NFL Training Camp: Sam Bradford, The First Domino Of Unsigned Draftees

With a week until NFL training camps can officially begin, the storylines for the month of August have begun to pour in.

With the futures of Terrell Owens and Brett Favre in question, there is uncertainty with the stars of tomorrow, who headlined the 2010 NFL Draft.

As of now, not one first round draft pick has been signed.

Pretty remarkable, right? It is understandable for the top three picks not signing.

But with the questions surrounding a potential lockout in 2011, it is creating tension from an owners, and agent perspective.

Despite the down time in the last few months, what has become clear is Sam Bradford will be the first domino to fall in the list of unsigned draftees.

From what the public knows, the Bradford negotiations won't turn into one similar to JaMarcus Russell of a few years back (for his sake, I sure hope so).

The first overall pick is expected to sign a deal with St. Louis that will give him the most guaranteed money in NFL history.

It is possible the deal could be reached in the later part of this week, or at the latest, during the Rams training camp.

This does set up the top draftees waiting to see what Bradford agrees upon before they sign on the dotted line.

An article on Pro Football Talk today reportedly showed third overall pick Gerald McCoy preparing to sit back and wait for Bradford to sign.

"It's kind of one of those deals where you would rather let the first pick sign first," McCoy said. "You don't want to do your deal first and his contract is way higher than yours. But if you waited yours would have been higher". 

"Sam will get his deal done," McCoy said. "I think Sam will be there, and as soon as Sam gets his deal done, mine will be done."

This will be the strategy for all of the top 2010 draftees.

There are players who are bound to hold out and can pull a Michael Crabtree of 2009.

But in a year where stars such as Chris Johnson, Peyton Manning, and Tom Brady are finding it tough to ink a new deal, it will be that much harder for the rookies to report to camp until they see the market that Sam Bradford creates.

Matt Miselis is a National NFL and Baltimore Ravens Featured Columnist for BleacherReport.com. He is also a monthly contributor to NFLTouchdown.com.

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