Darnold, Donald become holdouts as clubs open camp

There was no sign of Sam Darnold as the New York Jets opened training camp.

The No. 3 overall pick in the NFL draft officially became a contract holdout when the team began its first practice of the summer Friday without its prized rookie quarterback.

Darnold joins Chicago linebacker Roquan Smith, the No. 8 choice, as the only unsigned picks from the entire draft.

Under the NFL’s labor agreement, contract holdouts are uncommon because deals are slotted based on draft position. Darnold will receive a four-year, fully guaranteed contract worth $30.247 million, including a $20 million signing bonus.

The dispute hangs on contract language. If a player is cut during his rookie contract, offset language provides the team with financial protection. Not having offset language allows a player to receive his salary from the team that cut him, as well as get paid by another team that signs him.

Offset language is common in rookie deals. Baker Mayfield, the No. 1 overall pick by Cleveland, and Josh Allen, seventh pick by Buffalo — the quarterbacks drafted before and after Darnold — have offsets in their contracts.

The 21-year-old Darnold is expected to compete for the Jets’ starting job with 39-year-old Josh McCown, the incumbent who is coming off the best season of his career, and Teddy Bridgewater, working his way back from a severe knee injury nearly two years ago.

Rams: Aaron Donald did not report for the first practice of training camp, the star defensive tackle’s second consecutive year holding out.

The NFL defensive player of the year is seeking an enormous new contract from the Rams, who are in active discussions with Donald’s agents. Donald is due to make nearly $6.9 million this season in the fifth year of his rookie deal.

Titans: Locked up twotime Pro Bowl left tackle Taylor Lewan with a deal making him the NFL’s highest-paid offensive lineman for the moment.

The team did not disclose terms, but multiple reports say it’s a five-year deal worth $80 million with $50 million guaranteed. That tops the four-year, $62 million deal Nate Solder got from the Giants in March.

Lewan, 27, was the 11th overall selection out of Michigan in 2014.

Falcons: Agreed to a fiveyear, $75 million contract extension with left tackle Jake Matthews. The 26-yearold Matthews was the No. 6 overall pick in the 2014 draft. He has started in each of his 63 games while serving the key role of protecting quarterback Matt Ryan.

Chargers: Cornerback Jason Verrett, who has been plagued with knee injuries the past two seasons, suffered an injury — possibly a torn Achilles tendon — during conditioning drills Friday.

Verrett, a former firstround pick and Pro Bowler, has had two knee operations that forced him to miss almost all of last season and most of the 2016 campaign.

Verrett joins tight end Hunter Henry as the second Chargers player to be lost for the 2018-19 season.