CFZ NFL Player Contracts and why star players feel the need to hold out

[CowboyRoy]

There is a fundamental misunderstanding of NFL player contracts. Too many of us fans believe if a player signs a 4 year contract, both the owner and player are locked in together. That is simply not true. In fact, here are some truths about NFL player contracts most fans don’t understand:

• Once the guaranteed money in an NFL contract is paid to a player, the team can cut the player BEFORE the length of the contract is completed. Obviously there are cap implications if a team cuts a player before the contract is completed but many teams still do it. In fact, here are a couple of former Cowboys marquee players who were cut before their contract years were complete:
  • Dez Bryant- in 2015, he signed a 5 year, $70 million dollar contract. He was cut in after 3 years of that deal and his guaranteed money was paid. In other words, the Cowboys didn’t pay him for 5 years. Fans don’t seem to understand this.
  • DeMarco Murray- signed a 5 year contract with the e-girls in 2015, was traded in 2016 to the titans and eventually finished his career in 2018 before his contract was complete.
  • There are several other star NFL players who were cut before their contract length was honored. Like Richard Sherman when he was in Sea, Navarro Bowman in SF also signed a multi-year contract and yet was cut before it was finished.
• NFL teams also have financial “outs“ when it comes to a player getting hurt or underperforming their contract, while not having any responsibility to increase a player’s pay when a player overperforms their deal.
• The NFL is the ONLY major pro sports league that does not guarantee their players contracts.
  • The NBA, NHL and MLB all have guaranteed contract for their players.

So…usually the only recourse a player has once their guaranteed money is paid is to hold out, which not only means they don’t get paid — but strongly shifts public opinion against them as the player is branded “greedy” or “not helping the team” by ownership that simply doesn’t want to pay more than is on the dotted line.

Why is Zack Martin holding out? No other pro spot, no other sports job allows for employment contracts to be torn up without paying the agreed amount and length of a contract. It’s ridiculous that owners keep requiring players in the NFL to compete without security.

Don’t fall for the verbal tricks from NFL owners. Don’t buy into their sob stories. They don’t honor the contracts they sign with players, so why criticize a player for holding out for their own protection? These billionaire owners will not be honoring their commitments and will still be raking in billions. Why fault a player for protecting themselves?

Wrong. The Owners DO honor the contracts. If the contact says the owners can cut them then they are allowed to do that. THATS WHAT THE CONTRACT ALLOWS. Just like they have to continue to pay any other monies owed.

Now if the owners refused to pay the remaining balance once they were cut, now THAT would be the owners not honoring the contracts.

Its the PLAYERS that are NOT honoring the contracts by refusing to play for the money they agreed. You actually have to completely backwards.

 

[CowboyRoy]

Well there are plenty of young fans here who are bashing ZM for not “honoring his contract”.

I agree he is grossly underpaid, but he signed the contract. Nobody to blame but himself or his agent. By holding out and not playing he is NOT honoring his agreement.

 

[CowboyRoy]

So you say owners don't honor player contracts so don't feel bad for them yet we are supposed to feel bad for players when they don't honor the contracts they sign? Okay.

The Owners DO honor the contracts. They have to. Its the players that arent honoring when they hold out.

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

There is a fundamental misunderstanding of NFL player contracts. Too many of us fans believe if a player signs a 4 year contract, both the owner and player are locked in together. That is simply not true. In fact, here are some truths about NFL player contracts most fans don’t understand:

• Once the guaranteed money in an NFL contract is paid to a player, the team can cut the player BEFORE the length of the contract is completed. Obviously there are cap implications if a team cuts a player before the contract is completed but many teams still do it. In fact, here are a couple of former Cowboys marquee players who were cut before their contract years were complete:
  • Dez Bryant- in 2015, he signed a 5 year, $70 million dollar contract. He was cut in after 3 years of that deal and his guaranteed money was paid. In other words, the Cowboys didn’t pay him for 5 years. Fans don’t seem to understand this.
  • DeMarco Murray- signed a 5 year contract with the e-girls in 2015, was traded in 2016 to the titans and eventually finished his career in 2018 before his contract was complete.
  • There are several other star NFL players who were cut before their contract length was honored. Like Richard Sherman when he was in Sea, Navarro Bowman in SF also signed a multi-year contract and yet was cut before it was finished.
• NFL teams also have financial “outs“ when it comes to a player getting hurt or underperforming their contract, while not having any responsibility to increase a player’s pay when a player overperforms their deal.
• The NFL is the ONLY major pro sports league that does not guarantee their players contracts.
  • The NBA, NHL and MLB all have guaranteed contract for their players.

