Dalvin Cook showed up for work Tuesday, on the day the Minnesota Vikings were scheduled to report to training camp. No, the running back does not yet have the new contract extension he wants. And no, in spite of the threat he reportedly made in June, there was never really a chance he was going to hold out of camp either way.
The traditional training camp holdout by a player entering the final year of his contract is not something you can expect to see much this year, and it has nothing to do with the coronavirus pandemic. The reason camp holdouts are mostly a thing of the past is what the league’s new collective bargaining agreement, approved in March by owners and players, says about them. Here’s the exact text in Article 8, Section 1(b):
A player shall not receive an Accrued Season for any League Year in which the player is under contract to a Club and in which (i) he failed to report to the Club’s preseason training camp on that player’s mandatory reporting date; or (ii) the player thereafter failed to perform his contract services for the Club for a material period of time, unless he demonstrates to the Impartial Arbitrator extreme personal hardship causing such failure to report or perform, such as severe illness or death in the family.
This was a priority for the owners in the last round of CBA talks. They wanted to stiffen penalties for training camp holdouts, and they did. The previous CBA stipulated that players could lose an accrued season only if they didn’t show up to camp by the date 30 days before the team’s first regular-season game. So, in Cook’s case, that date would have been Aug. 14. Under the new CBA, it was Tuesday.
Why does this matter? Losing an accrued season affects a player’s free-agency status. As a 2017 draft pick, Cook has accrued three seasons so far, and he needs four to be eligible for unrestricted free agency. If he didn’t earn an accrued season for 2020, then next March he’d only be a restricted free agent, meaning the Vikings would have the right to match any offer he got from another team.
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Now, even when the mandatory reporting date was later under the old rules, this didn’t stop everyone. For example, last year, Cowboys running back Three other things to know about this new CBA feature: Don’t expect any “hold-ins,” either. There are some around the league who believe a player in Cook’s situation would show up for camp and just refuse to practice until a new deal is hammered out. It’s possible, but go back and reread Article 8, Section 1(b) again and note where it says, “the player thereafter failed to perform his contract services for the Club for a material period of time.” That’s the part that would allow the team to dock the player an accrued season if he showed up and refused to practice or take part in mandatory team activities. Could a player in Cook’s situation claim an injury? Sure. But if the team didn’t believe him, or diagnose him as injured, the matter could end up in front of an arbitrator, who could rule in the team’s favor and deny the player an accrued season. Fines are stiffer, but not for Cook, Mixon, Kamara or Kittle. The new CBA raised the maximum fine for skipping training camp from $40,000 per day to $50,000 per day, but fines for players who are still on their rookie contracts are capped at $40,000 per day as long as they’re not in their fifth-year option season. Any player drafted in 2017 is entering the fourth year of his rookie deal, so his fines stay at $40,000 per day if he skipped days. Not that it matters much, since the threat of losing an accrued season probably acts as a more significant deterrent. Fines can still be waived, if you’re on your rookie deal. Customarily, when players have held out of camp and ultimately agreed to new deals, the team has tended to waive the camp holdout fines. There is a new rule in the CBA that prohibits teams from doing that. In Article 42, Section 1(vi) and 1(vii) it reads, “Any such fines shall be mandatory, and shall not be reduced in amount or waived by the Club, in whole or in part, but must be paid by the player or deducted by the Club.” But that wording doesn’t appear in Sections 1(viii) or 1(ix), which are the ones that deal with players on their rookie contracts. For players who are still on their rookie deals, teams are still permitted (though obviously not required) to forgive camp holdout fines. If a veteran player such as, say,
Cincinnati Bengals rookie quarterback Joe Burrow is on the verge of finalizing his first NFL deal.
The recent No. 1 overall draft pick agreed to terms on Tuesday for a four-year contract worth $36.1 million, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The contract is pending a physical that will occur later this week.
Burrow is expected to receive the entirety of his $23.9 million signing bonus within 15 days of an executed contract. Burrow and second-round pick Tee Higgins are the lone Bengals who did not have deals signed as Cincinnati’s veterans reported to the team facility on Tuesday.
