The last rookie to sign ended his standoff Wednesday when Jacksonville Jaguars' first-round pick Derrick Harvey agreed to a five-year deal that could pay him $30 million.
That leaves Buffalo Bills tackle Jason Peters as the only player not with his team, making him the last holdout.
The Bills are holding their ground on Peters, who wants a new contract. And they should.
Why?
Like Harvey, Peters will show up. Nobody sits out seasons any more in the NFL. There's too much money to be made and only so many earning years in a body.
Harvey wasn't going to sit out a season, and neither will Peters. The Jaguars knew it, and pretty much held their ground. The Bills know it, too. Peters is scheduled to make $3.25 million this season, which is $191,175 per game, on a deal he signed in 2006.
Want to bet he's there on opening day?
I love when agents and players act as if they will sit out. We all know better. The teams know better.
Rams running back Steven Jackson talked about sitting out, but came in and got a new deal. Same for Bears return man Devin Hester.
As for Harvey, the deal he received was only slightly different than what the Jaguars offered earlier this summer, which begs this question: Why did he miss the preseason?
The Jaguars traded up 19 spots to get Harvey with the No. 8 overall pick, but were unable to reach agreement with him before Wednesday, which made Harvey the longest holdout in team history at 33 days.
The Jaguars were not willing to give Harvey's agent a deal closer to the one Sedrick Ellis got from New Orleans in the seventh spot, which included $19.5 million in guaranteed money. The Jaguars weren't going to give Harvey any more guaranteed money than the $18 million they gave David Garrard on his contract extension. Since Harvey ended up taking $17.2 million in guarantees, the team held true to that.
There were some changes in the structuring of the contract, such as playtime incentives, according to a source, but in the end it appears the Jaguars won.
Harvey is the loser.
Ken Kremer, Harvey's agent, spoke publicly several times about the negotiations in the media, which is not common for his agency, CAA. At one point, Kremer even told The Florida Times-Union that he called Jaguars negotiator Paul Vance, but Vance wasn't available because he was seeing the movie "Mamma Mia" with his wife.
"That became a joke around the league," said one NFC front office executive.
There was also thought to be some bad blood between CAA and the Jaguars for the way they handled the Bryon Leftwich situation last year. The Jaguars cut Leftwich, a CAA client, just nine days before the regular season, even though he was the team's starting quarterback. Tom Condon, a CAA agent, represented Leftwich.
Middle linebacker Mike Peterson, another CAA client, is entering the final year of his contract and wants an extension, but the Jaguars are unwilling to give him anything more than a small extension.
"The agent did the kid wrong in this one," another agent said.
The Jaguars had hoped Harvey could push for time as the starting right end, a position manned by veteran Paul Spicer, but that's unlikely with the missed time. He could be used as a situational rusher early in the season.
So what as the point of staying away? An extra million or so can be made up on the next deal. Here's the rub: No agent wants to go on the recruiting trail next year and have his deal held up as a bad one by other agents.
What's worse, a so-so deal or a 33-day holdout? Want to bet the other agents use the latter against Kremer next spring? Then again, CAA is such a force it probably doesn't matter.
Missing regular season games is even worse. That's why Eugene Parker, Peters' agent, will get his client to camp. He's too smart for him to sit out. Isn't he?
The bottom line, as I always say, is they all eventually come in. The money's too good. Harvey's in now and Peters will be right behind. You wait and see.
