Early Signings

It's great to see nearly all of the 32 NFL teams breeze through the signings of the players selected in the draft. The 2011 CBA was supposed to make the process much easier as it put an end to the outrageous salaries for players that had yet to take an NFL snap. The contract numbers for each rookie was determined by where they were selected in the draft. The CBA essentially introduced a rookie wage scale dependent on draft position. The player agents don't really have much to do. Well, there's some negotiation as to when and how the contracts are to be paid. It still took the teams a few years to figure out how to approach this new and easy rookie-signing world. Initially, some rookies still weren't signed until the start of training camp. Now, teams start signing their rookies a couple of days after the draft. That's what the Minnesota Vikings did with seven of their eight draft picks. They had all but first round pick Laquon Treadwell signed before last weekend's rookie minicamp. After failing to do so in that first week the Vikings signed Treadwell yesterday. They had their entire draft class signed 12 days after the draft ended. There were a couple of years in which they still hadn't accomplished that feat 12 days into training camp. If anything good came out of the new CBA the early and easy signing of draft picks is it.

The Vikings aren't the only team that got a nice jump on the signing of their draft picks. The Atlanta Falcons were the first team to do so when they completed the task on May 5. A stunning five days after the draft. The Arizona Cardinals completed the signing of their draft class on Tuesday. Always the last to sign, even the players selected in the first round are agreeing to their predetermined contracts at a pretty nice clip. 14 so far. Here they are.

1. QB Jared Goff, Los Angeles Rams: Not signed.

2. QB Carson Wentz, Philadelphia Eagles: Signed four-year, $26.6 million deal. 

3. DE Joey Bosa, San Diego Chargers: Not signed.

4. RB Ezekiel Elliott, Dallas Cowboys: Not signed.

5. CB Jalen Ramsey, Jacksonville Jaguars: Not signed.

6. OT Ronnie Stanley, Baltimore Ravens: Not signed.

7. DE DeForest Buckner, San Francisco 49ers: Signed four-year deal. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

8. OT Jack Conklin, Tennessee Titans: Not signed.

9. LB Leonard Floyd, Chicago Bears: Not signed.

10. CB Eli Apple, New York Giants: Signed a four-year, $15.1M deal. 

11. CB Vernon Hargreaves, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Signed a four-year deal. Terms of deal were not disclosed.

12. DT Sheldon Rankins, New Orleans Saints: Signed a four-year deal. Terms of deal were not disclosed.

13. OT Laremy Tunsil, Miami Dolphins: Signed a four-year, $12.46M deal. 

14. S Karl Joseph, Oakland Raiders: Signed a four-year deal. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

15. WR Corey Coleman, Cleveland Browns: Not signed.

16. OT Taylor Decker, Detroit Lions: Signed a four-year, $10.96 million deal.

17. S Keanu Neal, Atlanta Falcons: Signed a four-year, $10.7M deal. 

18. C Ryan Kelly, Indianapolis Colts: Signed a four-year, $10.4M deal. 

19. DE Shaq Lawson, Buffalo Bills: Not signed.

20. LB Darron Lee, New York Jets: Not signed.

21. WR Will Fuller, Houston Texans: Not signed.

22. WR Josh Doctson, Washington Redskins: Signed a four-year, $10.05M deal. 

23. WR Laquon Treadwell, Minnesota Vikings: Signed a four-year deal. Terms not disclosed.

24. CB William Jackson III, Cincinnati Bengals: Not signed.

25. CB Artie Burns, Pittsburgh Steelers: Not signed.

26. QB Paxton Lynch, Denver Broncos: Not signed.

27. DT Kenny Clark, Green Bay Packers: Not signed.

28. OL Joshua Garnett, San Francisco 49ers: Not signed.

29. DT Robert Nkemdiche, Arizona Cardinals: Signed a four-year, $8.6M deal. 

30. DT Vernon Butler, Carolina Panthers: Not signed.

31. OT Germain Ifedi, Seattle Seahawks: Signed a four-year, $8.27M deal.

Rookie signings used to drag out so long. Vikings tackle Bryant McKinnie even took his to about Halloween in 2003. Painful times.