Minnesota Signing Flurry

In recent years the Minnesota Vikings had established a routine of signing their draft picks within a week or two of the draft. It was a beautiful routine. This offseaon has been a different sort of offseason. The draft pick signing process has been a slow one across most of the league. As of last week, the Vikings had been one of the least active draft pick-signing teams. There was an obvious reason for that. The rookies weren't allowed on the team's football fields or in the team's building. No physicals, no practices, no contact meant no contract. It was a choice. With training camps finally given the go-ahead, the rookies were finally coming to Minnesota. And the Vikings had a lot of rookies coming to Minnesota. 15 of them. No NFL team had ever selected so many players in a seven-round draft. Yesterday was reporting day for the 15 draft picks so the Vikings finally got down to signing them on Wednesday.

The 15:

1. Justin Jefferson, WR, LSU

1. Jeff Gladney, CB, TCU

2. Ezra Cleveland, OT, Boise State

3. Cameron Dantzler, CB, Mississippi State

4. D.J. Wonnum, Edge, South Carolina
4. James Lynch, DT, Baylor
4. Troy Dye, LB, Oregon
5. Harrison Hand, CB, Temple
5. K.J. Osborn, WR, Miami (Fla)
6. Blake Brandel, OL, Oregon State
6. Josh Metellus, S, Michigan
7. Kenny Willekes, Edge, Michigan State
7. Nate Stanley, QB, Iowa
7. Brian Cole II, S, Mississippi State
7. Kyle Hinton, G, Washburn

Before Wednesday, only one of the Vikings' 15 draft picks had signed his first NFL contract.

7. Nate Stanley, QB, Iowa

Stanley jumped the start of the signings and got his rookie deal done way back on July 13.

Wednesday's signings:

1. Justin Jefferson, WR, LSU

2. Ezra Cleveland, OT, Boise State

4. D.J. Wonnum, Edge, South Carolina
4. James Lynch, DT, Baylor
4. Troy Dye, LB, Oregon
5. K.J. Osborn, WR, Miami (Fla)
6. Blake Brandel, OL, Oregon State
7. Kyle Hinton, G, Washburn

Top pick Justin Jefferson got the flurry going with a bang. The Vikings have often started the signing of their draft picks from back to front. They'd start with the late round picks and work their way toward the early round picks. Starting the day with Jefferson was a flashy start.

An interesting nugget from the Wednesday rookie signings was that they left the five defensive backs. And Kenny Willekes. A one day DB holdout? And Kenny Willekes.

Thursday's signings:

1. Jeff Gladney, CB, TCU
3. Cameron Dantzler, CB, Mississippi State
5. Harrison Hand, CB, Temple
6. Josh Metellus, S, Michigan
7. Kenny Willekes, Edge, Michigan State
7. Brian Cole II, S, Mississippi State

When Jeff Gladney signed his rookie deal yesterday, the Vikings had their entire, record-breaking, 15-member draft class signed. It was a two day signing flurry. For a team that had made it a routine to sign their draft class a week, or two, after they were drafted it felt strange to take it to training camp arrival day. But it's been a strange offseason. Now, it's time for football. Actually, it's time for some medical testing. And then some conditioning. And finally some football.

The Biggest Signing of the Signing Flurry. 

It was a signing other than the rookie signings that was the biggest signing on Wednesday. It was reported that the Vikings and Mike Zimmer were finalizing an agreement on a contract extension. The extension is reportedly for three years so Zimmer is now set to be the Vikings head coach through the 2023 season. Yesterday brought news that Zimmer had agreed to the contract extension. So there it is. The Vikings and Zimmer have rid themselves of the mind-numbing question that was sure to hover over training camp and the season. The question shouldn't return until the 2023 offseason. Hopefully after a fistful of Super Bowl titles. It's a fairly safe assumption that a contract agreement of similar duration will soon be announced for general manager Rick Spielman.