NFL Players Association president JC Tretter recently said the quiet thing out loud about players sometimes pretending to be injured as a way to express displeasure with their contracts. The players Tretter is trying to help would be wise to ignore his advice.
Discussing the running back market on Ross Tucker’s podcast, and as MDS pointed out on Wednesday, Tretter urged players to create leverage by faking injuries. That’s what the term “hold in” originally meant, before the practice of showing up for training camp and not practicing due to an unsettled contract dispute became a common alternative to not showing up at all. Before the 2020 Collective Bargaining Agreement made it too costly to stay away, “hold in” referred to players who were present but who claimed to be injured when they otherwise weren’t — or who declined to practice or play with an actual injury when, if they were happy with their contracts, they would have practiced and played.
Said Tretter: “I don’t think anybody would say they were fake injuries, but we’ve seen players who didn’t want to be where they currently are, have injuries that made them unable to practice and play, but you’re not able to get fined, and you’re not able to be punished for not reporting. So there are issues like that. I don’t think I’m allowed to ever recommend that, at least publicly, but I think each player needs to find a way to build up leverage to try to get a fair deal. And that’s really what all these guys are looking for, is to be compensated fairly.”
That approach could work at positions with high surplus value, where there’s a significant gap between the starter and the next man up. At the running back position, if players trying to get a new contract say they can’t practice or play because of an injury through which they would otherwise practice and play, the backup get a chance to show what he can do. And, given that the supply of competent running backs far exceeds demand, the starter who is fake-not-faking an injury quite possibly won’t be missed.
For players like Giants running back Saquon Barkley and Raiders running back Josh Jacobs, there mere possibility that they’ll gladly accept their $10.1 million franchise tenders but then embellish, exaggerate, and/or fabricate injuries to create leverage could increase the possibility that their franchise tenders will be rescinded before they can accept them. If, for example, the Raiders are currently pondering the possibility of de-franchising Jacobs, the possibility that Jacobs will: (1) take the money; and (2) not practice or play could be the factor that tips the scales in favor of letting him try to get $10.1 million elsewhere.
It’s also a bad strategy for Barkley and Jacobs because the leverage they would be creating by not practicing or playing (after they accept their franchise tenders) cannot get them the long-term deals they want. The CBA to which Tretter’s union agreed prevents it after the middle of July. Also, if/when Barkley and Jacobs show up for 2023 and don’t consistently practice or play, it will hurt their value for 2024.
There are occasions for a key player with an unresolved contract situation who has an injury to decline to play with it because he lacks financial security. If that’s why Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson didn’t play in the 2022 postseason (he denies it), I’ve got no problem with it. Why risk destroying your value beyond the current season when there is no protection beyond the current season for playing with an injury?
Tretter’s advice sweeps far more broadly. And recklessly. Despite the accuracy of his remarks, it’s not something he should have said. His words could be used against him, against the union, or against specific players if/when a grievance or some other proceeding (like an unfair labor practice charge) ever arises on the question of players faking injuries.
As it relates to the running back position, it’s advice that should be ignored. Once the next man up performs, the player who consistently can’t or won’t practice or play could be the next man out.
