The NFL betting flood gates have been opened in the race to sign to the NFL’s 1st round picks. With the Dallas Cowboy’s 1st round pick, WR Dez Bryant agreeing to an $11.8 million 5-year contract and the levy has been cracked and a flood of signings by the top players chosen in the 2010 NFL draft should ensue.

With less than two weeks left before the NFL training camps begin and the football betting action just a month or so away, everyone from NFL betting fans, to team owners to coaches breathed a sigh of relief when the Bryant signing was announced.

The 2010 NFL offseason has been a particularly difficult one for wheeling and dealing as there’s no collective bargaining agreement in place for next season and for many technical reasons it’s thrown the professional football universe off kilter.

But the signing of Bryant should set the rest of the first-round picks up to sign quickly and teams and agents will get together and dozens of contracts will be signed in the next few days.

Taken with the 24h pick overall, Bryant, has become the de facto guinea pig for the rest of the first round picks and has set the pay scale, more or less, for the rest of the first-round picks to base their compensatory demands upon.

Bryant’s signing is significant for more reasons than simply being the first of the first round. He’s an exceptional talent and is an early contender for the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in the upcoming NFL betting season.

Some scouts had him listed as a top five player overall and it came as a shock to most football wagering fans that he slid as far down the draft board as he did. Bryant dazzled at Oklahoma State before being suspended for infringing on some ridiculous NCAA rule and is a huge and athletic target that should instantly improve QB Tony Romo’s stats and start from day one. He’s also dangerous return man who can beat you on special teams as well.

In fact, when it’s all said and done Bryant may be the piece that finally gets the Cowboys over the playoff hunt and back into Super Bowl contention.