Green Bay Some of the open slots around Green Bay Packers first-round draft choice B.J. Raji are starting to fill in, but it's too early to tell if the signings will affect negotiations with the nose tackle's agents.
Only six first-round picks remained unsigned after the No. 4 pick, linebacker Aaron Curry, signed with the Seattle Seahawks Saturday night.
His signing followed agreements between Kansas City and No. 3 pick Tyson Jackson and Denver and No. 12 pick Knowshon Moreno late last week.
A logjam remains with Cincinnati's Andre Smith (No. 6), Jacksonville's Eugene Monroe (No. đ, Raji (No. 9), San Francisco's Michael Crabtree (No. 10), Buffalo's Aaron Maybin (No. 11) and New Orleans' Malcolm Jenkins (No. 14) still unsigned.
The consensus among agents and league officials is that the Crabtree negotiations are making both sides nervous.
It has been reported that he wants to be paid like a top-five pick because he might have been No. 1 had he not decided to have corrective surgery on his foot two months before the draft.
Agents are waiting to see if the 49ers give him that premium so that agents can argue their clients deserve the same, and the clubs are reluctant to offer those premiums until they see what Crabtree signs for.
In the Packers' case, they are hoping the Jaguars sign Monroe to a palatable deal so that they are working with a reasonable precedent.
Given the generally agreed upon slotting process that occurs in the draft, the Packers would have a better argument if Monroe signed didn't sign an outlandish deal.
Besides the Crabtree situation, Oakland's contract with No. 7 pick Darrius Heyward-Bey has created problems because his deal is an increase of more than 20% over what the No. 7 pick got last year.
The teams behind him are fighting desperately to keep that increase at around 13% or 14%.
The impression might be that Raji's side is the one holding up negotiations, but the Packers have been very careful about criticizing Raji, which is a pretty good sign that they are stalling as much or more than he is.
Raji has missed a week of training camp - nine practices.
Asked about Raji during an interview on the telecast of the scrimmage, general manager Ted Thompson said he couldn't predict when his top pick would be in camp.
"We cant put a timetable on it," Thompson said. "There are conversations every day," Thompson said. "Everybody is trying to do the right thing. Were looking forward to getting him here. Wed like to bring him in as soon as possible. Im sure his teammates would like to have him here. So were working at it, but we cant put a timetable on it."
Raji was supposed to begin camp as the starting left end, but Justin Harrell and Mike Montgomery have been playing the position.