Sign Of The Times

In recent years, the Minnesota Vikings had crafted a routine of signing their draft picks within a week, or two, of the completion of the draft. For a Vikings fan that loves to see bureaucratic, procedural things out of the way, it was beautiful. The pre-2011 CBA days drove me nuts with rookie holdouts and last-minute signings. Perhaps the best thing to come out of that CBA was getting the out-of-control rookie deals under control. For too many reasons, this has been a different sort of offseason. It's been about a month since the 2020 NFL Draft and not one of the Vikings' 15 draft picks have signed their first NFL contract. The Vikings aren't the only team that's been slow to get their rookies signed. Only two first round picks have signed. The New England Patriots are the only team to have their entire rookie class signed. Good for them. They didn't have a first round pick and they didn't have the cap room to do anything but sign their entire class. Anyway, who cares about the Patriots? This is about the Vikings and a fan that misses the good old days of only a year ago.

The Vikings have yet to sign any of the 15 players that they selected in the 2020 NFL Draft.

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

That's a lot of signing to get done. During the great signing times of recent years, the Vikings often signed their draft picks back to front. They started with the late-round picks and worked their way toward the first round. Thanks to that 2011 CBA, rookie contracts are pretty much scripted. There isn't a lot of negotiating to do. It's really just a matter of getting to it and getting it done. This year, the Vikings have simply decided not to immediately get down to it. I believe that there are a couple of reasons for that. The biggest one being these unfortunate times. When the Vikings started aggressively signing their draft picks it was as an effort to get them signed before they stepped on the field for the rookie mini-camp. That mini-camp was held a week after the draft so they had a week to get the rookies signed. It felt like a race and it was a race that the Vikings front office came close to winning every year. There'd occasionally be an early-round draft pick, or two, that would be on the field for the mini-camp without a signed rookie deal. The end result of the signing race was that the entire rookie draft would be under contract before May was half complete. There's no signing race this year because there's no rookie mini-camp. The only team-player contact has been through a computer so there's apparently no need for a rookie contract. Different times.

While I believe that the canceled on-field work is a reason the Vikings have yet to sign their draft class, I don't believe that it's the only reason. They have a couple other signings that I'm certain they want to get done this offseason. Anthony Harris signed his franchise tag this past week. A long-term deal is probably next. Dalvin Cook has a year remaining on his rookie deal. The Vikings have often signed their cornerstone players to extensions with a year remaining on their current deal. Cook is most certainly a cornerstone player. I don't care that the disciples of analytics cry that teams shouldn't invest heavily in running backs. I beleive that the Vikings should put monetary faith in their young running back. He's a unique football player. The only real concern that I have with Cook and a contract extension is his injury history. I hope that his injuries are behind him, much like Robert Smtih got through a run of early injuries in the 1990s. Injuries will always be an issue in football but sometimes the team has to take a chance with a contract and hope that the player stays on the field. I think that Cook is the sort of player with which you take that chance. Sportrac and Over The Cap currently have the Vikings with just over $12 million in cap space. That includes Harris' $11.4 franchise tag cost for this season. The Vikings could just sign their picks and call the offseason done. I think that they want to get Harris and Cook deals done and I think that all of the signings have to be done in particular order. I'm guessing that Harris' long-term deal will lower his cap cost for this year. That savings could help with any possible increase in Cook's contract. Then the Vikings can finally get to those draft picks.

Or maybe, all of the Vikings' contract people are safe at home and focusing on their family and their own lives. Maybe they are just waiting for things to improve and they'll deal with this work stuff a little later than what I've come to consider normal. Who knows? I sure don't.

For a Vikings fan that has zero patience for bureaucratic delays, these are tough times. But there are many, more important things going on. So, I'll just safely wait for the better times to return.