Seattle Seahawks Have Already Signed 7 Draft Picks

May 10, 2013; Renton, WA, USA; Seattle Seahawks tight end Luke Wilson (82) is tackled by linebacker Kyle Knox (43) during a rookie minicamp practice at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

Remember when getting draft picks signed was a big deal? While the new collective bargaining agreement has led to some interesting problems for the NFL and its players, this isn’t one of them.

On Friday, before the start of the rookie mini-camp, the Seahawks had already signed 7 of their 11 draft picks.

• 3rd round pick DT Jordan Hill
• 4th round pick WR Chris Harper
• 5th round pick DT Jesse Williams
• 5th round pick TE Luke Willson
• 7th round pick G Ryan Seymour 
• 7th round pick LB Ty Powell
• 7th round pick G Jared Smith

That means that the Seahawks still have four players left to get under contract.

• 2nd round pick Christine Michael
• 5th round pick Tharold Simon
• 6th round pick Spencer Ware
• 7th round pick Michael Bowie

There’s no word on why these four have yet to sign, but all of them participated in last weekend’s rookie mini-camp. The same thing happened a year ago, when most of the draft class signed fairly quickly, and then a couple players didn’t sign until mid-summer.

I’ll admit, I don’t miss the old system one bit. The prolonged negotiations, the worries about getting picks signed before training camp began, and the holdouts. All of them are things that the NFL is better off without.