Myles Garrett Could Be Causing Mass of Rookie Holdouts

With training camps around the NFL beginning, several 1st round draft picks remain unsigned. How could Myles Garrett be connected?

Well it turns out being the #1 overall pick comes with a degree of responsibility, at least in terms of helping to set the market on rookie contract. Granted the pay scale is the same but it goes much deeper than that. There are a number of factors to be negotiated with any contract including bonus allocation and injury protection. This is a big reason why five top players still haven’t signed their deals and it’s quite possible they won’t until they get the concessions they want.

Much of this was brought about thanks to the actions of Garrett. He was among the first players to sign his deal, not putting up much of a fight in negotiations. ESPN analyst Dan Graziano indicates that had a cascade effect with players who were selected later.

"“But these deals don’t happen in a vacuum, and this year one of the complicating factors appears to be the deal signed by No. 1 overall pick 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.”"

Holdout fears aren’t what they used to be

Of course the most famous recent holdout was Joey Bosa last year. His camp got into heated discussions with the Chargers over his deal. It got so bad at one point that some thought he might actually sit out the entire 2016 season. A big point of contention was offseat language in the contract. Not have it basically means the Chargers would have to keep paying him in the event he were cut before his deal expired. Thus he gets paid by them and whatever new team he joins.

One can understand this position. It may look greedy, but it’s easy to forget not every 1st round pick is going to be a superstar in the NFL. A lot of them have families to think about and need to get as much money as possible before their football career peters out. As the saying goes, “It’s a business.” There’s still time until all training camps begin. Odds are most of the rookies should sign around that point.

It will be interesting to see if anybody decides to go the extra mile. After seeing what Bosa did, it may just embolden them to do so.