Brandon Graham Knows He Could Miss Start of Camp
Eagles first round draft choice acknowledges he could miss a couple days as he waits to sign his contract.
By admin
Philadelphia Eagles first-round defensive end Brandon Graham has reasonable expectations for when he'll sign a contract and join his new teammates for training camp.
According to Marcus Hayes of the Philadelphia Daily News, Graham acknowledged that he "might miss a day or two" of camp.
"That's what my agent (Joel Segal) said," Graham said. "Even if I'm not signed, I'll be there, doing the learning part," Graham said. "I'm going to be at camp, regardless. Just to let Coach (Andy Reid) know I'm serious. If I'm not there, my starting position might be in jeopardy."
Graham's pragmatic approach to his contract, no doubt aided by an agent whose been up-front and honest with him, is refreshing. Eagles fans may not understand why any days of training camp are missed, but the reality of the situation is that most first-round picks miss a few days of training camp before signing a contract.
20 of the 32 first-round picks last summer were unsigned when their teams opened up training camp, including Eagles first-round pick Jeremy Maclin, who missed nine days of camp before signing on August 4, 2009. Of the players chosen in the first half of the first round, where Graham was selected this past April, just three players, all chosen in the Top 5, were signed in time for camp.
When Graham says he expects to "miss a day or two", that's a fair prediction.
Last year's 13th overall pick, Washington Redskins linebacker Brian Orakpo, signed a day after camp opened, despite the Michael Crabtree contract negotiation wreaking havoc on the contract talks of players chosen in that area of the draft. For example, Graham's agent negotiated the contract for Buffalo Bills linebacker/end Aaron Maybin, who was chosen directly after Crabtree. Maybin didn't sign until August 21, nearly a month after the Bills opened camp.
Twelve of the 20 players to miss some of their first training camp were signed within a week, and two-thirds of those players were signed and on the field within three days.
Keep up-to-date on all of this year's rookie signings right here.
