Earlier this month, we took a look at some of the veterans who may decide to stay away from training camp to get the contracts they want. Since then, none of them have gotten new business.
Now that the clock is ticking toward camp for the various teams with players who want more, and who in all cases deserve it, it’s time to pay more attention to whether deals will be made and, if not, what will happen.
Here’s the summary from July 3rd.
Tua Tagovailoa, Tyreek Hill, Matt Judon, Haason Reddick, Ja’Marr Chase, Amari Cooper, Courtland Sutton, CeeDee Lamb, Micah Parsons, Jordan Love, Tristan Wirfs, Alvin Kamara, Brandon Aiyuk, Matthew Stafford.
There may be others that we are not thinking about. As for the ones we listed, we’ll find out if they get their contracts and, if not, whether they’ll show up and practice, show up and not practice (hold out), or stick it out.
Some will say that resistance from a player under contract amounts to a violation of that contract. This ignores the fact that there is a second contract – the Collective Bargaining Agreement – that gives them the right to withhold services in an effort to obtain more.
Yes, there is a cost in the form of a daily fine. For players not on a debut deal, daily fines cannot be waived. For players on fifth-year options (like Tagvailoa, Aiyuk and Lamb), missing a preseason game carries a fine worth a regular season game check.
Quarterbacks will get the most attention. Rarely if ever does a veteran quarterback refuse to show up and train for camp. But this remains the most effective way to get the team to do what it refused to do, as quarterback remains the most important position for any NFL team.
Tagovailoa, Stafford and Love. Those are the ones to watch.
There’s no reason to think the Packers won’t be able to do something with Love. They believe in him. And they could give him a contract with a high annual average, along with a bailout that would give the team a way out after two or three years if it wasn’t working. (Two years ago, for example, the Raiders gave Derek Carr an extension — and cut him after just one season.)
Stafford has been clamoring for guarantees beyond 2024 as the Rams didn’t pick his potential replacement in the first round. Since then, his $40 million annual average has been eclipsed by Jared Goff’s $53 million deal. What will he do if the Rams finally don’t take care of him?
Then there is Tua. The Dolphins will certainly make an offer that gives him much more money and security than the $23.1 million he is expected to earn in 2024. It will make sense to take the bird in hand. But if it falls far short of what he wants, it also makes sense to stay away until they give him what he wants, or something close to it.
As with the Packers and Love, the Dolphins could give Tua a big-numbers deal — but that also allows the Dolphins to cut him if he regresses and/or has another series of injuries.
