One Last Look At The First Round Signing Tracker

We have holdouts. We aren't supposed to have holdouts with these ready-made rookie contracts. This is the eighth year of a CBA that left little to negotiate and put an end to ludicrous rookie deals. It appears agents have finally found some things to negotiate. About a week ago a third of the first round picks remained unsigned. Training camp report dates set deadlines and several of the unsigned players finally signed. First overall pick Baker Mayfield signed last night with the Cleveland Browns opening camp today. Maybe that got the ball rolling to get the remaining unsigned picks signed. We'll soon see.

Officially, we currently have only two holdouts. The Chicago Bears' rookies have been in camp since July 16 and the whole team has been hard at work since July 19. Their hoped for defensive leader for the next decade Roquan Smith has been waiting for more than a week to join his teammates. Sam Darnold has been a holdout since yesterday. If Denzel Ward and Josh Allen can't come to an agreement today with the Browns and Buffalo Bills, respectively, they will join Darnold and Smith in the holdout room.

Four first round holdouts is slight compared to the pre-current CBA days. The only reason this year stood out from the previous seven years was the slow signing rate. At the start of July only about a third of the first round picks were signed. The respective parties were either taking their time or agents were finally finding terms over which they could haggle. My guess is the latter. Agents always find a way. In the grand scheme of things holdouts are only a concern on this side of the process. Players end up signing their deals and the issues are soon forgotten.

Here's one last look at the 2018 first round signing tracker.

1.   Cleveland Browns-Baker Mayfield, QB, Oklahoma-Signed
2.   New York Giants-Saquon Barkley, RB, Penn State-Signed
3.   New York Jets-Sam Darnold, QB, USC
4.   Cleveland Browns-Denzel Ward, CB, Ohio State
5.   Denver Broncos-Bradley Chubb, DE, North Carolina State-Signed
6.   Indianapolis Colts-Quenton Nelson, G, Notre Dame-Signed
7.   Buffalo Bills-Josh Allen, QB, Wyoming
8.   Chicago Bears-Roquan Smith, LB, Georgia
9.   San Francisco 49ers-Mike McGlinchey, OT, Notre Dame-Signed
10. Arizona Cardinals-Josh Rosen, QB, UCLA-Signed
11. Miami Dolphins-Minkah Fitzpatrick, S, Alabama-Signed
12. Tampa Bay Buccaneers-Vita Vea, DT, Washington-Signed
13. Washington Redskins-Da'Ron Payne, DT, Alabama-Signed
14. New Orleans Saints-Marcus Davenport, DE, UTSA-Signed
15. Oakland Raiders-Kolton Miller, OT, UCLA-Signed
16. Buffalo Bills-Tremaine Edmunds, LB, Virginia Tech-Signed
17. Los Angeles Chargers-Derwin James, S, Florida State-Signed
18. Green Bay Packers-Jaire Alexander, CB, Louisville-Signed
19. Dallas Cowboys-Leighton Vander Esch, LB, Boise State-Signed
20. Detroit Lions-Frank Ragnow, C/G, Arkansas-Signed
21. Cincinnati Bengals-Billy Price, G, Ohio State-Signed
22. Tennessee Titans-Rashaan Evans, LB, Alabama-Signed
23. New England Patriots-Isaiah Wynn, G/T, Georgia-Signed
24. Carolina Panthers-DJ Moore, WR, Maryland-Signed
25. Baltimore Ravens-Hayden Hurst, TE, South Carolina-Signed
26. Atlanta Falcons-Calvin Ridley, WR, Alabama-Signed
27. Seattle Seahawks-Rashaad Penny, RB, San Diego State-Signed
28. Pittsburgh Steelers-Terrell Edmonds, S, Virginia Tech-Signed
29. Jacksonville Jaguars-Taven Bryan, DT, Florida-Signed
30. Minnesota Vikings-Mike Hughes, CB, Central Florida-Signed
31. New England Patriots-Sony Michel, RB, Georgia-Signed
32. Baltimore Ravens-Lamar Jackson, QB, Louisville-Signed

The four unsigned first round picks aren't the only unsigned picks. For some reason the San Francisco 49ers are having a slow go of signing their second round pick. Receiver Dante Pettis.