Here's an interesting article from last year about the same sort of things that are holding up Darnold's contract: http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/...irst-rounders-unsigned-nfl-2017-training-camp Why NFL rookie holdouts could happen, and who they could be Jul 20, 2017 Could a 2017 first-round draft pick do what Joey Bosa did last year and hold out of training camp while his contract remains unsigned? Absolutely. More than one could, in fact. With a little more than a week to go before the start of most NFL training camps, a surprising six first-round picks remain unsigned, including three of the top six. Those three are Solomon Thomas of the San Francisco 49ers (No. 3), Corey Davis of the Tennessee Titans (No. 5) and Jamal Adams of the New York Jets (No. 6). Six is an unusually high number of unsigned first-rounders for this time of the year. As of July 14, 2016, three remained unsigned. This time in 2015, only one (Marcus Mariota) was unsigned. And at this point in 2014, two first-rounders remained unsigned. And because Thomas and Davis are represented by the same agency that represented Bosa a year ago in his contentious negotiations with the San Diego Chargers, it's not hard to connect the will-he-hold-out dots in their cases. Bosa's holdout was over contract language and structure. The Chargers wanted to include offset language, which essentially means the team could recoup some money if it cut him and he signed elsewhere before the end of his deal. Bosa also fought with the Chargers over the schedule and structure of his bonus payments, and his holdout lasted until the end of August. Myles Garrett with the Cleveland Browns. In the words of one agent, Garrett "agreed to everything," meaning he signed a contract that includes a structure and a number of clauses that many of the players picked behind him don't want in their deals. And once the No. 1 pick agrees to something, it gets tougher for the Nos. 2 and 3 picks to argue that their deals shouldn't have it. According to multiple agents who spoke on condition of anonymity, the first-round signing holdup has to do with contract language. These cases aren't strictly about dollar figures, as the rookie wage scale that came with the 2011 collective bargaining agreement establishes strict salary guidelines for each draft slot. But teams and agents still find things over which to fight. An example is offset language, which players fight against because they want to be able to double-dip in the unlikely event that the team were to cut them. This is why it's no surprise to see Davis still unsigned. The Titans have a reputation for insisting on offset language and often take a while to sign their first-round picks as a result. Garrett's deal includes offset language. No. 4 pick Leonard Fournette's deal, which was done two days before Garrett's, does not. But there are other language and structure issues that cause problems. Without identifying specific teams and their 2017 negotiating positions, the agents surveyed for this story cited two examples of trouble spots: Payment structure A lot of agents for first-round picks like to build the deals' annual salaries around roster bonuses, keeping the base salary at or near the minimum and putting the rest of the money into a guaranteed roster bonus that gets paid out during training camp or at the start of the season. For example, Chargers first-round pick Mike Williams (No. 7 overall) will make $1,362,730 in 2018. But of that salary figure, $807,730 is paid out as a roster bonus that's fully guaranteed at signing but doesn't actually land in his bank account until the fifth day of training camp. This is preferable in part because team-imposed fines are figured as a percentage of the base or "Paragraph 5" salary, which in Williams' case in 2018 will be $555,000. Ironically, this was the major hangup with Bosa. Garrett's rookie deal with the Browns does not include a roster bonus structure. His 2018 pay will be $1,847,375, all Paragraph 5. NFLPA looking into some of the language teams were trying to put into rookie deals this year. A lot of that language is in Garrett's deal. Garrett's contract allows the team to void his guaranteed salary (and convert it to per-game roster bonuses) for a wide variety of reasons, including team-imposed fines. Example: Garrett's contract, a copy of which ESPN obtained while reporting on this story, spells out a variety of ways the player can find himself in default and find that his guaranteed money is no longer guaranteed. These range from failed physicals to league-imposed drug suspensions to team-imposed fines. One part of that very long section says that Garrett is in default if he "takes any action that materially undermines the public's respect for, or is materially critical of, Club, Player's teammates or Club's ownership, coaches, management, operations or policies." Taken literally, this could mean that Garrett loses his guaranteed money if he questions a defensive coordinator's playcall. It seems obvious why players and agents would want to strike from deals as much language as possible that would allow the teams to void guarantees. And if you're wondering why your team's first-round pick hasn't signed yet, odds are his agent is wrestling with the team over something like this. Also unsigned are No. 10 pick Patrick Mahomes II (Kansas City Chiefs), No. 24 pick Gareon Conley(Oakland Raiders) and No. 25 pick Jabrill Peppers (Cleveland Browns). The Chiefs just changed general managers, which could help explain Mahomes. And Conley and Peppers were picked in a tricky area of the first round at which contracts stop being fully guaranteed. No. 21 overall pick Jarrad Davis (Detroit Lions) was the last first-rounder this year to have his four-year contract fully guaranteed. No. 22 pick Charles Harris of the Miami Dolphins got 97.31 percent of his deal guaranteed, and No. 23 pick Evan Engram of the New York Giants got 96.49 percent fully guaranteed. Conley also is dealing with an off-field issue that could be holding up his signing. Just because the rookie deals are slotted doesn't mean these negotiations can't get messy. As Kevin Seifert wrote last month, holdouts have become increasingly rare in the NFL. But there are some circumstances at play here that could lead to one or more this summer. The good thing for fans who might be worrying about their unsigned first-round pick? It's not as if these guys can sign anywhere else. And while everybody wants their rookies to show up and start learning as soon as possible, it's worth noting that Bosa held out until the end of August, missed the first four games of the season while getting his body in shape ... and still managed to record 10.5 sacks and win the Defensive Rookie of the Year award.
