Washington signs three players from 2020 NFL Draft class to contracts

The Washington football team signed three of their rookies to contracts on Wednesday.

Before Wednesday, Washington hadn’t signed any of their 2020 NFL Draft picks. The team had selected eight players but because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, they weren’t able to officially ink them to deals.

Because of the pandemic and the cancellation of rookie camps, tryouts, OTAs, and June activities, members of the rookie class haven’t been able to visit team facilities. While many have been participating in virtual meetings, contracts hadn’t been agreed upon because players had to take physicals at the team facilities to sign.

As a result, most of the NFL’s rookies remain unsigned. But Washington put a good dent in their eight-person class by agreeing to terms with three of their selections.

The team’s official Twitter account retweeted pictures of third-round running back Antonio Gibson and fifth-round center Keith Ismael inking their rookie contracts. Here’s a look at those pictures via the players’ Twitter accounts.

In addition to those two, fourth-round offensive tackle Saahdiq Charles signed a contract with Washington, as he confirmed via his official Instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CC9QifyFYHA/

These signings were always expected, as no player figured to hold out ahead of their rookie season. But it was nice for Washington to officially lock up a few of their new players moving forward. And with contracts out of the way, that trio can now focus on acclimating to the NFL level ahead of their first training camp.

Washington still has five draft picks left unsigned. The marquee name is No. 2 overall pick Chase Young, but fourth-round receiver Antonio Gandy-Golden, fifth-round linebacker Khaleke Hudson, and seventh-round picks Kamren Curl (safety) and James Smith-Williams (edge rusher) still need to sign their deals too.

In all likelihood, these players will agree to terms at some point in the next week and Washington will have their entire rookie class under contract. But the fact that they’ve started signing players is a good sign as they look to get their younger players into their first NFL training camps.