With training camp just about to open for the Chicago Bears, there is one lingering issue yet to be addressed and it has to do with a contract.
No, it's not safety Jaquan Brisker who is up for an extension, although that's a good conversation to have. Right now, we're talking about Bears rookie second-round pick Luther Burden III who is one of several second rounders not to have signed their initial contracts.
Burden likely wants a good chunk (if not all) of his rookie deal to be guaranteed thanks to the Houston Texans setting an example with fellow rookie wideout Jayden Higgins getting 100 percent of his contract guaranteed. Browns linebacker Carson Schwesinger followed suit as well.
Burden, though, has yet to sign his deal. He was drafted fairly high in the second round similar to Higgins and Schwesinger, so he is justified to want the healthy majority of his contract guaranteed.
Luther Burden could be absent from the beginning of Bears training camp
To be perfectly fair, this isn't necessarily an indictment on Burden, himself, but a product of so many other second-round rookies wanting something similar to both Higgins and Schwesinger. However, if Burden isn't able to get his deal solidified before the start of training camp, he'll be sitting out until that happens.
The first notable date to be aware of is July 19 when Bears rookies report to camp. Veterans report three days later with the Bears holding their first practice on July 25. The clock is ticking for many second rounders, and it's an issue that's become increasingly-worrisome.
A few weeks ago, it wasn't necessarily too much of an issue. Now? The tide has turned a little bit. The closer we get to camp, the more of an inconvenience this becomes.
The positive, here, is that it isn't too much of a distraction. If Burden was one of just a select few to not have his deal signed, then maybe it'd be classified as such. For right now, it's actually become the new normal.
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Hopefully, this whole mess gets sorted out and dominos start to fall, with Burden being able to get out there on Day 1 of camp.