Pat yourselves on the backs, NFL owners—the rookie wage scale is working out perfectly.
MORE: First-round signing tracker
When the wage scale was made part of the 2011 collective bargaining agreement, part of the goal was to end rookie contract holdouts. Two of the 32 first-rounders from last month—Cleveland’s Justin Gilbert and Tennessee’s Taylor Lewan—remain unsigned, and both teams are at least a month away from camp opening.
The other unsigned picks are Dolphins third-round pick offensive lineman Billy Turner, and the two wide receivers Jacksonville took in the second round, Marqise Lee and Allen Robinson.
That’s a leap forward even from last summer, which had been the move obvious proof of the impact of the wage scale. With three days to go before camps opened in July 2013, 19 first-round picks were unsigned. In 2010, the last season before the lockout that brought on the new deal, only one first-rounder had signed by the time the first team had reported.
Last year, Eric Fisher, the No. 1 overall pick by Kansas City, signed on July 26, the day before the first full-squad workout. This year, Jadeveon Clowney, the No. 1 overall, signed with Houston June 6.
