Well, that was fast.
Told 1st round pick Trae Waynes has signed his 4-year deal with the #Vikings.
— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) May 7, 2015
According to a report from Darren Wolfson of KSTP in the Twin Cities, the Minnesota Vikings have signed their first-round draft pick, Michigan State cornerback Trae Waynes, to a four-year contract. This makes him the first of the team's ten draft choices to sign his rookie contract, and the deal comes much earlier than the Vikings usually do their rookie contracts.
While the financial terms of the deal have not been released yet, Forbes has a projection of the deals for 2015 on their website, and Waynes' contract looks to be worth a little more than $11.5 million over the first four years.
The team, as teams do with all first-round contracts, will have the option to a fifth year on Waynes' deal if they want to keep him around. If the team should want to keep him, as Waynes was selected outside of the top ten, his salary for that fifth year will be an average of the third through twenty-fifth highest-paid players in the league at the cornerback position. Had he been selected one spot earlier, he would be entitled to the "Transition Player" salary for cornerbacks. . .again, the advantage of selecting outside of the top ten when it comes to rookie salaries.
With all of the team's rookies in town this weekend for the team's first rookie camp, it makes you wonder how many of the other nine draftees will be inking their deals this weekend as well.
Welcome (officially) to Minnesota, Trae Waynes!
EDIT: We now have the terms of the deal and. . .well, Forbes undersold it a bit.
Trae Waynes’ contract terms with Vikings. $7.674 million signing bonus. 4-year deal worth $12.944 million.
— Chris Tomasson (@christomasson) May 7, 2015