Will Mike Hughes report to Vikings training camp on time?

With the team’s 2018 training camp now only a week away, this year’s first-round draft selection still has not signed his contract with the Minnesota Vikings.

Of the eight players the Minnesota Vikings selected in last April’s NFL Draft, seven have already signed their rookie contract with the team. The only 2018 draft pick remaining for the Vikings to sign is cornerback Mike Hughes, who the team selected in the first round this year.

Minnesota players will begin to report to training camp a week from Tuesday on July 24 and it could be without their 2018 first-round selection if the team is unable to sign him before then.

Typically, the Vikings have been able to sign their first-round picks before the start of training camp. Minnesota’s last four first-round selections had their rookie deal signed before the start of the team’s June minicamp.

The last time a Vikings’ first-round pick signed their rookie contract in July was back in 2013 when Sharrif Floyd, Xavier Rhodes, and Cordarrelle Patterson all agreed to their deals on the day Minnesota’s players began to report for training camp.

Minnesota Vikings

So the Vikings have actually gone this late in the offseason before when signing their first-round draft selection, it just has not happened in the last few years.

If Hughes still has not signed his rookie deal by the time players start reporting to training camp next Tuesday, one would assume he won’t be participating in Minnesota’s practices without a contract.

Thanks to an injury protection agreement with the Vikings, the young corner did participate in the team’s OTA and minicamp practices this year. However, the risk for injury increases during training camp due to the physicality, so Hughes will likely want an actual contract before he steps back on the field.

Time is definitely running out on Minnesota being able to get a deal done with their 2018 first-round pick before the start of training camp next week.

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It could go down to the wire. But based on the Vikings’ history of signing rookies with Rick Spielman as the team’s general manager, expect Hughes and Minnesota to agree to a contract before the team’s first training camp practice next week.