What is to prevent a player from signing a huge contract, commanding a large (guaranteed) signing bonus, then never playing a single down in the NFL?
I call this the “Barry Sanders Rule”. Due to the Salary Cap, owners are now investing a greater amount of money up front for players in the form of guaranteed signing bonuses. Thus, the owners must try to protect their investments by including language in the contract that calls for a player to return a portion of the signing bonus to the team if the player fails or refuses to practice or play with the team. In certain situations, a team will be repaid some of the signing bonus it paid to a player (i.e., a refund), or a team will fail to pay part of a signing bonus that was already allocated toward team salary. If this happens, the amount previously included in team salary will be added to the teams Salary Cap in the next year.
Related Questions
- What is to prevent a player from signing a huge contract, commanding a large (guaranteed) signing bonus, then never playing a single down in the NFL?
- Regarding playing time, is there a minimum for each player? Any guaranteed playing time at all?
- Did GM John Hart make a mistake signing such an inexperienced player to a long-term contract?
