Taven Bryan is the remaining unsigned Jacksonville Jaguars rookie from the team’s 2018 NFL Draft class, but why?
The Jacksonville Jaguars selected Taven Bryan in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft. Bryan played collegiately at Florida. Many speculate that Bryan will play this fall ,but will not be a starter on the defensive line.
Charean Williams of profootballtalk.nbcsports.com reports that 15 drafted rookies have not signed their first contract. Williams went into further detail, stating that 11 first-round picks have yet to sign.
Bryan is one of those 11 first-rounders remaining unsigned at this point. The question is, why hasn’t he? There is nothing to hold out for and the value is predetermined by the collective bargaining agreement.
In fact, Over The Cap gives the formula for each teams rookie pool. Jacksonville’s rookie pool amount, which is applied to the salary cap, is $5,482,360. Bryan will count $1,846,355 awards the Jaguars salary cap number.
Bryan has not held out of any offseason workouts. He does not play any other professional sport, such as baseball or basketball. Remember, John Elway chose baseball over Baltimore until he was able to play in Denver. So, what is the hold up?
Bryan has the reputation as a hard worker. His dad instilled that in his at an early age. Michael DiRocco of ESPN.com reported the following:
"… brought his son along to a concrete job on a local ranch. The first thing that had to be done was to demolish the existing concrete work, … gave the 9-year-old Taven a 16-pound sledgehammer and told him to start swinging…The ranch manager sends his high school kids down .. and says, ‘If I see this young man outwork you high school athletes one more time I’m going to fire all of you and we’re going to replace you.'”"
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Training camps starts very soon. It’s time to get serious for the 2018 season. So, why, hasn’t Bryan signed his contract? Only Bryan can answer for sure, but expect him to sign soon.