Illustration by Eileen Kim | Student Life

Picture this: you’re a very good player in the NFL. You just had a career year, making your first Pro Bowl appearance and leading the team to the playoffs. However, you’re getting up there in age. Who knows how much longer you’re going to be able to maintain this level of play, let alone put on the pads? You only have one year left on your contract, at a low price I might add, which means now is the time to cash in. But the general manager knows this as well. He seemingly has all the leverage, and in negotiations, he’s giving you lower offers because he’d prefer to make his decision next year. You know that there will never be a better opportunity to get paid than right now. What do you do?

That’s the impossible predicament that a few players are put in every year. They’re forced to decide their motive for playing football: is it money, winning, teammates, principle, or ego? Of course, no situation is the same. Some players are older; some are on more competitive teams; some are more injury prone; and most importantly, they’re all negotiating with different organizations with different motives. However, in recent years, one route has become most popular: holding out. Every offseason, a number of players will “hold out,” but what does that mean, and why do some players do it and others don’t?

In simple terms, holding out is just not showing up to any team meeting or event. Players will skip training camp and even games until one of two things happen: either the team gives in and offers a larger contract or the player decides he can’t lose more money and returns to the team. The biggest benefit of this method is that the player is truly forcing the team’s hand. The GM must decide if the player is important enough to pay and if they’re actually serious about maintaining a holdout. It’s a heads-up poker game that the team doesn’t want to be in. It’s risky, as players lose their weekly salary, but more importantly, their reputation is at stake. That’s why optics are important, and oftentimes, both sides use media to change the perception of the predicament. As one can guess, drawn-out holdouts can fracture relationships. 

The most successful example of a holdout in recent years was Ezekiel Elliott’s faceoff with the Dallas Cowboys in 2019. What makes this case particularly interesting is that Elliott seemingly had no power. He played at one of the least valued positions, running back; he had two years left on his contract, and most importantly, he was dealing with one of the most stubborn figures in the NFL, Jerry Jones. Nevertheless, Zeke knew that at his position, he only had so long of a life span in the league. Additionally, he had an intriguing piece of leverage. He was a fan favorite, the Cowboys were contenders, and he knew that a prolonged holdout could turn the fans against Jerry Jones, a man who very much cares about his reputation. By manipulating Jones’ ego, he had a clear strategy. In the end, Zeke succeeded in holding his ground until Jones and the Cowboys handed him a six-year contract worth $90 million. 

In the same offseason, there was another holdout conducted by a star running back that ended a bit differently. Melvin Gordon III was entering his final year with the gone-but-not-forgotten San Diego Chargers, and when extension talks didn’t reach his demands, he held out. Gordon’s flaw was in not realizing that the Chargers had other options. In his absence, his backup, Austin Ekeler, played like a top-five running back. This shifted all of the leverage to the Chargers, and with an agreement far away, Gordon returned in order to recuperate his remaining salary. Gordon ended up signing a two-year contract worth $16 million, a far cry from what he wanted.

As we enter Week 4 of the NFL season, many of this past offseason’s holdouts have ended by now. CeeDee Lamb, Brandon Aiyuk, and Trent Williams all missed practice before signing a new deal. However, there are two cases that are worth following. First is Haason Reddick, a top pass rusher who was traded to the New York Jets in April. With a year left on his deal, Reddick knows that holding out means the Jets would have traded draft picks for nothing. While there has been some progress on a deal, there’s expectation that a trade may be brewing. The second player is Ja’Marr Chase, who opted to end his holdout for a unique reason. He instead has taken out a $50 million insurance plan that protects his potential earnings in the case of injury. Insurance could be a possible alternative to holding out in the future, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens with Chase.

In a league that used to be marked by dominant owners who rarely got any pushback, player holdouts are a sign of the times. Players don’t have the power to trade or waive, but their leverage is in their availability, and as the saying goes, the best ability is availability.