Welcome to July 2, which means the Vikings have four weeks to sign all but one of their draft picks before the start of training camp (seventh-round offensive tackle Brian Crawford is already signed). Can they do it?

With their own free agent plans essentially over — pending, of course, the chance to get CB Dale Carter inked once he’s reinstated by the NFL — VU has been told the Vikings are going to be kicking into to signing mode for their rookie draft choices.

Historically, the Vikings haven’t been one of the faster teams to get high draft picks signed. More times than not, the deals haven’t been done until days or even hours before training camp opens. Under normal circumstances, the Vikings start by signing their lower-round picks and making the big push for their top picks until the 11th hour.

However, this year may be a little different. RB Michael Bennett is anxious to sign and, with the recent success of the Vikings drafting Stanford players, second-round pick Willie Howard is expected to be easier to sign than recent second-rounders have been.

All of this would be great news for the Vikings, because the team wants all of their draft picks in camp as soon as possible and ready to go when the flag drops on training camp later this month.\

MONDAY NOTE
* In former Vikings news, the Raiders signed former Minnesota TE Andrew Glover, who began his career with the Raiders. Glover was part of a cap-saving purge in February of 2000 and spent one year with the Saints, an injury-plagued campaign that resulted in his release following last season. Glover began his career with the Raiders and is excited about his prospects of a happy homecoming. The Raiders have decided to go with a group signing approach to tight end. After losing talented, but underachieving TE Rickey Dudley in free agency (he opted for the money instead of a ring opportunity by signing with Cleveland), Oakland has signed four veteran tight ends in the offseason.