MINNEAPOLIS, MN – NOVEMBER 17: Dalvin Cook #33 of the Minnesota Vikings on the field before the game against the Denver Broncos at U.S. Bank Stadium on November 17, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
The terms of the NFL’s CBA mean Dalvin Cook is playing with fire if he holds out.
The NFL is not the NBA. Whereas the players run the league on the hardwood — and real basketball games will soon be played as a result — the gridiron is utterly dominated by team owners and Roger Goodell, the man who carries every last droplet of water for them. That means an underpaid player demanding a new contract has precious little recourse.
The one thing he’s been able to do over the years? Hold out. Refuse to show up.
Vikings running back Dalvin Cook became the latest high-profile operator to play the holdout card this week, as he’ll make just over $1.3 million in the final year of his rookie deal, a paltry sum for a player of his caliber. Unfortunately, the fine print of the NFL’s new collective bargaining agreement suggests this particular holdout could blow up in the Minnesota man’s face.
Why Dalvin Cook holding out is a very bad idea for him right now
If Dalvin Cook holds out past his mandatory report date, he won’t accrue a full season of service time and won’t become an unrestricted free agent in 2021.
As Article 8 of the CBA reads:
A player shall not receive an Accrued Season for any League Year in which the player is under contract to a Club and in which (i) he failed to report to the Club’s preseason training camp on that player’s mandatory reporting date; or (ii) the player thereafter failed to perform his contract services for the Club for a material period of time, unless he demonstrates to the Impartial Arbitrator extreme personal hardship causing such failure to report or perform, such as severe illness or death in the family.
Well, that’s pretty cut and dried. In previous years, a player could hold out essentially without incurring any real cost right up until 30 days before his team’s Week 1 game, as John P. Gilbert notes. Now, there are real penalties for not showing up to training camp 100% on-time.
If Cook really plays with fire here, he could risk not becoming an unrestricted free agent at the start of the 2021 league year. Without the accrual of a full season, he’d be a restricted.
Basically, holding out isn’t holding out anymore. The last cudgel for players to wield in search of a just payday no longer exists under this latest CBA. With that in mind, it’s hard to imagine the Vikings budging even a little bit on Cook’s behalf — especially considering his injury history and the fool’s errand that spending big on running backs can turn out to be.