So…usually the only recourse a player has once their guaranteed money is paid is to hold out, which not only means they don’t get paid — but strongly shifts public opinion against them as the player is branded “greedy” or “not helping the team” by ownership that simply doesn’t want to pay more than is on the dotted line.

Why is Zack Martin holding out? No other pro spot, no other sports job allows for employment contracts to be torn up without paying the agreed amount and length of a contract. It’s ridiculous that owners keep requiring players in the NFL to compete without security.

Don’t fall for the verbal tricks from NFL owners. Don’t buy into their sob stories. They don’t honor the contracts they sign with players, so why criticize a player for holding out for their own protection? These billionaire owners will not be honoring their commitments and will still be raking in billions. Why fault a player for protecting themselves?

well, not sure I agree with some of the premise you outlined.

yes players get cut before the contract ends. lets agree that the contracts and dollar amounts are somewhat of a mirage. they can make the last two years (as an example) not-guaranteed and triple it and make the contract look very large. its a mirage. it never comes to realization.

so as you said its about guarantee money and more importantly when its being paid and that determines the real value of the contract. so Dez getting cut, its actually to his benefit, so that he can go and get another contract. the team can decide to keep him and pay him for the last two years. so often players want large numbers in the last couple of years of the contract to either force the team to renegotiate or cut the player so they can get another contract. on the other hand, it gives both sides flexibility pending how its negotiated. a team can get out of a contract if the player performance drops, injuries or whatever other reason and get the player off the books. as mentioned players often want last two years to be large so that the team is forced to renegotiate or cut the player.

in Zack martin case, I think the issue is that he got paid his guarantee. but his last two years are palatable to cowboys, so they are deciding to keep him under contract and Zack doesn't like it. that's on him and his agent. they should have negotiated differently. if his last two years were double what it is today and not guaranteed, then Jerry would be renegotiating with Zack. he expected to get to this point and they renegotiate and its not happening. further, that the market has moved and he is now not top of the market and he doesn't like it. again, that's on him and his agent. it still doesn't change the fact that his contract is second largest in total value, although his AAV is 8th in the league.

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

This is a massive difference.

And MLB player signs a 5-year, $200m deal and will get paid all $200m even if they're released after year 5.

A NFL player signs a 5-year, $200m deal and might only make $120m of that.

its simple. its about guaranteed money. MLB does full guarantee. NFL allows for mirage contract. a contract can be 800M, but only 40M guaranteed in first 3 years. in the end, its a 3 year guaranteed contract.

 

[Kwyn]

Well there are plenty of young fans here who are bashing ZM for not “honoring his contract”.

Well, he would be paid. He wouldn’t be working for free.

He’s holding out for more guaranteed money. If his year was guaranteed, do you think he would be reporting? I doubt it.

He’s negotiating for more money and holding out is the tool he has available.

I’m a fan of Zach and have no issue with him trying to get a raise.

 

[xwalker]

There is a fundamental misunderstanding of NFL player contracts. Too many of us fans believe if a player signs a 4 year contract, both the owner and player are locked in together. That is simply not true. In fact, here are some truths about NFL player contracts most fans don’t understand:

• Once the guaranteed money in an NFL contract is paid to a player, the team can cut the player BEFORE the length of the contract is completed. Obviously there are cap implications if a team cuts a player before the contract is completed but many teams still do it. In fact, here are a couple of former Cowboys marquee players who were cut before their contract years were complete:
  • Dez Bryant- in 2015, he signed a 5 year, $70 million dollar contract. He was cut in after 3 years of that deal and his guaranteed money was paid. In other words, the Cowboys didn’t pay him for 5 years. Fans don’t seem to understand this.
  • DeMarco Murray- signed a 5 year contract with the e-girls in 2015, was traded in 2016 to the titans and eventually finished his career in 2018 before his contract was complete.
  • There are several other star NFL players who were cut before their contract length was honored. Like Richard Sherman when he was in Sea, Navarro Bowman in SF also signed a multi-year contract and yet was cut before it was finished.
• NFL teams also have financial “outs“ when it comes to a player getting hurt or underperforming their contract, while not having any responsibility to increase a player’s pay when a player overperforms their deal.
• The NFL is the ONLY major pro sports league that does not guarantee their players contracts.
  • The NBA, NHL and MLB all have guaranteed contract for their players.

So…usually the only recourse a player has once their guaranteed money is paid is to hold out, which not only means they don’t get paid — but strongly shifts public opinion against them as the player is branded “greedy” or “not helping the team” by ownership that simply doesn’t want to pay more than is on the dotted line.

Why is Zack Martin holding out? No other pro spot, no other sports job allows for employment contracts to be torn up without paying the agreed amount and length of a contract. It’s ridiculous that owners keep requiring players in the NFL to compete without security.