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The Bengals selected Burrow with the top overall pick in April’s draft after the Bengals finished with the league’s worst record in 2019. Burrow won the Heisman Trophy and led LSU to a national championship.
Even without a contract with the Bengals, Burrow has spent the offseason preparing to potentially be the Week 1 starting quarterback. In addition to participating in the team’s virtual workouts, he conducted throwing drills near his childhood home in southeast Ohio. Recently, Burrow has been spotted working out in Cincinnati with new teammates Sam Hubbard, Drew Sample and Freedom Akinmoladun in anticipation of training camp.
In his final season at LSU, Burrow set the Football Bowl Subdivision record for most passing touchdowns in a season. He finished the year with a 76.3 completion percentage, 5,671 passing yards, 60 touchdowns and six interceptions.
The Minnesota Vikings announced Monday that head trainer Eric Sugarman and members of his family have tested positive for the coronavirus.
Sugarman also is the Vikings’ infection control officer.
He said in a statement that he and his family immediately quarantined and “are all doing fine and experiencing only mild symptoms.”
The Vikings said they are sanitizing their facility and contacted anyone who was in close contact with Sugarman. The team said those team personnel have been tested “and are returning under the established guidelines.”
“Eric has not had recent contact with players, and no additional cases within the Vikings’ front office have been identified at this time,” the team said.
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Sugarman will continue to serve as the Vikings’ infection control officer virtually, the team said.
“I am humble to be serving in that capacity as it has been some of the most rewarding work of my career. But as I sit here in quarantine, it is clear this virus does not discriminate. It should continue to be taken seriously. I encourage people to take the necessary precautions and follow guidelines that have been established nationally and locally,” he said in his statement.
The Vikings are moving forward with their mandatory reporting date for veterans on Tuesday in spite of Sugarman’s positive test. All veterans are expected to show up on July 28 to receive their first of multiple COVID-19 tests before they will be allowed to enter TCO Performance Center for the first time for training camp.
Information from ESPN’s Courtney Cronin was used in this report.
Under the circumstances, the New York Jets made a terrific trade.
Not only did they unload a me-first player whose poisonous attitude threatened locker room chemistry, but they parlayed Jamal Adams into one of the richest NFL hauls in recent years — a package from the Seattle Seahawks that includes first-round picks in 2021 and 2022.
For a safety.
For a safety who doesn’t intercept the football.
For a safety who wants to be paid like a pass-rusher.
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Somehow, Jets general manager Joe Douglas managed to extract a quarterback-type return from the Seahawks, also acquiring a third-round pick (2021) and a middle-of-the-road safety, Bradley McDougald. The Jets never wanted to trade Adams, their best player, but sources said they would consider it if they were blown away by an offer.
This qualifies as blown away. That the Jets got this much is surprising, considering Adams jeopardized the Jets’ leverage with his incessant public whining.
Consider: This marked only the eighth time since 2000 that a player was traded for two first-round picks, according to ESPN Stats & Information data. It has happened three times in recent years, with cornerback Jalen Ramsey (2019), tackle Laremy Tunsil (2019) and defensive end Khalil Mack (2018).
Notice a trend? All three play premium positions.
Adams is a strong safety — a very good one, but not worth north of $17 million per year, which is what he wants on a contract extension. The Jets wanted to wait until 2021 to extend his contract; Adams wanted one now. When he realized it wasn’t going to happen, he behaved like a spoiled teenager, taking to social media to rip the Jets organization.
Wonderful talent, bad leader.
Privately, the Jets fumed, especially when Adams ripped team owner Woody Johnson on Twitter for allegedly making racist and sexist remarks recently in his role as a United States ambassador. Then Adams went after coach Adam Gase, an easy target, questioning his leadership in an interview with the New York Daily News. Isn’t is funny that Adams seemed OK with Gase in late January, when he tweeted how much he wanted to remain in New York? The tantrums started when Adams realized that contract extension wasn’t coming.