The vast majority of the 2024 draft class has signed, with the largest cluster of unsigned picks coming in round one.
Five players are unsigned. They come from three teams.
Bears quarterback Caleb Williams (No. 1) and receiver Rome Odunze (No. 9) are still unsigned. The same goes for Vikings quarterback JJ McCarthy (No. 10) and edge rusher Dallas Turner (No. 17).
Bengals tackle Amarius Mims, the 18th pick in the draft, also does not yet have a contract.
All five have fully guaranteed four-year deals, with the dollar value determined by the selection number. Although the 2011 CBA drastically reduced the number of topics for bargaining, there are still three main categories.
1. Signing Bonus Cash Flow: How much of the signing bonus is paid up front? How much is deferred and for how long? Players want the money ASAFP. Teams may try to defer some of it, for a year or more.
2. Expiration of warranties: What does it take for a team to erase the remaining guarantees? There have been issues in the past with suspensions for certain on-field infractions, opening the door to erase the guaranteed money. Players want to limit the team’s ability to no longer guarantee the guaranteed money. Teams prefer the flexibility to get out of a bad deal.
3. Guarantee Compensations: If the player is released with guaranteed money left, will the winnings elsewhere reduce the money owed? The player prefers to double-dip. The team wants to get credit for salary from a new NFL franchise.
Frankly, there is no reason why any of the draft picks should not be signed at this point. All players should insist on getting their deals done before they step foot on the practice field for the offseason program. More and more teams are getting their deals done fast enough to give the players the full and complete four years of protection against a potential freak injury.
