What'll Those Last Couple Mil Get Ya?

By Benjy Lipsman in News on Aug 3, 2005 6:54PM

While most of the Bears continue to sweat during two-a-days in Bourbonnais, first round pick Cedric Benson continues to hold out. The Bears have made another contract offer and are awaiting a response. With the 1st and 5th picks in the draft signed, the three guys in the middle have some idea of what to expect in terms of salary. Benson figures to be looking at about $17 million over five years or $21 million over six. However, details concerning the signing bonus, incentives, etc. need to be hammered out.

A few days ago, Bears coach Lovie Smith started getting tough. He put pressure on Benson to get into camp. At the time, Smith wasn't ready to announce Benson out of the Hall of Fame Game against the Miami Dolphins on Monday, but it now seems to be certain he won't be playing regardless of when he gets into camp. Miami will also be without their first round pick holdout -- Ronnie Brown, who was picked second overall and is also holding out.

Chicagoist wonders if the NFL can't find a way to tackle this annual holdout issue. The top picks in the draft are looked at as integral parts of their teams' turn-arounds, and yet holding out keeps them from meshing with the rest of their team. Maybe the NFL aught to explore a system similar to the NBA's rookie contract pay scale. As we've learned from drafts past, there's no correlation between draft position and NFL success so why allow an unproven player to disrupt his team's training while he and the team haggle over tens of millions over 5 or 6 years. Play out the rookie contract and the money will be there if they've proven their worth on the NFL field. They'll still be making enough for that pimped out Escalade regardless...