Chase not Practicing

[Whatever]

(08-30-2024, 11:44 AM)casear2727 Wrote: I do not understand when people say that teams are not honoring contracts?  The contracts are based upon perceived production and other factors.  NFL contracts stipulate how much of the deal is guaranteed.  A contract can absolutely have non-guaranteed aspects.  

Every team honors these contracts, if they do not they can be sued and will easily lose in court.  Players are NOT forced to sign these contracts.  The rookie contract scale is what the NFL organization requires to participate.  They didn't have to allow the players union to participate in the parameters, but they did.

Teams and fans should want every player to out produce their current contracts, it doesn't mean that the team is obligated to change the current contract.  And if a player doesnt produce to the level of the contract, every team is obligated to pay the player any guarantees in their contract.

Chase is not honoring his contract, that fact is indisputable.   I think it would be best for the Bengals to get the deal done with Chase for multiple reasons.

So, basically, you are of the opinion that if you're going to make your living playing professional football then you must bend the knee at every turn to a cartel (which the NFL is) that operates in a manner that is illegal except for the fact that they bought off politicians to get an anti-trust exemption from the government and continue to throw money at judges and politicians every time this is challenged(see the recent Sunday Ticket case)?

Beyond that, whether his contract is currently being breeched is open for debate.  Players do not get paid to practice, except for workout bonuses which are optional.  The guarantee line cuts both ways, after all. Teams can fine players for not participating in training camp practices under the CBA so long as they can prove the players is healthy, but the Bengals are not doing that.  A player is only refusing to do something they are actually getting paid to do when they start missing games.

To set this up as a real world example, a person is vastly underpaid compared to the market for an employee of their skill set at their job.  On top of that, their boss requires them to come in unpaid for team building activities and can dock their pay if they don't attend.  They are also not free to leave their job and seal employment  at a competitor because they are bound by a non-compete (illegal as of September 4th per the FTC, btw).  And they never got to choose their place of employment to begin with and had to pack their life up and move to a city not of their choosing because all the companies in their field are in league with each other and allow each other to exclusively claim candidates out of college.

But the team can be cutthroat, but the player can't.