Training camp holdouts by players under contract were thought to largely be a thing of the past because of more severe penalties in the 2020 NFL collective bargaining agreement. Teams are required to fine players who aren’t on rookie contracts $50,000 per day for training camp absences. Players on rookie contracts are subject to a $40,000-per-day fine. For CBA fining purposes, training camp runs from the mandatory reporting date through the Sunday before the first regular season game (Sept. 1).
There’s an additional penalty of one week’s base salary (1/18th of salary) for each preseason game missed with players signing contracts as unrestricted free agents or first-round picks playing under their fifth-year option.
Under previous CBAs, the fines could be reduced or waived. Fine forgiveness or reduction is only allowed for players under rookie contracts with the current CBA. The substantial fines were supposed to be an effective deterrent of holdouts.
Holding out made a comeback last year. Three players under contract — San Francisco 49ers edge rusher Nick Bosa, Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones and Dallas Cowboys offensive guard Zack Martin — didn’t report to training camp on time.
Martin withheld his services because he felt underpaid relative to the changing conditions of the offensive guard market. The nine-time All-Pro’s contract was reworked during the middle of August a couple days after the Cowboys’ first preseason game. Martin got a $9.35 million raise over the remaining two years of his contract running through the 2024 season. His previously unsecured 2024 base salary also was fully guaranteed in his renegotiated contract.
Bosa became the league’s highest-paid non-quarterback shortly before the 2023 regular season started to end his own holdout. He signed a five-year, $170 million extension averaging $34 million per year. The deal set non-quarterback records of $122.5 million in overall guarantees and $88 million fully guaranteed at signing.
Jones engaged in the rare holdout that extended into the regular season. With negotiations on a contract extension at an impasse, Jones ended his 51-day holdout before preparations for Kansas City’s second regular season game against the Jacksonville Jaguars began.
Modifications were made to Jones’ remaining 2023 contract year in which $5.5 million of new performance bonuses were added as a compromise. Jones racked up $2.25 million of mandatory fines ($50,000 per day) for missing training camp, lost one week’s regular season salary worth $1,083,333 and forfeited a $500,000 workout bonus because he didn’t participate in the offseason conditioning program.
49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, Cleveland Browns wide receiver Amari Cooper, Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb and New York Jets edge rusher Haason Reddick skipped the mandatory June minicamp because of contract issues with their respective teams. The players were subject to a $101,716 fine for missing an entire three-day minicamp. New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara walked out of minicamp prior to the final day because of his contract.
The players willing incur a fine for minicamp absences are the most likely to risk the financial penalties with a training camp holdout. Training camps started opening this week.
A new tactic, the “hold in,” began emerging for players to try to get contract unhappiness addressed because of the harsh economic consequences of a holdout under the 2020 CBA. A player will report to training camp but won’t practice or have limited participation in an effort to get a new contract. For instance, Pittsburgh Steelers edge rusher T.J. Watt was essentially a spectator during training camp and preseason practices in 2021 until a few days before the regular season opener when he became the NFL’s highest-paid non-quarterback.
Historically, quarterbacks haven’t held out to get new deals. That removes Jordan Love (Green Bay Packers), Dak Prescott (Cowboys), Matthew Stafford (Los Angeles Rams) and Tua Tagovailoa (Miami Dolphins) from the holdout equation.
Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase and Cowboys edge rusher Micah Parsons also don’t seem inclined to put pressure on their teams for new deals despite developments with other fellow 2021 first-round picks. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence, offensive tackle Penei Sewell, wide receiver DeVonta Smith and wide receiver Jaylen Waddle have signed contract extensions after just three NFL seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Detroit Lions, Philadelphia Eagles and Dolphins, respectively.
Here’s a look at the situations of each player who missed all or part of the mandatory minicamp as well as Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs, who missed portions of the offseason workout program because of the lack of a new contract. It wouldn’t be surprising for some of these players to hold in instead.
CeeDee Lamb, WR, Dallas Cowboys
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones made a costly mistake in wanting to see some more cards played first at the wide receiver position before having substantive contract discussions with Lamb’s camp. The wide receiver market has exploded this offseason. Three wideouts have signed deals for more than $30 million per year.
Most recently, Justin Jefferson reset the wide receiver market and replaced Bosa as the NFL’s highest-paid non-quarterback in the process. The Minnesota Vikings signed Jefferson to a four-year, $140 million contract extension averaging $35 million per year during the early part of June.
Jefferson’s deal established new wide receiver records for overall guarantees and the amount fully guaranteed at signing with $110 million and $88.743 million, respectively. The $88.743 million is also the most ever fully guaranteed at signing for a non-quarterback. Lamb, who is scheduled to make $17.991 million on a fully guaranteed fifth-year option in 2024, likely wants to be paid more than Jefferson’s $35 million per year after having the greatest receiving season in Cowboys history with 135 catches for 1,749 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2023. His 135 receptions not only led the league but were the sixth most ever in an NFL season. He was second and third in the NFL, respectively, in receiving yards and touchdown catches.
The Cowboys probably don’t want to set a precedent with Lamb of having the NFL’s highest-paid non-quarterback. It would ensure that Parsons will top the non-quarterback salary hierarchy when he signs a contract extension, which will likely happen in 2025.
Lamb’s stellar 2023 season in which he earned first-team All-Pro honors, as well as his body of work throughout his four-year NFL career, particularly the last two years, should give him enough ammunition to be second in the wide receiver salary hierarchy. That distinction currently belongs to A.J. Brown. The Philadelphia Eagles gave Brown a three-year, $96 million extension in late April averaging $32 million per year. Brown set a wide receiver record with $84 million in guarantees, which Jefferson shattered.
