Teams around the league have been announcing that many if not all of their players would skip voluntary offseason workouts, including the Jets a couple of days ago. Things are now up in the air between the NFL and NFLPA, and one of the biggest sticking points is what to do about players with workout bonuses in their contracts. As of right now those players would stand to lose out on those bonuses, and collectively many millions of dollars, which is why some teams have said that some of their players will still be showing up.
Fortunately for Jets players, nobody on the roster has a workout bonus in their deal, according to Overthecap.com, via Rich Cimini of ESPN.com. Cimini notes the Jets had doled out lots of workout bonuses in past years, but “the current regime” led by GM Joe Douglas “has moved away from them.” He also points out that New York is “one of only five teams with no workout bonuses.”
Here’s more from the East, shifting to the NFC now:
- Jordan Howard recently signed back with the Eagles on a one-year deal, and he apparently didn’t have too many other options. Speaking to the media in a press conference this past week, Howard revealed he thought he might’ve been done in the NFL this offseason. “My market was just pretty dry,” Howard said, via Tim McManus of ESPN.com (Twitter link). “I was having thoughts like, I might be done,” he admitted candidly. “Teams weren’t really calling,” he added. Given the apparent lack of other interest, it probably won’t surprise you to learn that Howard’s one-year deal is for the vet minimum and contains no guaranteed money, Dave Zangaro of NBC Sports reports. Howard made the Pro Bowl as a rookie in 2016 with the Bears, but his stock has fallen rapidly since. He started last year with the Dolphins before getting cut and ending up back in Philly. He was also with the Eagles in 2019, when he carried the ball 119 times for 525 yards and six touchdowns in ten games.
- Washington made an interesting developmental signing this past week when they added former basketball player Sammis Reyes, who is hoping to become an NFL tight end. It was a cool story, and it turns out Washington views Reyes as something more than just a dart throw. His contract comes with $392K in guaranteed money, with a $20K signing bonus and $372K in guaranteed salary, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. That’s more than some established veterans are getting on this open market. That’s also way more than any old undrafted free agent would get, so Ron Rivera and co. clearly think Reyes has some real potential to contribute. After they watched Logan Thomas go from quarterback to very productive tight end for them last year, it’s not hard to understand why they’d try to catch lightning in a bottle twice.
The Steelers should have taken a flyer on Howard. He is kind of a one trick pony, but a non-guaranteed minimum contract would have given them options.
Ballage is the same player as Howard, who they signed few weeks ago