Caleb Williams signed his NFL rookie contract on Wednesday. That means three first-round picks have yet to sign their deals: Cincinnati Bengals rookie offensive tackle Amarius Mims and J.J. McCarthy and Dallas Turner of the Minnesota Vikings.
It appears a big holdup with McCarthy is the signing bonus. Under the CBA, rookies can’t do much negotiating regarding the contract terms, but they can negotiate how much of their signing bonus they get up front. It sounds like McCarthy’s camp wants his entire signing bonus when he signs, but that’s not the Vikings’ way of doing things.
Outside of a couple of instances — like Kirk Cousins and Justin Jefferson — Minnesota pays the signing bonus in installments.
According to Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, the Vikings haven’t engaged McCarthy “much” about his contract. He speculates that Minnesota was waiting to see how the Bears would handle Williams’ contract.
Now that Williams is signed and has his bonus up front, it will be interesting to see how the Vikings approach McCarthy’s deal ahead of the start of training camp on July 21.
