Two First-Round Picks Agree To Terms
by Josh Ellis
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
July 25, 2008 11:24
OXNARD, Calif. - When your two first round picks have the same agent, it should make negotiating easier - and apparently it has for the Cowboys - as the team's two first-round picks, Felix Jones and Mike Jenkins, agreed to five-year deals Friday night.
After Friday's camp-opening practice team executive vice president Stephen Jones said he had to rush off to continue talks with Eugene Parker, agent for Jones and Jenkins, hoping a deal could be struck with either or both players by late Friday night.
Financial terms of the deals were not disclosed. Both players are expected to be at the team's Residence Inn River Ridge training camp complex Saturday to sign their deals, though neither is expected to be available for the 9 a.m. (PDT) practice. The second workout is slated for 3:30 p.m. (PDT).
Generally rookie contracts are based on the slot the players were drafted. Agents and teams will look at what the player taken with that pick the previous year made, and what players who have already signed in this class made to gauge how much a player ought to make. Jones, who shared the backfield with fourth overall Pick Darren McFadden (Oakland) at Arkansas last season, was the 22nd overall selection in April's draft, meaning he should expect to make slightly more than Pittsburgh running back Rashard Mendenhall, the 23rd overall choice who signed early Thursday.
The Steelers gave Mendenhall a five-year deal worth $12.6 million with about $7.1 million guaranteed. Jenkins, the South Florida corner picked 25th, should get a bit more than the $12 million San Diego gave cornerback Antoine Cason, the 27th overall pick.
With the league opting out of the current collective bargaining agreement, the majority of rookie contracts signed have just been five-year deals due to teams' inability to prorate signing bonuses beyond that mark because of the possibility of an uncapped year in 2010.
Because of the two weeks-plus of OTA and off-season work, head coach Wade Phillips said the first-rounders missing Friday's practice wasn't a big deal. "That's basically the first 15 days of training camp," Phillips said. "It's good to repeat it, but they missed a real basic day today."
Last season first-round pick Anthony Spencer missed two practices before arriving near the end of the Cowboys second practice on day two of camp. The last time the team had two first round picks, 2005, DeMarcus Ware and Marcus Spears missed the first day of camp, both signing in time for the second day's work.
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
July 25, 2008 11:24
OXNARD, Calif. - When your two first round picks have the same agent, it should make negotiating easier - and apparently it has for the Cowboys - as the team's two first-round picks, Felix Jones and Mike Jenkins, agreed to five-year deals Friday night.
After Friday's camp-opening practice team executive vice president Stephen Jones said he had to rush off to continue talks with Eugene Parker, agent for Jones and Jenkins, hoping a deal could be struck with either or both players by late Friday night.
Financial terms of the deals were not disclosed. Both players are expected to be at the team's Residence Inn River Ridge training camp complex Saturday to sign their deals, though neither is expected to be available for the 9 a.m. (PDT) practice. The second workout is slated for 3:30 p.m. (PDT).
Generally rookie contracts are based on the slot the players were drafted. Agents and teams will look at what the player taken with that pick the previous year made, and what players who have already signed in this class made to gauge how much a player ought to make. Jones, who shared the backfield with fourth overall Pick Darren McFadden (Oakland) at Arkansas last season, was the 22nd overall selection in April's draft, meaning he should expect to make slightly more than Pittsburgh running back Rashard Mendenhall, the 23rd overall choice who signed early Thursday.
The Steelers gave Mendenhall a five-year deal worth $12.6 million with about $7.1 million guaranteed. Jenkins, the South Florida corner picked 25th, should get a bit more than the $12 million San Diego gave cornerback Antoine Cason, the 27th overall pick.
With the league opting out of the current collective bargaining agreement, the majority of rookie contracts signed have just been five-year deals due to teams' inability to prorate signing bonuses beyond that mark because of the possibility of an uncapped year in 2010.
Because of the two weeks-plus of OTA and off-season work, head coach Wade Phillips said the first-rounders missing Friday's practice wasn't a big deal. "That's basically the first 15 days of training camp," Phillips said. "It's good to repeat it, but they missed a real basic day today."
Last season first-round pick Anthony Spencer missed two practices before arriving near the end of the Cowboys second practice on day two of camp. The last time the team had two first round picks, 2005, DeMarcus Ware and Marcus Spears missed the first day of camp, both signing in time for the second day's work.
posted by The Gryphon at 7:20 AM
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