Gang Green Nation
The players seem to be focused on getting guaranteed contracts.
Rookies across the league are scheduled to report to training camp over the next week and a half. There is, however, a fairly significant development. 30 of the 32 players drafted in the second round have yet to sign their rookie contract.
Yesterday was the report date for Chargers rookies. They start early because they are participating in this year’s Hall of Fame Game. Second round pick Tre Harris remained unsigned and officially became a holdout.
Second round picks are seeking fully guaranteed contracts.
Time will tell how this turns out. Maybe these second round picks will get their deals fully guaranteed. Maybe they won’t.
I will simple say this. The issue of guaranteed money strikes me as a silly matter for teams to dig in. Rookie contracts, particularly those after the first round, offer very favorable terms for teams, much more so than the players who sign them. Any money lost from guaranteeing second round contracts would amount to a rounding error.
If this drags on, I’m sure we will get anonymous quotes in the media from unnamed executives and owners. They will talk about the “principle” of the matter and “setting a bad precedent” if they give second round picks fully guaranteed contracts. They’ll claim that if they cave no agent, will ever believe they’ll drive a tough bargain again in contract negotiations again. And they’ll say all of this with a straight face months after these same people gave $50 million in guarantees to Dan Moore, $30 million to Javon Kinlaw and Camryn Bynum, $28.5 million to Grady Jarrett in free agency.
I don’t think it’s very smart for teams to keep top prospects from practicing over something so small, but NFL teams are gonna NFL team. I just hope the Jets get Mason Taylor into camp as soon as possible.
