SPORTS
Saturday, July 27, 2019
East Oregonian
B3
A summer rite in the NFL: training camp holdouts
By BARRY WILNER
AP Pro Football Writer
Teammates shrug and go
about their work.
Coaches say they can
deal only with the players on
hand.
Fans worry that this sum-
mer rite in the NFL, training
camp holdouts, won’t hurt
their team’s chances for a
championship.
This year’s crop of
no-shows includes an All-
Pro receiver, the Saints’
Michael Thomas; a versatile
and rugged running back,
the Cowboys’ Ezekiel Elliott;
a standout offensive tackle
who might be the key to the
Redskins’ offense, Trent
Williams; and budding stars:
defensive ends Jadeveon
Clowney of the Texans and
Yannick Ngakoue of the Jag-
uars, and running back Mel-
vin Gordon of the Chargers.
Elliott was not on the
Cowboys’ charter plane to
training camp in California,
and Friday team owner Jerry
Jones confirmed that his star
back was “late.” How late
Elliott might wind up being
is mere projection, but he has
proved to be an irreplaceable
part in Dallas.
He is due to make $3.9
million in the fourth year of
his rookie contract and $9.1
million in the final year,
which is a team option. The
fourth overall pick from the
2016 draft has won two rush-
ing titles in his three seasons.
“Everybody is under con-
tract,” Jones said. “It’s a part
of what goes on in football.
Football is business. It’s pro
football, you know where
you are on every contract.
Every contract we have an
agreement.”
The common denomina-
tor in all of this is, naturally,
money.
The common approach
is for teams to publicly say
nothing but nice things about
the missing-in-action players
while taking a hard line in
negotiations.
Such as:
AP Photo/Chris Szagola, File
Houston Texans outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney rushes during a football game Dec. 23, 2018, against the Philadelphia
Eagles in Philadelphia. Clowney is among this year’s crop of NFL no-shows.
“I can tell you unequiv-
ocally that we want Jade-
veon Clowney here,” Hous-
ton coach Bill O’Brien said.
“He’s a part of this team.
We want him here. There’s
always a difference when
you’re talking about money
relative to wanting him on
the team. That’s something
that the agent and our orga-
nization are working on, but
... we would love to have him
here. He’s a really talented
football player that’s made a
lot of good plays for us in the
past.”
And:
“He’s trying to get this
thing done,” Jacksonville
coach Doug Marrone said.
“We’re trying to get this thing
done. We’re excited for him.
He’s going to come. He will
report. I don’t know when. I
know it’ll be before a certain
date. And, when he comes,
we’ll be excited about it.”
While money always is
an issue, the dynamics of
the holdouts are dissimilar
AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, left, and Executive Vice President Stephen Jones smile
during the “state of the team” press conference at the start of the Dallas Cowboys NFL foot-
ball training camp Friday in Oxnard, Calif.
for Williams and Clowney
compared to Elliott, Thomas,
Gordon and Ngakoue.
Both are veterans, Wil-
liams heading into his 10th
season, Clowney his sixth.
The others are on rookie deals
The EO’s
and believe they have far out-
performed those wage-scaled
contracts.
Williams, while inju-
ry-prone, is considered
a leader in Washington
and, even at less than full
strength, the Redskins’
best blocker. He is upset
with the team’s handling
of his health, including the
removal of a growth on his
head earlier this year. His
beef is as much about trust
as dollars and cents.
Clowney has not signed
his franchise tag, which is
tendered at $16 million, pre-
ferring a long-term deal.
Le’Veon Bell set a prece-
dent last season when the
then-Steelers running back
sat out rather than sign. He’s
now with the Jets. But it’s
more likely Clowney will
reach an agreement by Sep-
tember, or take the $16 mil-
lion for 2019.
Another pass rusher,
Ngakoue, comes off a
career-best year and is
entering his fourth season.
As a third-round draftee in
2016, he isn’t making top
dollar yet, set to be paid
just over $2 million this
year. Considering his num-
bers are as good or better
than several other defensive
end who cashed in recently
(Frank Clark, Demarcus
Lawrence), it’s hardly sur-
prising Ngakoue is idle.
But he must report to
the Jaguars 30 days before
their first game to accrue
his fourth season and have
a shot at unrestricted free
agency in 2020. So Aug.
9 would seem to be a firm
deadline for him to show
up.
Thomas is the focal point
for Drew Brees’ passes in
New Orleans’ high-wire
offense. Talk about num-
bers, try 125 receptions,
1,405 yards and nine touch-
downs as, by far, the only
proven Saints wideout.
In the final year of his
rookie contract, Thomas
would make more than
$1.14 million as a 2016 sec-
ond-rounder. So there’s
nothing surprising about his
holdout when the likes of
Odell Beckham Jr., Sammy
Watkins and Nike Evans
have cashed in.
Saints coach Sean Pay-
ton says he’s not surprised
by Thomas’ holdout, which
the receiver foreshadowed
on social media by writing:
“I want every penny that’s
mine. I don’t want a penny
more or a penny less.”
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