The Pittsburgh Steelers wrapped up their 2021 mandatory minicamp last week and when they did, the team’s third-round draft pick this year, center Kendrick Green, remained the lone unsigned player of the draft class. So, what is the holdup in getting Green signed to his rookie contract? That’s a question I asked former NFL agent Joel Corry Tuesday morning.
“Trying to get the max amount of money for the slot,” Corry told me. “Nico Collins drafted 2 picks later received 100% of his draft slot. So far, every 3rd round pick signed has gotten 100%. Only the 1st 8 picks in the 3rd round last year were at 100%. The 24th pick last year got 97.94%.”
So, in a nutshell, Corry has explained why Green likely remains the Steelers lone unsigned draft pick to date. Further quick and dirty research that I did shows that Green is far from being alone, however. In fact, and by my rough count, of the 41 players selected in the third-round of the 2021 NFL Draft, only 13 have been signed so far. On top of that, only two players of the group drafted from 13th overall in the round through the end of has signed so far as that’s Nico Collins, who was selected two picks after Green, and Dyami Brown, who was selected five picks before Green. (let me know if you find any errors in that)
So, is it a huge concern that Green remains unsigned right now? No, not really. He just needs to be boxed in a little more by players above and behind him. He’ll obviously ultimately get signed; it just might be a little longer until that happens.
According to estimates by Over the Cap, Green’s four-year rookie contract is expected to total out at around $4,875,764 and include a signing bonus of around $906,008. Collins, in case you’re wondering, reportedly signed a four-year rookie contract with the Houston Texans on May 14, 2021 and the total value was $4,871,518 with $902,920 of it guaranteed via signing bonus.
Corry can of course be followed on Twitter at @CorryJoel and you can read his work online here and listen to his podcast here.
2021 Third-Round Draft Picks
| RND | PICK | TEAM | PLAYER | POS | STATUS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 65 | Jacksonville Jaguars | Andre Cisco | S | Signed |
| 3 | 66 | Minnesota Vikings | Kellen Mond | QB | Signed |
| 3 | 67 | Houston Texans | Davis Mills | QB | Signed |
| 3 | 68 | Atlanta Falcons | Jalen Mayfield | OT | Signed |
| 3 | 69 | Cincinnati Bengals | Joseph Ossai | DE | Signed |
| 3 | 70 | Carolina Panthers | Brady Christensen | OT | Unsigned |
| 3 | 71 | New York Giants | Aaron Robinson | CB | Signed |
| 3 | 72 | Detroit Lions | Alim McNeill | DT | Signed |
| 3 | 73 | Philadelphia Eagles | Milton Williams | DT | Signed |
| 3 | 74 | Washington Football Team | Benjamin St-Juste | CB | Signed |
| 3 | 75 | Dallas Cowboys | Osa Odighizuwa | DT | Signed |
| 3 | 76 | New Orleans Saints | Paulson Adebo | CB | Signed |
| 3 | 77 | Los Angeles Chargers | Josh Palmer | WR | Unsigned |
| 3 | 78 | Minnesota Vikings | Chazz Surratt | LB | Unsigned |
| 3 | 79 | Las Vegas Raiders | Malcolm Koonce | DE | Unsigned |
| 3 | 80 | Las Vegas Raiders | Divine Deablo | S | Unsigned |
| 3 | 81 | Miami Dolphins | Hunter Long | TE | Unsigned |
| 3 | 82 | Washington Football Team | Dyami Brown | WR | Signed |
| 3 | 83 | Carolina Panthers | Tommy Tremble | TE | Unsigned |
| 3 | 84 | Dallas Cowboys | Chauncey Golston | DE | Unsigned |
| 3 | 85 | Green Bay Packers | Amari Rodgers | WR | Unsigned |
| 3 | 86 | Minnesota Vikings | Wyatt Davis | OG | Unsigned |
| 3 | 87 | Pittsburgh Steelers | Kendrick Green | C | Unsigned |
| 3 | 88 | San Francisco 49ers | Trey Sermon | RB | Unsigned |
| 3 | 89 | Houston Texans | Nico Collins | WR | Signed |
| 3 | 90 | Minnesota Vikings | Patrick Jones II | DE | Unsigned |
| 3 | 91 | Cleveland Browns | Anthony Schwartz | WR | Unsigned |
| 3 | 92 | Tennessee Titans | Monty Rice | LB | Unsigned |
| 3 | 93 | Buffalo Bills | Spencer Brown | OT | Unsigned |
| 3 | 94 | Baltimore Ravens | Ben Cleveland | OG | Unsigned |
| 3 | 95 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Robert Hainsey | OT | Unsigned |
| 3* | 96 | New England Patriots | Ronnie Perkins | DE | Unsigned |
| 3* | 97 | Los Angeles Chargers | Tre’ McKitty | TE | Unsigned |
| 3* | 98 | Denver Broncos | Quinn Meinerz | C | Unsigned |
| 3* | 99 | Dallas Cowboys | Nahshon Wright | CB | Unsigned |
| 3* | 100 | Tennessee Titans | Elijah Molden | CB | Unsigned |
| 3* | 101 | Detroit Lions | Ifeatu Melifonwu | CB | Unsigned |
| 3× | 102 | San Francisco 49ers | Ambry Thomas | CB | Unsigned |
| 3× | 103 | Los Angeles Rams | Ernest Jones | LB | Unsigned |
| 3× | 104 | Baltimore Ravens | Brandon Stephens | CB | Unsigned |
| 3× | 105 | Denver Broncos | Baron Browning | LB | Unsigned |
