Are Vikings’ First-Round Rookies Close to Signing Their Contracts?

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J.J. McCarthy & Dallas Turner, Minnesota Vikings
Credit: Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Vikings at Vikings.com

With rookie’s reporting on Sunday, July 21st for training camp, Minnesota Vikings’ first-round rookies J.J. McCarthy and Dallas Turner have yet to sign their rookie contracts.

On-field practices begin Saturday, July 27th. If the two rookies haven’t put pen-to-paper by that date, they won’t be allowed to practice. So, should we be concerned? What’s the hold up?

The Minnesota Vikings’ haven’t engaged in contract negotiations with J.J. McCarthy and Dallas Turner?

According to Mike Florio (Pro Football Talk), he recently heard from one source that the Minnesota Vikings’ haven’t engaged much with McCarthy, regarding his rookie contract. Why not?

Florio believes they are waiting to see what the Chicago Bears end up agreeing to with their rookie QB, Caleb Williams, the first overall pick. He hasn’t signed his deal yet either. Both QBs want their full signing bonuses up front, which would be pretty unprecedented.

As the No. 10 overall pick, you can guarantee the Vikings aren’t going to give McCarthy anything extra vs what the No. 1 overall pick got. If Williams doesn’t get the signing bonus upfront then McCarthy will lose a lot leverage. Bears rookies report to training camp Tuesday, July 16th.

As to quarterback J.J. McCarthy, a source with knowledge of the situation says that the Vikings haven’t engaged much when it comes to negotiating the contract.

One possible explanation is that the Vikings want to see what happens with the Caleb Williams contract before finalizing things with McCarthy, the tenth overall pick. If the unverified social-media chatter that McCarthy wants his full signing bonus right away is accurate, that would make sense. If Williams doesn’t get his full signing bonus right away as the first overall selection, it’s easier to tell McCarthy that, at most, he’ll get the same payment schedule that Williams received.

Mike Florio (Pro Football Talk)

Related: J.J. McCarthy Sitting on a “Redshirt Year”?

Minnesota Vikings’ J.J. McCarthy and Dallas Turner to sign their rookie contracts late next week?

Last month, it was rumored that if McCarthy doesn’t get his signing bonus up front he will sit out out of training camp. Although this is just a rumor, Ben Goessling (Star Tribune) hints that there won’t be any hold outs and that the deals between McCarthy and Turner will get done. If true, it would have to happen in the next week, if he’s to arrive and participate immediately on July 21.

It’s one of those things where deadlines tend to spur action on this stuff. And my guess is it probably gets done late next week before they are on the field, especially for a guy like J.J. McCarthy, who they do not want missing time. They want him to be out there absorbing as much as he possibly can.

And I think that will probably put a little more of an urgency sort of thing into it.

Ben Goessling (Star Tribune via KFAN)

Even if he isn’t signed by that 7/21 soft deadline, he could still get on the field with everyone else, if his representation and the Vikings can put pen to paper by July 27. I’m guessing he does not want to push this that far, though.

Related: Jordan Addison Arrested After Alleged DUI

Overall, this current regime hasn’t waited this long to sign their rookies. Former first-round picks Lewis Cine (2022) and Jordan Addison (2023) signed their rookie contracts in May. That may be the case for them, but it’s a whole different negotiation when you draft your quarterback of the future and one of the top edge rushers in the draft.

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