Why do rookies participate in OTA's/ minicamps before they are signed, but then refuse to participate in training camp until signed?
As proven with Sean Lee yesterday, bad injuries can occur even in this setting...
They want to play. Most of them anyway.
The holdouts are most often traced back to an agent.
Quote:They want to play. Most of them anyway.
The holdouts are most often traced back to an agent.
right....but then why aren't the agents as adamant about the player not playing in OTA/ minicamp?? As evidenced with Sean Lee....a player can obviously still get hurt.
Minicamp/OTA pretty lax and easy with no/very limited contact so injury risk low.
Training camp has higher injury risk. ..
This is my thinking at least
Quote:Minicamp/OTA pretty lax and easy with no/very limited contact so injury risk low.
Training camp has higher injury risk. ..
This is my thinking at least
I thought that too but then i I realized the new CBA took out most of the contact in camps so it's hard to say if it's that.
Quote:Why do rookies participate in OTA's/ minicamps before they are signed, but then refuse to participate in training camp until signed?
As proven with Sean Lee yesterday, bad injuries can occur even in this setting...
Watch one in person sometime and you will know the difference.
Rookies will attend pretty much everything they are allowed to because they are so far behind the learning curve. Players get paid daily ( I think it is $175) for participation in OTAs and mini camp and their expenses are covered.
Once training camp starts, they have to be under contract or they receive nothing. Bonus money written into contracts is considered payment for training camp and their salary is paid weekly during the season.
With the new rookie contract structure, there shouldn't be too many of those cases.
The ones who decide to try to buck that new system can be labeled Summers Eve. (Since I can't use the literal reference here.)
The confusing part for me is the fact that rookies are allowed to practice before they sign their contracts. In my mind OTAs and TC are almost the same thing before preseason games start.
What happened to Sean Lee can happen to an unsigned rookie. Aaron Kampman tore his ACL during a non-contact practice while wearing shorts.
Quote:Why do rookies participate in OTA's/ minicamps before they are signed, but then refuse to participate in training camp until signed?
As proven with Sean Lee yesterday, bad injuries can occur even in this setting...
Because from what I understand, there are provisions in the CBA allowing participation in OTAs while not under contract. The same is not true for preseason. I seem to remember an old Ask Vic question about it, but no way I have the time to dig around for it today.
As for why they set it up that way, they've probably hit on the reasons up above. Important for the rookies to start learning the playbook right away even while negotiating and the injury risk goes up significantly once you get into pads.
Quote:The confusing part for me is the fact that rookies are allowed to practice before they sign their contracts. In my mind OTAs and TC are almost the same thing before preseason games start.
What happened to Sean Lee can happen to an unsigned rookie. Aaron Kampman tore his ACL during a non-contact practice while wearing shorts.
What happened to Sean Lee could happen to any player. As you pointed out, Kampman tore his ACL during non-contact drills. That's more common than you would think.
Because of the way rookies are slotted under the new CBA, the fact that they're not under contract is irrelevant. They will be, and it's generally known what their contract structure is going to look like. Teams can't suddenly decide they're going to cut that deal in half because a rookie was injured in an OTA.
Players are not permitted to participate in training camp or the preseason until they do ink a contract.
I always thought it was odd that they still do anything not under contract. But i dont know how everything really works out. But I know if it was me, I would be wanting to get on with my career. Given I'd hope not to screw it up either :-p