Two weeks before he is due in Bourbonnais for the start of his first NFL training camp, Bears No. 1 draft pick Roquan Smith is still without a contract.
He is not alone. NBC cousin Mike Florio over at Pro Football Talk notes that seven of this year’s top 10 draft picks stood unsigned (Smith went No. 8), the chief sticking point typically teams’ desire for offset language in the contracts. Offset language stipulates that if a player is cut before the end of his contract term (four years), money from a new contract with another team reduces the amount of any guaranteed money left on the rookie contract.
No holdout is anticipated, although an impasse in the 2016 negotiations between the San Diego Chargers and No. 3-overall pick Joey Bosa dragged on into late August before the team and player’s representatives reached a compromise on the offset and bonus payments. Bosa subsequently missed the first four weeks of the season with a hamstring injury but recovered to record 10.5 sacks in 12 games and be selected as defensive rookie of the year.
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Offset language is not automatic. Coach John Fox had it in his deal, meaning that earnings from his ESPN studio gig offsets that much from the $6.5 million owed him for the 2018 season. But the four-year rookie contract of quarterback Mitch Trubisky did not contain the proviso on camp roster bonuses.
A slow pace of signings for first-round picks is not a cause for immediate concern. Those contracts involve fifth-year options and obviously more money than the later rounds. Trubisky signed his rookie deal – a four-year package with $29 million fully guaranteed along with a $19.25 million signing bonus – on July 19, two days before the start of camp. The decision on picking up the fifth-year option, which the Bears very much want to be justified in doing, comes up after the 2019 season, at which point the Bears will also have their first option at renegotiating – and extending – Trubisky’s contract.
Four other No. 1 picks were still unsigned when Trubisky inked his deal. Defensive end Solomon Thomas (No. 3) signed with San Francisco on July 28; receiver Corey Davis (No. 5) on July 29 with Tennessee; and quarterback Pat Mahomes (No. 10) with Kansas City a day after Trubisky.