Third-round picks Malcolm Koonce and Divine Deablo are still unsigned
The Las Vegas Raiders report to training camp in eight days and they still have two of their seven draft picks unsigned.
The team still needs to sign third-round picks pass rusher Malcolm Koonce of Buffalo and linebacker/safety Divine Deablo of Virginia Tech. Koonce was the No. 79 overall pick and Deablo was taken one pick later at No. 80.
However, former NFL agent Joel Corry pointed out on Twitter that there is a dearth of third-round signings .
Most of the unsigned NFL draft picks aren’t in the 1st round. As of July 16, only 14 of the 41 3rd round picks were signed (34.15%).
— Joel Corry (@corryjoel) July 19, 2021
NFL reporter Adam Caplan recently explained on Twitter that there are some technical issues why there is a signing slow-down in the third round.
On why there are still a decent number of 3rd-rd picks in 2nd half of the round unsigned:
Players who haven’t signed yet want a fully compensated 4-yr deal (IE: maxing out base salaries under the 25% rule). #Texans Nico Collins (#26th in 3rd) signed a fully compensated deal.
— Adam Caplan (@caplannfl) July 14, 2021
So these are probably the reasons why both Koonce and Deablo are unsigned. Agents and teams are waiting for some deals to get done. However, it is not a major concern because the picks are slotted and they will get inked.
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Photo by Michael Shroyer/Getty Images
It would be a surprise if these deals aren’t completed by next Tuesday when the team reports. It will be interesting to see if Deablo will be ready to practice when training camp starts. He missed the offseason program and the minicamp. Without saying what the issue was, Raiders coach Jon Gruden said he was hopeful Deablo would be ready when training camp started.