I posted recently about what likely was the hold up on the Pittsburgh Steelers getting first round draft pick David DeCastro under contract. Now it seems like the logjam ahead of DeCastro is starting to move thanks to the New England Patriots drawing the line in the sand this past week with their first round pick Chandler Jones, the 21st overall selection this past April.
Jones deal was for the mandated four-years, but only three years of it is fully guaranteed & only $752,284 of his final year. The theory is that DeCastro and his agent were waiting to see just how far down the four year guaranteed deals fell, and with Jones being selected three picks ahead of DeCastro, there will not be much left to haggle over. This means the Stanford guard should be under contract soon thanks to the slotting system,.
DeCastro is not able top take part in any of the Steelers OTA sessions or June mini-camp because of the graduation rules at Stanford. Those rules did allow him to take part in the rookie camp though immediately following the draft.
The Steelers currently have seven of their nine draft picks currently under contract with only DeCastro and third round pick Sean Spence yet to sign. There is no word what the holdup might be with Spence, but both certainly should have their deals wrapped up soon.
