Luke Joeckel signs with Jaguars, could Lane Johnson soon follow?

The Jaguars announced yesterday that they've signed #2 overall pick Luke Joeckel to a 4 year deal. While the full terms of the deal have not yet been disclosed, the rookie salary cap and slotting system agreed to under the most recent CBA make it pretty easy to figure out.

Joeckel's deal will be fully guaranteed and the money will likely be almost exactly what last year's #2 pick, Robert Griffin III, received.

Does this mean that the #4 pick Lane Johnson won't be far behind? Yes and no.

Yes in that Joeckel's signing is a reminder that there essentially are no more rookie holdouts due to the new CBA and that the slotting system makes the negotiations for that first contract pretty elementary.

That said, since the framework for the deal is already there, a guy drafted near Johnson signing doesn't really mean what it used to. Before the new CBA, the numbers guys got who were drafted around a player is what informed his contract. So as more signed near his draft spot, the likelihood that he would get a deal done increased. For the most part, that just doesn't matter anymore.

There is, as I write this, 36 drafted players left unsigned, 22 of which are first rounders.

All that really matters though is that the new CBA ensures that Lane Johnson's deal will be done very soon and long before training camp convenes at the end of next month.

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