As we prepared for our official welcome into the NBC family during the weekend’s coverage of a certain tennis tournament played on stuff that Onterrio Smith might be inclined to try to smoke, we attempted to break some news regarding the status of the 29 still-unsigned first-round draft picks.
The news is that there’s no news.
One source with extensive knowledge of the dynamics as to the round-one rookies said that nothing will get started until after the Fourth of July holiday.
Still, things could get tricky.
At the top of the draft, the fact that quarterbacks Matthew Stafford (No. 1 overall) and Mark Sanchez (No. 5 overall) received so much money could drive the prices up for No. 2 (Rams tackle Jason Smith), No. 3 (Chiefs defensive end Tyson Jackson), and No. 4 (Seahawks linebacker Aaron Curry, our unofficial favorite player in the draft not named Pat White).
Then there’s Bengals tackle Andre Smith, who widely is believed to be destined for a holdout.
In the second round, only one of 32 picks has agreed to terms — and as we understand it there could be some difficulties getting all of the second-round picks signed. (The details are a little convoluted; we’ll tackle the issue later in the day, or maybe tomorrow.)
Regardless of whether and to what extent incoming players ultimately hold out, the signings should be starting fairly soon — with maybe a few of the deals getting done this week.
Hahaha what a suprise that Andre Smith is believed to be holding out. All the talking heads praised the Bengals for drafting him, and what a great addition to their team. Let me guess… 1) He will hold out and not be ready to play week 1.. 2) He will holdout and be way over weight and not ready to practice when he does finally sign.. and finally 3) The Bengals are a joke and will still have Ocho Cinco on their team, which mean no chemistry, and thier still cellar dwellers in the AFC North
Why do you keep refering to Andre Smith? Is he the only first rounder likely to hold out? I guess because he was drafted by the Bengals? Gee, I didn’t realize there had never been problems with hold outs from the 1st round in the past (other than the Bengals I’m learning). Can we bet some money that IF Andre Smith holds out, he will likely be the only one? Surely since you continue to act like it’s a problem with the Bengals there shouldn’t be any other holdouts…
Eagles get draft picks signed!!! Shady McCoy first 2nd rounder finished!!! oh yeah, First post.
You guys should keep a separate page, organized either by round or team (or both if you’re that bored) which will keep track of the rookies who have signed and the basics of the agreed terms.
Florio hates everything OHIO..
I’ve never understood why NFL teams wait until late July to start contract talks. Why not try and get the deal done soon after the draft so there’s no chance of a holdout? Players should be negotiating on what they think they are worth, not what the guy a pick ahead signed for. Quarterbacks in general should try to get signed before camp, which Sanchez and Stafford wisely did. Look at Brady Quinn or JaMarcus Russell. Quinn likely would have been a starter his second game of his rookie year but his holdout gave the job to Derek Anderson and Quinn still hasn’t been able to fully take over the starting quarterback job. Russell has been a disappointment as a number 1 pick and the Raiders bringing in Jeff Garcia shows they don’t have faith in him.
Can u blame him for hating Ohio?
I hate this part of football. The fans sure do not benefit from any of this; it just accentuates how much fans have to pay to support excessive player salaries (especially rookies).
Let’s fast forward to Week #1 kickoff.
Widely believed? By who? Name 2 names. That shouldn’t be so hard, considering this belief is so widespread. I guess that’s the beauty of being a blogger and not a journalist. You never have to answer for anything you print. You can be as wrong as you want to be and have no integrity whatsoever and no one cares