Two weeks before he is due in Bourbonnais for the start of his first NFL training camp, Bears No. 1 draft pick Roquan Smith is still without a contract.
He is not alone. NBC cousin Mike Florio over at Pro Football Talk notes that seven of this year’s top 10 draft picks stood unsigned (Smith went No. 8), the chief sticking point typically teams’ desire for offset language in the contracts. Offset language stipulates that if a player is cut before the end of his contract term (four years), money from a new contract with another team reduces the amount of any guaranteed money left on the rookie contract.