August 6 deadline looms for two pending holdouts

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The Collective Bargaining Agreement gives players under contract an absolute right to hold out, as long as they are willing to risk owing fines in the amount of $40,000 per day (for most players). The CBA includes another important wrinkle for players who have not yet qualified for free agency.

If a player under contract fails to report within 30 days before the start of the regular season, the player forfeits a year of service toward free agency.

For the four pending holdouts who are under contract (Texans defensive end Jadeveon Clowney is holding out as a franchise-tagged player, but he is unsigned), two already have four years of service — Washington tackle Trent Williams and Chargers running back Melvin Gordon. August 6 has no relevance to them.

August 6 has significant relevance to the other two under-contract holdouts. For Jaguars defensive end Yannick Ngakoue, who is entering the fourth and final year of his rookie contract, failure to show up by August 6 means that he would be a restricted free agent at best in 2020, giving the Jaguars a much cheaper way to squat on him for a fifth season before starting the franchise-tag dance in 2021. The only question for the Jaguars come 2020 would be whether to risk losing him as a restricted free agent, since the maximum compensation is one first-round pick; they could still use the franchise tag on Ngakoue next year to keep that from happening.

For Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott, and as previously explained when talk first emerged more than two weeks ago of a potential holdout, the August 6 deadline means nothing because he’s got two years left under contract. If he doesn’t show up by August 6 this year (and if he doesn’t get a long-term deal), he can show up by 30 days before the 2020 opener and still get his fourth year of service toward free agency before his rookie deal expires.

Or Elliott can ignore that wrinkle and focus on getting his contract, like Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald did in 2017 and 2018. Even now, Donald has only three years of credit toward free agency. Donald also has the long-term contract that he held out to get.

There’s a widespread belief Zeke will cave by August 6 to get that year of credit toward free agency. If it happens, it would be a surprise. If his goal is to get paid before he embarks on a fourth season of getting hit early and often by large, strong defensive players, whether he gets a fourth year of credit toward free agency simply shouldn’t matter.