Perhaps the best result of the 2011 Collective Bargaining Agreement was that it brought rookie contracts back to reality. In doing so it took the difficulties out of the negotiations. All of the contracts are basically scripted. It's made the negotiations so easy that four of the rookies taken in the 2015 NFL Draft have decided to represent themselves in their negotiations. No agents. Yay! Those resourceful football players are New York Giants guard Ereck Flowers (#9 pick overall), Detroit Lions cornerback Alex Carter (3rd round), Washington Redskins receiver Evan Spencer (6th round), and Arizona Cardinals tight end Gerald Christian (7th round and last player selected). It's a whole new football world.
180 of the 256 players selected in the 2015 NFL Draft have signed their first NFL contracts. 70.3%. 19 of the 32 players selected in the first round have signed. It would take until late July to reach those numbers before the 2011 CBA.
The 13 first round picks not signed:
2. Marcus Mariota, QB, Tennessee Titans
8. Vic Beasley, LB, Atlanta Falcons
9. Ereck Flowers, G, New York Giants
10. Todd Gurley, RB, St. Louis Rams
13. Andrus Peat, T, New Orleans Saints
21. Cedric Ogbuehi, T, Cincinnati Bengals
23. Shane Ray, DE, Denver Broncos
24. D.J. Humphries, Arizona Cardinals
27. Byron Jones, CB, Dallas Cowboys
28. Laken Tomlinson, G, Detroit Lions
29. Phillip Dorsett, WR, Indianapolis Colts
30. Damarious Randall, S, Green Bay Packers
32. Malcom Brown, DT, New England Patriots
The Titans are expected to begin negotiations with Mariota's people today.
Several teams have signed all of their draft picks. Some, like the Minnesota Vikings, even had all of their picks signed before they were a week removed from the draft. Excellent. The Rams have signed a total of zero of their picks. They have had a policy under head coach Jeff Fisher and general manager Les Snead of putting their rookies through some financial training. Upon completion of that training they sign their picks immediately. I'm surprised that more teams don't adopt this policy. A better understanding of how to deal with a sudden surplus of cash before you have it can't be a bad thing.
This easy rookie signings thing is a great new thing.
No comments:
Post a Comment