The Richie Incognito saga might not be over just yet. On March 15, Incognito agreed to rework his contract with the Bills, which ultimately resulted in a fairly sizable pay cut. But, given that the Bills rank in the top half of the league in available cap space — which means they did not really need to save the $1.675MM of cap room they picked up with the restructure — and given that Incognito is coming off his third consecutive Pro Bowl season, it seems that Incognito quickly came to resent his new deal.
Indeed, he fired his agent via Twitter about three weeks after he agreed to the reworked contract, and just a few days later, he announced he was going to retire. Although he initially suggested that he could be convinced to come back for one more season at the right price, he later indicated that his health is declining and that he would be better served walking away from the game.
On Thursday, Buffalo placed Incognito on the reserve/retired list, furthering the notion that the 34-year-old guard has played his last snap. Yesterday, however, Incognito tweeted to the Bills and asked them to release him from his contract. Interestingly, he requested that Buffalo contact Athletes First, the agency that he recently fired, for details.
The tweet no longer appears on Incognito’s Twitter page, but it is preserved on a post from Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk. As Smith notes, Incognito would have to pay back the $1MM signing bonus he received as part of his new deal if he officially retires, which he would not have to do if he were released. Plus, he may be able to land a more favorable contract with a different club if he hits the free agent market.
Or, as Smith observes, Incognito could simply “un-retire” and show up to Buffalo’s offseason program, which starts tomorrow. Incognito did send out an interesting tweet on Friday saying, “That was a short lived retirement” and suggesting that he may indeed appear for the first day of the offseason program. That same tweet, however, also included a laughing emoji and a #madeyalook hashtag, so the Bills probably aren’t expecting to see him walk through the door tomorrow.
Roided up meat head thug
Would like to see Richie get himself a broadcasting deal. I think he shows up Monday if only to thank Shady for the support he offered.
Aren’t off season workouts “voluntary?” Isn’t training camp the only required place to be? How long do the Bills own him after he retires? 1 year? 5 years? Forever?
Voluntary but have dollar bills attached to being there.
Hot mess. Incognito needs to get an agent and talk over what he’s looking for. That way he and his agent can hit their marks and better the situation.
This guy doesn’t seem smart enough to figure that out himself…. he had terrible representation, I wonder if he can go after that agency for bad advice?
Even with a new agent he could not get anything more than a one year deal anywhere. How will he pass a team physical if his liver and kidney are shutting down?
Not only should his mental health be evaluated cuz this dudes mind is all over the place, but does he not recall that the Bills were the only team to give him a shot after his incident in miami? Also he decides to do this right before the draft and after FA has been decimated?