Kansas City Chiefs rookie and first round pick Tyson Jackson remains the highest unsigned draft pick in the 2009 NFL Draft. The team just concluded day two of training camp and there's no word from the Chiefs on the status of the negotiations with the third overall pick.
The word from the Jackson camp, as told to Nick Wright of 610 Sports, is that the Chiefs are waiting on Aaron Curry and the Seattle Seahawks to strike a deal before negotiations take the next step.
The Chiefs, specifically coach Todd Haley and GM Scott Pioli, are taking the 'We only comment on players that are here' stance when asked about Jackson's situation.
There's not much out there on the status of Curry's contract. His agent is Mike Sullivan, whom 'Hawks GM Tim Ruskell has worked with on multiple occasions.
"We know how he operates," Ruskell told reporters the day before Seattle broke for camp. "We think it’s not going to be how much the structure is and the other little things you put into a contract. It’s going to come down to the main core of the deal, and there aren’t a lot of precedents to go by right now."
The main sticking point is that the team believes quarterbacks are paid a premium and so fifth overall pick Mark Sanchez's $28 million guaranteed shouldn't necessarily be the starting point.
"We’ll discount the quarterback deals," Ruskell said. "They’ll say, ‘Nope, there it is.’ And so therein lies the rub of where the deal will get done. But we’re optimistic. It’s been good talks so far."
Jim Trotter of Sports Illustrated reports the feeling around camp is that a deal will get done sooner rather than later.
"Curry had not signed through the weekend, but there was optimism that a contract would be finalized sooner than later."
Ruskell has described the negotiations as "nonstop" in recent days. So, we'll be shifting much of our attention to the status of the negotiations between the Seahawks and Curry's representatives.