Editor’s Note: With the understanding that position battles, roster spots, and other soccer questions rank high behind the biggest issues COVID-19 has presented, our staff will try to address 20 of the biggest questions this team has. and the league face off as we meet Ready for the 2020 season. Today, we continue the series with a question about the foreclosure protocol that has already affected the Cowboys twice this week.
20Q – What happens when players choose not to participate?
Here in the last few days, we begin to see NFL players, including two with the Cowboys, decide to opt out of the 2020 season. There are different types of opt-out and it has a different outcome for players depending on their status in the league. For a rookie, it’s a different scenario than a veteran, like Maurice Canady, who retired this week.
This is how the Cowboys writers evaluated the current NFL opt-out situation.
David Helman: This is going to be closely monitored for the next week or so. Players have until August 3 to unsubscribe from this season, and we’ve already seen that many will. There are two types of exclusion: high risk and general. Players who qualify for the “high risk” category have been diagnosed with a condition on the CDC’s list of risk factors: think of heart conditions, cancer, and the like. They receive a $ 350,000 stipend from the league, and earn credit for a cumulative season, but their wages take a toll until the next season. Meanwhile, a general exclusion option gets $ 150,000 and they don’t get credit for a cumulative season. Let’s simplify this by applying it to the Cowboys. Veteran cornerback Maurice Canady took a voluntary opt-out option earlier this week. The main office will pay him $ 150,000 of the value of his own $ 1.2 million contract, which he signed in March. That one-year contract will also extend to next season, so he will now become a free agent in 2022, rather than 2021. And if he manages to make the team next season, his deal will be $ 150,000 smaller because of his current stipend. In the case of an unenrolled opt-out, like wide receiver Stephen Guidry, there is no stipend and the team retains its rights until next year. What will be interesting is to see if the bigger players, with bigger contracts, choose to stay out of the season. We’ve already seen it happen in places like Minnesota and New England.
Nick Eatman: While Dave broke it down pretty well there, the only thing I’ll see here in the next few days is how many other long shots on the list, like Guidry, will choose to do the same. He’s not really getting past the system, he’s just giving himself the best chance to be part of the team. Guidry is a wide receiver trying to make the team that Cooper, Gallup and CeeDee Lamb already have. It’s not exactly an easy group to put together, especially if you don’t have preseason games to show your skills. So for such a guy, it makes sense that he has a fresh start next year. Remember, you won’t have any contact with the team in 2020. You won’t be in meetings, watching movies, and you won’t be near the facility. When the 2020 season ends, he will rejoin the team with three years on his contract. Now when I see that this could be a better situation for Guidry, it is without knowing where the whole COVID situation is at. He may have concerns and / or a perspective that I do not know. I’m just saying that it makes sense for guys who have a hard time making the list to follow this route. We could see more of that in the next week.
