Getting Rookies Inked … Thursday Cup O’Chiefs

For the second season in a row, the Chicago Bears became the first team in the NFL to have all of their draft choices under contract.

If they handed out the Lombardi Trophy for getting done the dirty work of contract negotiations in the spring, then the Bears would be holding the hardware.

But Super Bowls and championships are not won in May and June, certainly not because all the players are under contract. Last year, the Bears did the same thing. They finished 7-9 and out of the playoffs.

The fact that there are just 19 of the league’s 255 draft choices under contract at this point speaks to the need for the NFL to have a rookie salary system that’s similar to that of the NBA. In basketball, drafted players are paid on a scale that set up before hand. There are no negotiations.

Based on years of evidence in he NFL, teams and agents can pretty much slot out the payments for each choice in each round and not be far off the reality of the situation.

There’s another reason only 19 contracts have been turned into the league office: until a draft choice signs his contract, he does not count against the 80-man maximum roster that teams can have right now. At a time when almost every team is going through on-field practices, OTAs and mini-camps, having the extra bodies are always helpful and something coaches seek and enjoy.

Generally, rookie contracts go up between five and 10 percent each year. This year’s No. 5 choice, the Chiefs S Eric Berry, will likely sign a contract that’s about 7.5 percent bigger than the one inked last year by the player at the same position in the draft. That was QB Mark Sanchez, with a five-year, $50 million deal with a $28 million signing bonus. Berry’s contract should end up being between five and 10 percent bigger than that signed by the fourth choice in ‘09, LB Aaron Curry who went to Seattle in a 6-year, $60 million deal with $34 million in guaranteed dollars. That’s a more apples to apples comparison than with a quarterback.

None of this qualifies as rocket science for either the teams or the agents. In fact, it’s easier this year for the 32 clubs because the league has no salary cap to juggle and work around.

Yet a lot of time and resources will be unnecessarily wasted on this process. Of those 255 drafted players, one or two will end up in a testy negotiation with their teams and miss valuable practice time and increase their risk of injury. Again, all of that is unnecessary.

The highest 2010 draft choice currently signed is third-rounder, S Major Wright by the Bears. He inked a four-year, $2,635,000 package as the 75th player selected. Last year’s pick in that same slot was OT Robert Brewster of Dallas, who signed a four-year, $2,475,000 contract. Wright’s deal is a 6.5 percent increase over what Brewster received from the Cowboys.

Right now, there are two picks in the third round signed, with one in the fourth round, five in the fifth round and six in the sixth round and five in the seventh round. Again, five of those 19 belong to the Bears, who also did not have first or second round choices. Denver, Houston, New England and San Francisco have signed two each, with Minnesota, Buffalo, San Diego, Philadelphia and Seattle one each.

Here are the seven draft choices of the Chiefs, where they were drafted and what type of contract that slot produced in money last year:

Chicago got its five draft choices signed for deals that were on average three percent more than the same slots in last year’s draft. Any team in the league would take that increase for their draft class, but the fact the Bears did not have first and second round choices made a big difference in getting the entire group signed.

BRIAN WATERS RECEIVES ANOTHER HONOR FOR OFF-FIELD WORK

On Wednesday in Tulsa, Chiefs G Brian Waters was announced as the 2010 male recipient of the Henry P. Iba Citizen Athlete Award.

Named to honor the memory of former Oklahoma State and U. S. Olympic Coach Hank Iba, the award was created in 1994 to honor players who perform on the field to a high standard and are actively involved in helping their communities.

Joining Waters is Ruth Riley of the WNBA’s San Antonio team who is the women’s recipient. It’s the second major award that Waters has received for his work off the field. Back in February, he was named the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award for community service

“This award in particular is a great honor to be honest with you just because it’s not from my hometown or it’s not from the city that I work in,” Waters said during an interview with the Tulsa World newspaper. “It’s from a national recognizable organization and that says a lot about the work we have been doing and says a lot about the people we have been working with. My wife and I have really put in a lot of effort and time and the people in the organizations we work with have also put in a lot of time and energy.”

Other NFL players who have received the award include former Chiefs teammate Will Shields, along with Peyton Manning, Warrick Dunn, Drew Brees, Derrick Brooks, Drew Bledsoe, Mark Rypien and Chris Zorich. Athletes from other sports who have been named Iba Award winners are Dikembe Mutombo, Karl Malone, Tom Lehman, Ozzie Smith and Chris Paul.

The Tulsa Rotary Club will hold a banquet in Tulsa on June 14th to p resent the award.

A FEW FAMILIAR NAMES IN UFL DRAFT

The United Football League held its second draft meeting and there were some former Chiefs who wound up being selected among the five UFL teams.

The Florida Tuskers used the draft’s fourth choice to select LB Wes Dacus, who spent parts of two seasons (2008-09) with the Chiefs. He was originally an undrafted rookie free agent out of Arkansas.

Grabbed in the fourth round was OL Adrian Jones, who was part of the Chiefs in the 2008 season. Jones was selected by the new team in Omaha.

The Nighthawks also drafted WR Devard Darling in the eighth round. Darling suffered a significant knee injury at the end of the ‘09 pre-season and spent last year on injured reserve.

The first player selected was former Detroit-Tampa Bay DE DeWayne White, grabbed by Omaha.

NFL PERSONNEL FILE/WEDNESDAY, JUNE 2

• CHARGERS – signed 5th-round draft choice QB Jonathan Crompton to a 4-year, $2,670,000 contract – he’s out of Tennessee where he played last year in Lane Kiffin’s pro-style offense.
• EAGLES – signed 6th-round draft choice RB Charles Scott to a 4-year, $1,880,000 contract – he’s a short yardage back out of LSU.
• PATRIOTS – injured WR Wes Welker took part in the team’s OTA practice on Wednesday, showing he’s ahead of schedule in rehab from his ACL injury suffered in the final regular season game of ‘09. Only sign of a problem was the brace he was wearing on his left knee.
• RAIDERS – signed CB Joe Porter – he was an undrafted free agent out of Rutgers in ‘07 and has spent time on the practice squads of the Packers, Saints and Browns, and also played last season in the UFL for Las Vegas.
• RAMS – S Oshiomogho Atogwe declared unrestricted free agent.
• SEAHAWKS – signed 5th-round draft choice S Kam Chancellor to a 4-year, $2,830,000 contract (with a fourth year escalator) and a signing bonus of $213,000.