Seahawks Blog

Danny O'Neil covers the Seahawks for The Seattle Times.

Blog Home | E-mail Danny | Subscribe | Twitter feed| Seahawks forum

August 1, 2010 at 1:36 PM

What's the hold-up with Russell Okung?

After one day of training camp, there's one rookie left unsigned: left tackle Russell Okung.

So how long is it going to take, especially consider a report from ProFootballTalk.com that the sides are not close.

OK. Deep breath everyone. It's Day 2. It's not unusual for first-round picks to miss a few days. In fact, signing after missing two days of training camp would be a quick agreement when you look at it in terms of recent Seahawk history.

Year	Player (pick)	Days missed
2010	Russell Okung (No. 6) LT, Oklahoma State	2
2010	Earl Thomas (No. 14) S, Texas	1
2009	Aaron Curry (No. 4) LB, Wake Forest	8
2008	Lawrence Jackson (No. 28) DE, USC	0
2007	No pick	--
2006	Kelly Jennings (No. 31) CB, Miami	2
2005	Chris Spencer (No. 26) C, Ole Miss	5
2004	Marcus Tubbs (No. 23) DT, Texas	8
2003	Marcus Trufant (No. 11) CB, Washington State	0
2002	Jerramy Stevens (No. 28) TE, Washington	4
2001	Koren Robinson (No. 9) WR, North Carolina St.	0
2001	Steve Hutchinson (No. 17) G, Michigan	0
2000	Shaun Alexander (No. 19) RB, Alabama	0
2000	Chris McIntosh (No. 22) T, Wisconsin	22
1999	Lamar King (No. 22) DE, Saginaw Valley State	11

But there is room for some questions about why a deal isn't done. After all, the three players chosen in front of Okung are signed: Gerald McCoy with Tampa Bay, Trent Williams with Washington and Eric Berry with Kansas City.

The two players behind Okung are signed, too. Cornerback Joe Haden with Cleveland, linebacker Rolando McClain with Oakland.

There is no rookie salary scale, but those deals generally provide parameters for an agreement.

But there is something worth noting, which is that the deals signed by Williams and Berry are for six years while the deals signed by Haden and McClain are for five.

It's possible that's a sticking point.

A year ago, Seattle negotiated a six-year agreement with Aaron Curry, which was an exception. Only Matthew Stafford and Michael Crabtree -- who signed much later -- were the only other rookies to sign six-year deals.

For the player, it is a significant sacrifice because of the timing. It is the difference between potentially becoming an unrestricted free agent at the age of 28 -- as Curry would have been with a five-year deal -- and the age of 29. That extra year might not seem like much, but remember this is a league where the average career lasts about four years, and one season could significantly impact the player's bargaining position for a second contract.

Another possible sticking point? Look back at last year's No. 6 pick. That was tackle Andre Smith from Alabama. He did not sign until Aug. 30, missing the team's first three exhibition games. The reason for the holdup? The Bengals would not offer more money than Darrius Heyward-Bey received from Oakland as the No. 7 pick in the draft.

Smith ended up signing a four-year contract, which included a Bengals option to add two additional years to the contract for more guaranteed money after the 2010 season.

Seahawks Blog

What's the hold-up with Russell Okung?

The Seattle Times Company

Services

News

Marketplace

Subscriber Services

Other editions