Vikings reach agreements with four more draft picks

UPDATE 2:12 PM: Jack Tocho has also signed, which means only Dalvin Cook and Stacy Coley remain unsigned.

Eight down, three to go. Nine down, two to go.

The Vikings are expected to announced the signing of three four more draft picks on Tuesday. Only one is official as of now: the team has announced their agreement with 6th round tight end Bucky Hodges out of Virginia Tech. But apparently two other rookies will follow suit shortly: offensive lineman Pat Elflein from Ohio State and linebacker Elijah Lee out of Kansas State.

All three players have caused excitement with a lot of Vikings fans. Hodges is raw but has potential game-changing talent in the red zone. Elflein seems poised to compete for a starting job right away in an offensive line that desperately needs help. Lee is considered a late-round steal by many draft analysts and could make an immediate impact on special teams.

According to Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press, the terms of the rookie deals are:

• Hodges: four years, $2.55 million, $145k signing bonus
• Elflein: four years, $3.34 million, $936k signing bonus
• Lee: four years, $2.48 million, $83k signing bonus

When pen finally goes to paper on these three deals, it would mean that only three of the Vikings’ eleven draft picks remain unsigned:

• Dalvin Cook (second round)
• Stacy Coley (seventh round)
• Jack Tocho (seventh round)

One would expect the remaining three deals to be done sooner rather than later. It appears that the Vikings have cleared up any issues with the contract language that was previously holding up these deals. It doesn’t sound like the language itself has changed. Apparently the players, agents, and/or the NFLPA have come to terms with whatever was previously giving them pause.