With all due respect to ESPN (insert joke), Bosa wasn't a QB, and that's why we're justifiably concerned.
Ok, but that article also provides some insight into why these guys holdout even with the rookie slotting. Vague statements in the contract that allow the team to void guarantees for pretty much anything is BS. I really hope the Jets aren't holding shit up with some intentionally broad voiding terms.
Do we have any indication that voiding is the hold-up? With agents being agents and GMs being GMs, these pissing matches will occur as long as the CBA allows any terms, even the most minor ones, to be subject to negotiation.
He doesn't have a contract so he isn't actually holding out, he's just unsigned. You can't fine a player that's not under contract. What you wrote above applies to players who are under contract and holdout.
The next question is what situations do the Jets want to void the contract, and which ones does Darnold/Sexton refuse to accept. Here's an article that talks about some of the voiding language in NFL contracts: https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/agents-take-a-national-anthem-controversy-end-around/
My question is why did Mac and Sexton wait until now to try to settle this? Do agents and teams wait til last minute to discuss contracts? He was drafted April 26th. Something should have been settled way before now. Unless I just don't understand how the process works.
I'm sure the timing is used by the agent as leverage. If they're not getting what they want, and neither side is budging, the threat of not being there is firmly a tool on the Agent's side.
Same. But this is worst case scenario for the agent. Both sides waited and the other QBs in this draft told their agents to capitulate to their respective teams. Problem is this Sexton guy is stubborn and doesn’t want to take a perceived loss here. FWIW - heard Cimini on the radio earlier. There’s not just one piece of language they are disputing. Cimini thinks this could be a Bosa situation and spill into the end of August. At that point the Jets will probably need to keep Teddy and Sam is getting red shirted.
So what's the implication here? Is the agent just being a sack of shit and trying to squeeze more concessions? I can't believe Mayfield and Allen are already showing better decision making than Darnold.
I don't get how Sexton worked out a deal for the #7 overall pick before Camp began with the Bills, the #1 pick signed before camp with the Browns, but the #3 pick did not with the Jets? Doesn't add up. Makes it seem like it is more on Darnold than anything else.
Yea if this goes to the end of August Darnold isn't playing pro football this year. Apparently he's ok with that??? And I have no idea what to make of that Bridgewater on the trade block report. There is no chance he's going anywhere this year because of the Darnold situation
Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Just why us, sign the fucking contract and take us to the promised land and become a legend, all you are doing now is creating bad blood with the fans you will need soon enough. So disappointing, he looked a level headed kind of guy and happy to be here.
Although none of us know the details (it's all speculation on our part) the history of the Jets generally bringing rookies in on-time and Sexton's reputation leads one to think that Darnold's camp might be making some unreasonable demands. To me, the thought that a #3 pick who has a real chance to be the starting QB fron day one wouldn't do anything he could to be in camp at the first possible seems strange - unless the Jets are being totally arbitrary here - and the Jets don't seem to have that history.
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...old-deal-holdup-hinges-on-forfeiture-language Interesting piece about this on NFL.com As Jets camp wages on, rookie quarterback Sam Darnold is nowhere to be seen. What gives? NFL Network's Michael Silver reported Sunday that the contract holdup between Gang Green and Darnold's camp isn't based around "offsets or money payouts," per sources close to the negotiation. Instead, the snag centers around forfeiture language, which is standard in most NFL contracts and a parameter the Jets include in all their deals with players. Essentially, forfeiture language allows the team to recoup money if a player is injured while engaging in certain activities outside of football, with Silver offering "skiing" and "mountain climbing" as examples.
This is just bizarre beyond belief Does Sam plan on becoming a professional cliff diver during his NFL career? If that's the real reason it should have been resolved very quickly. Seems like this is some sort of tactical ploy by the agent. Sam himself should find a holdout over this incredibly unacceptable. What does Darnold do when he's not playing football? He's a Cali kid. He lays around on the beach not engage in life threatening x-games lunacy
