CpuFan
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I found this article enlightening as to when contracts are offered to players. It is by a sports agent Jack Bechta. I love his insights into the NFL, the players, agents, and the teams. Here is a clip from the article.
"I’ve been asked many times, “When do contract negotiations start up for draft picks?” The answer is that a majority of teams will wait as long as possible to get things done. Why? A few common reasons: Hold on to your money longer and earn interest, keep your draft picks hungry and out of trouble by not lining their pockets with big summer cash, and see how the market shapes ups for certain rounds. Keep some cap salary powder dry for as long as you can."
The public has been brainwashed to believe that all rookie holdouts are driven by the player/agent side. The majority of times, they’re initiated by the agent, but many teams are guilty of not even starting the negotiating process until a few weeks, or even days, before camp. I’ve had many draft picks wait until 10 days prior to camp before their team was even willing to start the process. It’s usually kicked off by the team’s capologist giving me a cap number that he feels is equitable for that particular slot. That’s it. I then compare that number to last year’s and previous years’ cap numbers, the increase in the cap, the team’s rookie pool allocation and the number of draft picks they have. Usually the number is a little low but surprisingly close. Every now and then, it’s right on. For picks in the second round and lower, it’s fairly simple to formulate a contract from the cap number for the slot."
http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/the-standoff-begins.html
"I’ve been asked many times, “When do contract negotiations start up for draft picks?” The answer is that a majority of teams will wait as long as possible to get things done. Why? A few common reasons: Hold on to your money longer and earn interest, keep your draft picks hungry and out of trouble by not lining their pockets with big summer cash, and see how the market shapes ups for certain rounds. Keep some cap salary powder dry for as long as you can."
The public has been brainwashed to believe that all rookie holdouts are driven by the player/agent side. The majority of times, they’re initiated by the agent, but many teams are guilty of not even starting the negotiating process until a few weeks, or even days, before camp. I’ve had many draft picks wait until 10 days prior to camp before their team was even willing to start the process. It’s usually kicked off by the team’s capologist giving me a cap number that he feels is equitable for that particular slot. That’s it. I then compare that number to last year’s and previous years’ cap numbers, the increase in the cap, the team’s rookie pool allocation and the number of draft picks they have. Usually the number is a little low but surprisingly close. Every now and then, it’s right on. For picks in the second round and lower, it’s fairly simple to formulate a contract from the cap number for the slot."
http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/the-standoff-begins.html