Pittstop's take on the 2019 NFL holdouts
There were four notable veteran players who had not showed up for training camp or their respective team facility: LA Chargers running back Melvin Gordon, Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott, Jacksonville Jaguars edge rusher Yannick Ngakoue, and New Orleans receiver Michael Thomas. All four players were not happy with the terms of their respective rookie deals. The only successful holdout to date is Michael Thomas, who ended his holdout a week into camp after he agreed to a deal worth around $19 million a year and $61 million in guarantees.
These holdouts are occurring mainly because Pittstop believes that players are now realizing they have leverage to demand better deals for themselves. This, I believe, started to happen after Khalil Mack, the stud pass rusher whose holdout last summer with the Oakland Raiders resulted in a trade to the Chicago Bears, along with a record contract signing of $23.5 million per year, $60 million guaranteed, and $90 million in rolling guarantees. This came days after defensive tackle star Aaron Donald secured $22.5 million per year and $50 million guaranteed from the LA Rams, who held out just before the start of the regular season last year. This just shows the awareness elite NFL players possess as to their ability to control how much they should be paid.
For Gordon and Elliott, this is a bad time for them as teams are throwing the ball more and more, and the running back position has been devalued for years. Though Gordon is a very good player, he does not have the leverage that Elliott has, as he has led the league in rushing twice, and averages 401 touches and 2,099 scrimmage yards on a per-16-game basis, which are all-pro stats. Though both are expected to be ready for week one, neither team for both players are budging right now in terms of negotiating a new deal.
As for Yannick, he had 29.5 sacks in his first three NFL seasons. Joey Bosa, Demarcus Lawrence, Dee Ford, Trey Flowers, and Jadeveon Clowney are among those only to do so, and all of them whose contracts were expiring, signed big-money deals, $21 million annually for Lawrence, $18 million annually for Flowers, and $17 million annually for Ford. Meanwhile, Yannick is expected to make $2.03 million on the final year of his rookie contract this year.
Pittstop hopes that the rest of the three players respectively get paid their requested amounts, as all three players are extremely valuable to their teams and each team in the long-term will need these players to have a chance at winning a Super Bowl.
