Here’s Why Jerick McKinnon Is Still Waiting to Sign His Contract
By Dan Zinski
I imagine a few of you have been wondering what is going on with Vikings third round draft pick Jerick McKinnon, the only 2014 Vikings pick who remains unsigned. It turns out there’s a fairly simple and straight forward explanation for why McKinnon has not yet received a contract: a couple teams blew up the slotting at the end of the third round and as a result several players’ agents are dragging things out trying to get a few extra thousand for their guy.
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As Vikings Update sort of explains in this piece, the Ravens gummed things up by giving tight end Brockett Gillmore, the #99 overall pick, a contract worth slightly more than Denver’s Michael Schofield, the #95 pick. Denver also contributed to the log-jam by giving Schofield a little more guaranteed money than #92 pick Trai Turner got from Carolina.
Why did these teams decide to go against the normal slotting of player contracts, which dictates that these deals should gradually decrease in value with each successive pick? You’d have to ask them. What matters to us is that, as a result of Baltimore and Denver messing with things, several players at the end of the third round, including McKinnon, are stuck in contract limbo while agents and teams sort out what each man is supposed to get.
It’s not really that big a deal in the grand scheme of things. Jerick McKinnon will get signed soon and everything will proceed as normal. The important thing is for fans to know that Jerick McKinnon is not pulling any hanky-panky. He assured Vikings Update that he is not holding out (which we already knew because he’s been at OTAs) and he like everyone else is just waiting for this to get resolved.
McKinnon is still able to participate in practice, so as of now, he hasn’t fallen behind in learning the offense. He just has to wait a little longer than his fellow draftees to get his hands on that sweet sweet NFL money.
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