Irv Smith becomes first Vikings draft pick to sign, more expected to follow

It is being reported that Irv Smith Jr. reached a deal with the Minnesota Vikings and will become the first of the team’s draft picks to sign a contract

The Minnesota Vikings aren’t taking long to lock down their draft picks, getting started right away by coming to terms on a deal with second-round selection Irv Smith and signing the tight end to a contract on May 2, 2019.

Smith becomes the first of the team’s draft picks to reportedly sign his deal with Minnesota. With his sigining, he becomes the highest selected player from the 2019 NFL Draft to come to terms and ink a deal.

Here is the report as shared by ESPN’s NFL insider Adam Schefter on his official Twitter account:

But the Vikings aren’t done there. According to Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press, Marcus Epps, and Olisaemeka Udoh are both expected to sign their rookie deals by Friday, making three of the twelves draftees under contract by that time.

Of course, this means those who have signed should be expected to show up at the teams rookie minicamp. While the other nine draft selections have yet to have their contract status reported on, fans should be under the impression that the entire rookie class will likely be participating in the team activities.

Here are the details of the rookie contracts for those who reported will sign their contracts before Friday:

• TE Irv Smith Jr. – 4 yrs / $5.798 M with $2.237 M in signing bonus. ($1.054 M 2019 cap hit)
• DB Marcus Epps – 4 yrs / $2.688 M with $168,756 signing bonus. ($537,189 2019 cap hit)
• G Olisaemeka Udoh – 4 yrs / $2.687 M with $167,600 signing bonus. ($536,900 2019 cap hit)

More signings and contract details for the Minnesota Vikings 2019 NFL Draft class should come trickling in as days pass. Be sure to keep an eye on The Viking Age for more details as they become available.

*UPDATE*:  It didn’t take long for those signings to come flooding in. The Vikings shared on their official website that they are up to eight of their draftees being signed. Here are the other five to sign deals: RB Alexander Mattison, G Dru Samia, LB Cameron Smith, WR Dillon Mitchell, and WR Olabisi Johnson.

This only leaves C Garrett Bradbury, DT Armon Watts, DB Kris Boyd, and LS Austin Cutting to sign.