Holdouts occur when a player under contract does not report to training camp and faces mandatory fines; a hold-in is when a player attends team activities to avoid fines but does not participate, according to the story. Players are fined $50,000 for each day they hold out, and the current collective bargaining agreement ratified in March 2020 removed teams’ ability to waive those fines except for players on rookie contracts, a change that has contributed to more hold-ins. When training camps opened in late July, the story noted three high-profile hold-ins: Detroit running back Jahmyr Gibbs, Atlanta running back Bijan Robinson and Tampa Bay defensive tackle Vita Vea.
The story uses the 2002 Walter Jones case to illustrate the stakes. Jones missed all of training camp and the first two regular-season games while seeking a long-term deal with the Seattle Seahawks. Reading a newspaper at home in Huntsville, Alabama, he learned the amount of money he had forfeited — two missed checks totaling $578,823 — and signed the franchise-tag tender that same day for $4.92 million. “[The article] was like, ‘This is how much money Walter [is] losing,'” Jones said. “I was like, ‘Wait, I don’t want to lose any money.’ So I went in.”
Agents contend holdouts are emotionally taxing. Longtime agent Vince Taylor, who has represented players who have held out on multiple occasions including left tackle Trent Williams, said, “Holdouts are brutal, man.” He added that players or agents who have never experienced a holdout do not fully appreciate how difficult it is and warned, “Don’t push that button unless you really [plan to] go all the way.”
Coaches and front offices also feel the impact. The story cites Washington’s 2019 summer when head coach Jay Gruden described a fraught environment: the team had gone 8-9 the previous year, Smith was recovering from a broken leg, and Pro Bowl left tackle Trent Williams was holding out amid a dispute over how the team handled a rare skin-cancer diagnosis and the lack of guaranteed money.
Former general manager Bill Polian summed up the persistent strain holdouts create, calling them “a toothache.” The story frames holdouts and hold-ins as complex bargaining disputes that impose financial, emotional and operational costs on players, agents, coaches and teams alike.
