Lane Johnson is one of the 20 first-round draft picks who have yet to sign their rookie contracts. With less than two weeks until the Philadelphia Eagles rookies report for training camp, the dreaded "holdout" word will be dredged up.
Johnson, however, believes he'll have a contract before that happens.
"I think it will be resolved, especially in the next week or two," Johnson told PhillyMag.com's Tim McManus on Tuesday. "I don't want to hold out. I want to be there with the guys. I want to be with the team and I think something will happen in the next week or so."
The collective bargaining agreement has rendered old-school rookie holdouts obsolete, as the only real bargaining to be done is over offset language. (From NFL.com's Ian Rapoport: "Offset language is what teams covet. No offset language -- double-dipping -- benefits the players.")
The Detroit Lions' Ziggy Ansah and the Jacksonville Jaguars' Luke Joeckel are the only two players among the first five taken in the 2013 NFL Draft to sign contracts, and both deals excluded offset language. Johnson, along with other top-five players Eric Fisher (Kansas City Chiefs) and Dion Jordan (Miami Dolphins), are fighting for the same.
"I'm just trying to get a similar deal to everyone else," Johnson said. "I just want to do what everyone else has done, the picks above and below me."
Follow Kevin Patra on Twitter @kpatra.
