rookie signings

[Keith]

Originally Posted by Joshua

I wonder if this is precisely why the deals are put off until just before training camp. If the team knows that they can reach a deal pretty easily when necessary, seems it would make sense to let McNair keep his signing bonus money for as long as possible. Also, I don't know the answer to this, but there may be some concerns about having guys get injured while under contract. For example, assume a 3rd round pick signs in late May. Does anyone know whether he would be entitled to any different compensation if he were to blow his knee out while, say, training on his own than if he wasn't signed?

Yep, this is what my answer would be.

As for injury pay... those are gray-ish scenarios. Iirc there is boiler-plate type language in contracts that talks about non-football injuries. These come up from time to time, like when a player blows out a knee playing beach games (Robert Edwards) or riding motorcycles (The Chosen One).

In the case of Edwards, I don't think the Pats owed him anything. Even though the injury occured in an NFL properties sponsored event, Edwards signed some waiver. As for K2, the Browns had special language in the contract against high-risk activities, so I think they were in a position where they could call for a breach of contract and recoup prorated bonus money. Instead, I think they just used it as leverage to renegotiate the contract to make it more incentive-based.