Brandon Aiyuk, WR, San Francisco 49ers
Aiyuk, who is scheduled to make a fully guaranteed $14.124 million in 2024 on a fifth-year option, has expressed his displeasure with his contract situation at various points during the offseason on different social media platforms. His frustration has apparently reached a boiling point with the request of a trade. The 49ers didn’t waste any time in publicly stating that Aiyuk isn’t on the trading block.
Acrimonious contract negotiations aren’t anything new for the 49ers. In addition to Bosa’s last year, wide receiver Deebo Samuel also requested to be traded in 2022 before signing a three-year, $71.55 million extension (worth up to $73.5 million through incentives) averaging $23.85 million per year a couple of days into training camp.
According to NFL Media’s Mike Garafolo, the 49ers last made an offer to Aiyuk in May. The offer is believed to be in the $26 million-per-year neighborhood.
Aiyuk probably views Waddle’s $28.25 million-per-year extension with the Dolphins, which has $77 million in guarantees, as his salary floor given that he has emerged as San Francisco’s top receiving option for quarterback Brock Purdy. He has led the 49ers in targets in each of the last two seasons. Waddle is clearly the No. 2 wide receiver in Miami behind Tyreek Hill.
Aiyuk was named a second-team All-Pro by the Associated Press in 2023 after a career year of 75 receptions, 1,342 receiving yards and seven touchdown catches. His 17.9 yards per catch were second in the NFL. The seven 100-yard receiving games Aiyuk had in 2023 were the most for a 49er in a single season since Jerry Rice in 1995.
Tristan Wirfs, OT, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Wirfs quickly put himself in the NFL’s best right tackle discussion. He was named first-team All-Pro during his second NFL season in 2021. 2020’s 13th overall pick made a relatively smooth transition to left tackle last season.
Wirfs surely took note of the four-year, $112 million extension averaging $28 million per year Sewell, a right tackle, signed with the Lions in April. Sewell’s deal established a new record for offensive linemen with $85 million in guarantees.
It wouldn’t be surprising for Wirfs to have his sights set on becoming the NFL’s first $30 million-per-year offensive tackle considering a left tackle is usually the NFL’s highest-paid offensive lineman. Wirfs has demonstrated he can play either tackle position at a high level.
Haason Reddick, EDGE, New York Jets
Reddick outperformed the three-year, $45 million contract (worth up to $46.5 million through incentives and salary escalators) with $30 million fully guaranteed he received from the Eagles during 2022 free agency in the first year. He was a catalyst in transforming an anemic Eagles pass rush into the NFL’s most formidable in 2022. Reddick had a career high 16 sacks. 2023 was Reddick’s fourth straight season with double-digit sacks.
The Eagles dealt Reddick to the Jets in March for a conditional 2026 third-round pick rather than renegotiate his contract. With Reddick taking at least 67.5% of New York’s defensive snaps and extending his double-digit sack streak to five seasons, the Eagles will get a 2026 second-round pick instead.
The Jets were under the impression that Reddick would show up for mandatory minicamp. Reddick’s problems with his contract were acquired along with him. He was scheduled to make $14.5 million in 2024 before forfeiting $250,000 because of a lack of participation in offseason workouts.
Danielle Hunter might be a good benchmark for a Reddick extension. He signed a two-year, $49 million contract averaging $24.5 million per year where $48 million was fully guaranteed with the Houston Texans in free agency this year. Both players are 29 years old but will turn 30 before the middle of the season.
Amari Cooper, WR, Cleveland Browns
Cooper has surely exceeded the Browns’ expectations since being acquired from the Cowboys in March 2022 for a 2022 fifth-round pick. There was also a swap of 2022 sixth-round picks.
Three years worth $60 million were left on the five-year, $100 million contract Cooper signed in 2020 as an unrestricted free agent. He is scheduled to make $20 million in 2024. Cooper has had the most productive two-year stretch of his nine-year NFL career since coming to Cleveland. He became the first pass-catcher in Browns history to have consecutive 1,000 receiving yards seasons in 2023. Cooper’s 1,250 receiving yards and 17.4 yards per catch last season were career highs. He made the Pro Bowl on the original ballot in 2023 for the first time since 2016.
Cooper isn’t showing any signs of slowing down although he turned 30 in June. An important data point for Cooper might be the maximum value of Mike Evans‘ contract. Evans, who turns 31 in August, signed a two-year contract for as much as $52 million in March to remain with the Buccaneers. The $11 million of incentives and salary escalators make the deal worth up to $26 million per year. Evans has $35 million of guarantees, of which $29 million is fully guaranteed at signing.
Alvin Kamara, RB, New Orleans Saints
Kamara is really in a contract year although he signed a five-year, $75 million extension in 2020. The $15 million-per-year average is misleading. The $25 million in 2025 was included strictly for cosmetic purposes to artificially inflate the contract’s value. Realistically, the deal averages $12.5 million per year through 2024, the first four new years. He is scheduled to make $11.8 million in 2024.
Kamara, who turns 29 before the end of July, isn’t operating from a position of strength. He is coming off the worst statistical season of his seven-year NFL career. Kamara had career lows of 694 rushing yards and 1,160 yards from scrimmage (combined rushing and receiving yards) in 2023. He was second among running backs with 75 receptions, but his 6.2 yards per catch was the worst mark of his career. Declining production as an aging running back is a recipe
for a pay cut from the $12.5 million-per-year value of his current deal in any contract extension.
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Author: Joel Corry
July 17, 2024 | 4:25 pm
