TEMPE, Ariz.-The Arizona Cardinals have signed first-round draft pick Robert Nkemdiche to a four-year contract with a fifth-year team option.
The $8.6 million contract includes a $4.4 million signing bonus.
Nkemdiche, a defensive tackle from Mississippi, was considered one of the top talents in the draft but slid to the Cardinals largely because of character concerns.
The Cardinals also signed their two fifth-round picks-safety Marqui Christian of Midwestern State and guard Cole Toner of Harvard-to four-year contracts.
The signings came on Friday, the first day of Arizona's rookie minicamp.
"It was fun, man, it was a dream come true," Nkemdiche said of putting his name on the contract. "I'm happy that's over with."
Coach Bruce Arians said Nkemdiche, who wears Darnell Dockett's old No. 90, got off to a too-aggressive start.
"He was killing people in walk-through and I had to slow him down," Arians said. "It's a walk-through and he's bench-pressing linemen already. But he's got great first-step quickness, all the things we thought
we saw."