2006-05-15

Will Joseph hold out?

From the every-cloud-has-a-silver-lining file, Reggie Bush has announced the last thing he wants to do is hold out for a few extra dollars. While this dashes any hope of Bush pulling a Cedric Benson, it does make it more likely Buc's first round pick Davin Joseph will not hold out.

If we can take a trip in the wayback machine, Cadillac made a very similar demand a year ago. Cadillac badly wanted to be at the Orlando training camp but had to first wait for his agent, Ben Dogra, to finish a contract. Dogra didn't finish negotiations until shortly after midnight on the first day of training camp. Of course, that didn't prevent Cadillac from jumping in his car during the wee hours of the morning and making the commute out to Orlando to be with his new team.

"He got in about 3 o'clock," said roommate Michael Clayton. "And at 6:30 he jumped right out of bed because I had the alarm set and he said, 'Let's go to work Mike.' He's hungry. Guys like that always show up on time."

If there were questions about whether Bush's first year would be as successful as Cadillac's or as disappointing as Benson's this can be considered as evidence for the former. But what effect will this have on the Buc's ability to sign Joseph?

First off, I would be surprised if Joseph held out. He seems like a high character guy, which would indicate he is unlikely to sit out of training camp. But even the best intentioned player can fall victim to bad advice from a greedy agent.

Last year (with the notable exception of Cadillac) we saw a higher than normal number of first round draft picks hold out for more money. The problems started with the top of the draft class, notably first pick Alex Smith, whose contract negotiations dragged on much longer than they should have because Smith thought he was worth more than the 49ers wanted to pay him (and he hasn't been so far).

But this year's first pick, Mario Williams, has already agreed to a contract, and the second pick is eager to work a contract out. We still have another two months before training camps begin but I expect to see fewer holdouts this year than last. Although I'm sure the Falcon's first pick, Jimmy Williams, will prove to be the exception to that prediction.

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