So in 2020 we give him a $145,000 bonus…one of the larger ones, only for him to opt to join the Colts practice squad. We bring him back, only for him to do the same. Hopefully we get the message that he doesn’t want to be here
Or, we didn't want him here that much. Or our not wanting him enough led him to want to go elsewhere.
It's natural for a player to want a new team after they're cut, but it's bad business. The new team has no one invested in your future, and you don't know their system. Leaving the team you started with, you become disposable roster churn that is playing from a handicap relative to the players who stuck with their teams.
We had some olineman like that a few years ago. Chose to sign to a PS elsewhere after not making our roster. Ended up never getting traction in the league, and bouncing around for short tryout stints with multiple teams.
Here he is. Laurence Gibson. A 7th round draft pick of ours. Broke his finger in minicamp, missed training camp. We cut him, tried to sign him to the PS, and he declined and went elsewhere.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurence_Gibson
Drafted in 2015. Washed out of the league in 2018.
Too bad. With his physical tools, and just being cut on final cuts time and again, he probably would have made his way onto our 53 in a year or two. But a broken finger and a bad choice sent his NFL career down the tubes.