07-09-2010, 10:24 PM
The Cleveland Browns gather their rookies for training camp two weeks from today. Three days later, the entire Cowboys roster convenes.
And the league points out at its labor-focused website that nearly half of all draft picks have signed.
Still, not a single first-round pick has agreed to terms, and only one second-rounder is under contract.
The pattern fits the theory that teams cleared the decks on all picks after round two, and that they then plan to dig in as to the players taken at the top of the draft.
Time will tell whether teams move more slowly than in past years. For now, the point is that the rate at which players have been signed from rounds three through seven has no relevance to the speed with which players sign, or don't sign, in rounds one or two.
And the league points out at its labor-focused website that nearly half of all draft picks have signed.
Still, not a single first-round pick has agreed to terms, and only one second-rounder is under contract.
The pattern fits the theory that teams cleared the decks on all picks after round two, and that they then plan to dig in as to the players taken at the top of the draft.
Time will tell whether teams move more slowly than in past years. For now, the point is that the rate at which players have been signed from rounds three through seven has no relevance to the speed with which players sign, or don't sign, in rounds one or two.