Sullivan ends holdout.
 

Source: Sullivan ending holdout, agrees to 7-year, $19 million deal with Saints
By Jeff Duncan
Staff writer

Saints first-round draft pick Johnathan Sullivan has agreed in principle to a seven-year, $19 million contract with the New Orleans Saints on Wednesday, ending a six-day holdout from training camp, a source familiar with the negotiations told The Times-Picayune.

Sullivan, the No. 6 overall selection in the NFL draft was expected to sign the contract Wednesday night. An official anouncement is expected Thursday. He is expected to participate in Thursday's 3 p.m. practice.

The contract includes $11.4 million in bonuses and clauses that void the final two years of the deal if Sullivan meets playing time thresholds during the first five seasons. He will receive a $7.4 million signing bonus and is due a $4 million option bonus at a later time. The final two seasons are void if Sullivan plays in 35 percent of the defensive snaps this season or 45 percent of the snaps in any of the next four seasons.

Negotiations between Sullivan's agent, Len Rowe, and Saints negotiator Russ Ball had reached a stalemate over the weekend but intensified Tuesday, when the two sides made considerable progress on the structure of the deal. Rowe and Sullivan were so optimistic, they flew to New Orleans on Wednesday morning to finalize details and language of the deal.

Sullivan, a 6-3, 313-pound lineman from Georgia, is expected to compete with veteran Grady Jackson for the starting nose tackle position.

His signing will leave only six first-round picks unsigned: Jacksonville quarterback Byron Leftwich, Philadelphia defensive end Jerome McDougle, Baltimore quarterback Kyle Boller, Buffalo running Willis McGahee, Indianapolis tight end Dallas Clark and Giants defensive end William Joseph. Leftwich, the No. 7 pick, is the only top 10 pick who has not agreed to terms.

Sullivan ends holdout.
 

Tom you just made my day brother.

Sullivan ends holdout.
 

I\'m so happy. Now Sullivan will be at the Black and Gold Scrimmage.

Sullivan ends holdout.
 

Damn!! Talk about hot off the press!!! I\'ve been checking on multiple occasions daily all kinds of sites for this exact post! TG you made my night as well!!

Hell Yeah!

Sullivan ends holdout.
 

\"I Love it when a plan comes together\"

-Hannibal (The \"A Team\")

I pity the fool that thinks the Saints won\'t win the Super Bowl this year!

[Edited on 31/7/2003 by roughneck]

Sullivan ends holdout.
 

This is good, now lets see him play(or at least practice)

[Edited on 31/7/2003 by Cooky591]

Sullivan ends holdout.
 

I hope it doesn\'t void to 5 years! That\'s a pretty short deal for a top-10 pick.

Sullivan ends holdout.
 

This is great! If he is gonna be part of this new, faster defense and we expect him to start. He needs to be in camp. I hope he will get to do work in the scrimage, I\'m looking foward to seeing what he can do. Along with the rest of the defense.

Sullivan ends holdout.
 

Gotta give you a ATTABOY for that one Tom. Thanks for the input.

[Edited on 31/7/2003 by JOESAM2002]

Sullivan ends holdout.
 

Hell, don\'t hold back JoeSam give him 2. ;)