Written by Joel Corey at CBS Sports.com
Nothing says an NFL player is unhappy with his contract like a training camp holdout. This summer’s missing campers? Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald, Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell, Texans left tackle Duane Brown and Raiders left tackle Donald Penn.
Being involved in two lengthy holdouts during my agent days with Jimmy Smith and Keenan McCardell gives me some insight into these types of contract disputes. Smith’s 38-day holdout in 2002 ended with him getting a new contract from the Jaguars at the end of the preseason. McCardell’s dispute with the Buccaneers in 2004 lasted 82 days before he was dealt to the Chargers right before the trading deadline.
The cost of a holdout
Donald, Brown and Penn can be fined a maximum of $40,000 for each day of training camp missed because they are under contract. Penn is subject to an additional fine of one week’s base salary for each preseason game missed (1/17 of $5.85 million or approximately $345,000) because he signed his contract as an unrestricted free agent. Donald is still under his rookie contract. Brown’s deal is a contract extension.
A year of service toward free agency isn’t earned when a player under contract doesn’t report to his team at least 30 days prior to NFL’s first regular season game. This year’s deadline is August 8. The date is somewhat relevant only to Donald because he is entering his fourth NFL season. If he plays out his rookie contract, which includes a fifth-year option in 2018, he would still have enough service time to become an unrestricted free agent, provided he doesn’t miss the deadline both this year and next.
A team can also recover a portion of a player’s signing bonus. A total of 15 percent of the prorated amount of signing bonus can be recouped on the sixth day of a training camp holdout. It’s one percent for each additional missed day with a maximum of 25 percent of the prorated amount during training camp. An additional 25 percent can be recovered with the first missed regular season game.
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