Earlier this month, we took a look at some of the veterans who might decide to stay away from training camp in order to get the contracts they want. Since then, none of them have gotten new deals.
Now that the clock is ticking loudly toward camp for the various teams with players who want more, and who in every case deserve it, it’s time to pay closer attention to whether deals get done and, if not, what will happen.
Here’s the rundown from July 3.
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 could be others that we’re not thinking of. As to those 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 in), or hold out.
Some will say that a holdout from a player under contract amounts to a violation of that contract. This overlooks the fact that there’s a second contract — the Collective Bargaining Agreement — that gives them the right to withhold services in an effort to get more.
Yes, it comes with a cost in the form of daily fines. For players not on their rookie deals, the daily fines can’t be waived. For players on their fifth-year options (like Tagvailoa, Aiyuk, and Lamb) missing a preseason game entails a fine in the amount of a regular-season game check.
Quarterbacks will get the most attention. Rarely if ever does a veteran quarterback refuse to show up and practice for camp. But that continues to be the most effective way to get the team to do the thing it has refused to do, since quarterback continues to be 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 get something done with Love. They believe in him. And they could give him a contract with a high annual average along with an escape hatch that gives the team a way out after two or three years, if it’s not working. (Two years ago, for example, the Raiders gave Derek Carr an extension — and they cut him after only one season.)
Stafford has been clamoring for guarantees beyond 2024 since the Rams didn’t draft his potential replacement in round one. Since then, his annual average of $40 million has been eclipsed by Jared Goff’s $53 million deal. What will he do if the Rams don’t finally take care of him?
Then there’s Tua. The Dolphins surely will make him an offer that gives him a lot more money and security than the $23.1 million he’s due to make in 2024. It will make sense to take the bird in the hand. But if it falls far short of what he wants, it also will make sense to stay away until they give him what he wants, or something close to it.
As with the Packers and Love, the Dolphins can give Tua a deal with big numbers — but that also lets the Dolphins cut the cord if he regresses and/or has another rash of injuries.
Shaquil Barrett signed with the Dolphins this offseason, but the linebacker will not play a down for Miami.
Barrett informed his new team that he is retiring.
The news comes just before the start of training camp, with Barrett deciding that he wants to spend more time with his family.
“It’s time for me to hang it up,” Barrett wrote in a statement. “It’s been a great ride, and I appreciate everything that came with it over the years. I’m ready to shift my full focus to my wife and kids and helping them realize their dreams and catch ‘em. Anyone who caught their dreams before knows the work, time and consistency required to reach them. I’m ready to start building skills up in my kids, which will take 100 percent commitment. I know to some it’ll be a surprise, but I’ve been thinking about this for a while, and the decision has never been more clear than it is now.”
Barrett, 31, played four seasons with the Broncos and five with the Buccaneers and won two Super Bowls. He made two Pro Bowls.
In his nine-year career, Barrett totaled 400 tackles, 59 sacks, 125 quarterback hits, three interceptions and five fumble recoveries.
Veteran NFL running back Kenyan Drake is hanging up his cleats.
Drake announced his retirement as a player in an Instagram post on Friday. Drake played in games for the Packers and Ravens last season, but has not been with any team this year.
“It’s been an incredible ride,” Drake wrote. “Hard to believe eight seasons have come and gone. I’ve loved the journey — the wins, the moments big and small, the comradery, the energy, all of it. I can’t say I loved everything (if you’ve ever done training camp in Miami you can relate lol), but certainly appreciate the lows and the grind, and know those moments grew me as a football player and more importantly as a person. Ready to enjoy a little retirement and see where the next chapter takes me. Thanks to everyone that was along for the ride with me - wouldn’t change a thing.”
Drake was a Dolphins third-round pick in 2016 and spent more than three years in Miami before being traded to the Cardinals. His most memorable moment with the Dolphins came when he finished off the Miami Miracle by taking the last of several laterals and running for a touchdown on the final play of the game to beat the Patriots in December 2018.
He set career-highs with 955 rushing yards and 10 rushing touchdowns for Arizona in 2020 and then moved on to the Raiders before winding up with Baltimore and Green Bay.
Drake ran 869 times for 3,866 yards and 33 touchdowns while catching 218 passes for 1,655 yards and eight touchdowns over the course of his career.
In 2022, Dolphins receiver Odell Beckham Jr. sued Nike for $20 million. Although he has declared victory, he ultimately got nothing.
Via multiple reports, an Oregon judge ruled on Thursday that neither Nike nor Beckham breached their contract. Neither was required to pay a penny to the other.
Beckham started the legal fight with a $20 million claim against the shoe and apparel giant. Nike eventually sued him for customizing his gear in a way that violated the contract.
“With this verdict, all of Mr. Beckham’s claims have been decided against him without any monetary award,” Nike said in a statement issued to Complex.com. “The decision confirmed that Nike complied with its commitments. Nike is grateful to the jury and the Court for their careful attention to this case.”
Both Beckham and Nike have the right to appeal the decision. If Beckham does, it will undermine his declaration that “JUSTICE WAS SERVED” as to the claim he made against Nike.
The man who once said “I’m not going to be the Alabama coach” is about to have his name on the Alabama field.
Via Nick Kelly of AL.com, an agenda released on Thursday says that the “honorary degrees and recognition committee” of the University of Alabama system board of trustees will meet to consider a resolution for “a naming at Bryant-Denny Stadium at UA.”
The most obvious candidate for that distinction is Nick Saban, who coached the Crimson Tide from 2007 through 2023 and won six national championships.
Saban previously worked as an assistant coach in the NFL, before coaching at Michigan State and LSU. He left the college game for the Dolphins. After two years — and after saying he wouldn’t be the Alabama coach — he accomplished more there with one team than any college football coach has ever done.
The move is a bit surprising, since the new revenue demands of college football seemingly require holding back things that can be sold to the highest bidder, not given away for free.
Unless they plan to eventually call it something like “Nick Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium Presented by Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pies.”
