining about these guys not signing and it makes me laugh because if you were in their shoes you would hold out as long as you had to, to make sure you got what you could because it would be you.

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written by Hawkdude, July 26, 2010

The NFL needs to instill a rookie salary cap and get all this stuff done with right after the draft. This is crap for the game. I understand the one and done thing, but then give them some guaranteed money and get over it. Each year, the top rookies will stand a good chance of missing training camp to theirs' and their teams' demise. Curry is a perfect example of this - Mora had something to do with that as well, him being at camp early on could've helped him develop much faster.

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written by dawgman67, July 26, 2010

This is the one thing the NBA does right...a rookie salary cap. no reason to sit out cause you get what you get.

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written by muttley, July 26, 2010

Agree with both tomandrachelle and Hawkdude. I understand why the players do what they do, but it's hard to find any argument that the underlying system isn't completely messed up.

I wonder if anyone's done a real analysis of the ramification of holdouts. It seems pretty evident that on average the player and team are both hurt in the first year. But does it really hurt the player's earning potential when he's negotiating his second contract after 4-6 years? Everyone cites the major busts like Jamarcus Russell, Kelly Stouffer, Derrick Harvey, and attributes it to the holdout. But you also have rookies like Cornelius Bennett, Emmitt Smith, and Bryant McKinnie who each held out for all of training camp (and half a season for McKinnie) and ended up just fine. Maybe it's just quarterbacks who are hurt badly by rookie holdouts since they have the most to learn, I dunno.

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written by muttley, July 26, 2010

IIRC, Curry's holdout last year was caused by the Seahawks' request he sign a 6-year contract when every other 1st rounder outside of Curry, Jason Smith, and Stafford signed for 5 years.

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written by GnarlyHawk, July 27, 2010

And yes, if it were me, I'd wring out everything I can get too. Still, it is better for the team and the player to have them in camp.

I fully understand the concerns about injury and securing the future. I'm not overly sensitive to it, but I understand. In Curry's case; I think his family was well taken care of and his risk of injury was certainly mitigated financially in every offer he turned down.

In a way, I see the cry to get all you can, mitigating financial instability if you are injured, and whatever else the players advocate are simply division and sympathy tactics from the players association. The NFL PA is trying to secure their position that the system is fair and it is working. After all, its driving up market value for free agents perfectly.

I'm not buying it. There are no rights to the money or protected rights to play sports. These are opportunities and choices. The risk of injury in football, like many other sports and professions, is inherent. If a young man receives a career ending injury, it is sad, it is unfortunate, it is something we all wish would not happen. It is however, a real risk of choosing to play sports. Any one of these players in the top rounds of the draft, are already receiving more compensation than any graduate of any education institution in America. If the sports hopes don't pan out or the bad luck falls poorly to an up and coming talent, that’s life. It happens all the time.

Think of the dancers stage career ended shortly, b/c of a knee injury. They don't get world class compensation - they move on to their fallback career. In football, that means falling back on that great education your sports scholarship helped pay for.

The system allows this to happen, and we sit back and become distracted by the hype generation machines. This is a matter for the owners. It is their business to run. The players are assumed to have some "rights" to driving compensation inflation through a system that is not set up to support open competition. If this were the case, the draft would be eliminated, and teams would simply begin direct negotiations w/ the players they want, competing with other teams for compensation of those players.

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written by JuiceMcGoose, July 27, 2010

I agree with GnarlyHawk. Injury hurts all involved but it's part of the game.

I think the best and fairest solution is a salary cap. The best rookies sitting out is not the way to do things. It hurts the sport.