Don’t fall for the verbal tricks from NFL owners. Don’t buy into their sob stories. They don’t honor the contracts they sign with players, so why criticize a player for holding out for their own protection? These billionaire owners will not be honoring their commitments and will still be raking in billions. Why fault a player for protecting themselves?

Reason: Agents.

The agents convince players that they need more....

 

[pansophy]

Owners take risks too. Players getting cut early like the ones you mentioned aren’t performing to the value of the contract. That’s wasted resources and cap space.

 

[blueblood70]

Owners take risks too. Players getting cut early like the ones you mentioned aren’t performing to the value of the contract. That’s wasted resources and cap space.

Right and they have to pay them what they owe them to cut them plus dead cap money for a couple years after/

I don't remember any of our players giving money back when they had to get lost for the season with injuries and didn't play but he they got all their money it all evens out in the end there isn't one that has the upper hand over the other the fact is the owners own the contracts and the players should live up to them.

 

[kskboys]

I agree he is grossly underpaid, but he signed the contract. Nobody to blame but himself or his agent. By holding out and not playing he is NOT honoring his agreement.

When he signed, he was the highest paid OG in the NFL. He is absolutely not underpaid.

 

[SuperBowlz]

I would imagine this guaranteed/not guaranteed trash started just to appease the players' need to be paid more than the next guy. Which I think is childish.

Bob, if you and me were doing the same job, and I was making 20 mil/year and you were making 21 mil/year, I wouldn't give two crapps. To me, that's the same amount. There is nothing a normal person could buy w/ 21 mil that they couldn't buy w/ 20 mil.

So if you made 21 million would you take a million dollars and throw it off a building for all the people walking by? I mean, what's the difference between 20 and 21 million. If some toothless hobo asked you for a million cash you'd give it to him because there's no difference between 20 and 21 million?

 

[SuperBowlz]

I agree he is grossly underpaid, but he signed the contract. Nobody to blame but himself or his agent. By holding out and not playing he is NOT honoring his agreement.

Why should he honor it? It's a business and if he feel holding out will benefit his business then he should do it. It's a business

 

[Pass2Run]

The only problem I have with this whole post is

They signed the contracts.

Kirk cousins refused to play without a fully guaranteed deal, and he got one. If players want fully guaranteed contracts. Then they should refuse to sign a deal that doesn't give them fully guaranteed deals. Instead they choose to sign these deals because they give huge lump sums of signing bonuses or large guaranteed money. And then when that money runs out they hold out for a new deal if they played great, and prepare to be cut if they haven't. They know exactly what they are doing and continue to do it because they care for the money first. It isn't about respect, its about money.

And all threads like this do is try and act like this million dollar athletes who sign these contracts are the victims. As the old adage goes: It's takes two to tango, and the owners and players have been doing the tango for a long while. I have no sympathy when a team signs a player who immediately begins to suck. And I have no sympathy when a player out performs his deal and wants to cry about fair play.

Boom!

You're not thoughtful though. lol So silly.

 

[BLEU3ASY]

Im
Not going to even read the OP’s post and just say this.. with the way teams in the NFL can just cut you at their will… the way they can finesse players contracts.. ie back loaded contrast that players will never see.. I have no problem when a player holds out for any reason.. The NFL is all about self caring and why should the players be.

 

[USArmyVet]

The Owners DO honor the contracts. They have to. Its the players that arent honoring when they hold out.

That's what I said.

 

[Flamma]

I agree he is grossly underpaid, but he signed the contract. Nobody to blame but himself or his agent. By holding out and not playing he is NOT honoring his agreement.

Right. Owners never promised anything beyond the guaranteed money. There is nothing to honor beyond that.

 

[CowboyRoy]

Why should he honor it? It's a business and if he feel holding out will benefit his business then he should do it. It's a business

Maybe. Its the only way for him to get more money. But the fact remains, he isnt honoring it. Well, if he doesnt play then he isnt honoring it. I suspect he will show up anyway.

 

[CowboyRoy]

Right. Owners never promised anything beyond the guaranteed money. There is nothing to honor beyond that.

Owners have to abide by the language.

 

[SuperBowlz]

Maybe. Its the only way for him to get more money. But the fact remains, he isnt honoring it. Well, if he doesnt play then he isnt honoring it. I suspect he will show up anyway.

He isn't honoring it but it's a business and he thinks he has leverage. That's how business works. It absolutely sucks for passionate fans.

 

[kskboys]

So if you made 21 million would you take a million dollars and throw it off a building for all the people walking by? I mean, what's the difference between 20 and 21 million. If some toothless hobo asked you for a million cash you'd give it to him because there's no difference between 20 and 21 million?

Pretty much, yes.

I do not understand extreme greed. It's not a good thing.