One down, eleven to go. On Friday, June 12th, the Patriots reached a contract agreement with fourth round pick, OL Rich Ohrnberger. He hasn’t signed the contract yet, but the hard part is done.
With Ohrnberger a formality, the next question is how long will it take to sign the remaining eleven draft picks?
New England has a very good history of signing their draft picks. Only TE Benjamin Watson had a prolonged holdout before signing a rookie contract. With no first round picks, one would guess the Pats will have an easy time getting everyone under contract.
But the sheer number of draft picks presents a different set of complications. New England has set aside a pool of money for the draft picks and every individual is reaching for as much cash as possible. It’s easier to cut a pie in fewer pieces.
The toughest group to get signed likely will be the four second round picks, DT Ron Brace, CB Darius Butler, S Patrick Chung, and OT Sebastian Vollmer. And ultimately I expect the drafted dozen to all be under contract by the time training camp starts on July 30th.
Then we’ll see of those dozen who actually make the team. Only two of nine did (S Brandon Merriweather and CB Mike Richardson) out of the 2007 rookie class.
In related news, released Dallas DE/LB Greg Ellis signed a deal with Oakland. Does this pave the way for the discussed trade between the Raiders and the Patriots for DE Derrick Burgess? It seems more like a possibility now that the Silver and Black have an additional defensive end. We’ll wait and see.
Keywords: Benjamin Watson, Brandon Merriweather, Darius Butler, Mike Richardson, New England Patriots, Patrick Chung, Rich Ohrnberger, Ron Brace, Sebastian Vollmer
