Minnesota Vikings signed multiple draft picks, but who they didn’t sign is sticking out the most
We knew that the Minnesota Vikings could possibly have issues signing Jake Golday, and it might be coming to fruition.
The Minnesota Vikings are hosting their rookie minicamp this weekend, giving us the first time we will see the NFL Draft class in uniform. Before they take the field, the Vikings announced that eight of the nine picks in the NFL Draft class have signed their rookie contracts.
That will help the Vikings clear up the salary cap on an official basis and prevent potential holdout issues. However, there is still one potential holdout within the draft class, and it’s one that we’ve talked about before: linebacker Jake Golday.
Jake Golday is still without a contract
Second-round picks are becoming contentious across the league. Last year, we saw the top-40 selections get fully guaranteed contract, something that was unprecedented. What was interesting about the 40th selection was it being a quarterback in Tyler Shough. We weren’t sure how things would progress with the second round this year.
Golday not signing is a signal that it will still be somewhat of an issue, but a path forward was presented to the Vikings on Friday. The New York Jets signed cornerback D’Angelo Ponds, one selection ahead Golday, to a contract that isn’t fully guaranteed.
Ponds got 90.9% of his contract fully guaranteed. That is 13% more than last year’s 50th overall pick, Seattle Seahawks tight end Elijah Arroyo, who got 77.9% fully guaranteed. This will likely impact Golday’s negotiations.
Last year, Carolina Panthers edge rusher Nic Scourton was the 51st overall pick and got $6,660,008 of his $8,614,236 contract fully guaranteed. That equates to 77.3%. If we use the Ponds selection to equate proper inflation, Golday will have approximately $8,744,791 of his $9,684,154 fully guaranteed.
The likely scenario here is that Golday is shooting for a fully guaranteed deal, but Ponds agreeing to a deal for less than fully guaranteed does weaken his leverage.
This could get solved quickly for the Vikings or potentially dragged out. Only time will give us that answer, but it’s worth monitoring over the next few weeks.