The best players in the NFL eventually get paid a boatload of money. The problem is that most franchises are incredibly stingy, and some players think way more highly of themselves than the people who are paying them. Those are two of the reasons that you see holdouts in the spring, during training camp, and even into the season.
Almost every team in the NFL is doing some sort of mandatory minicamp this week, and because of that, the guys who don’t show up are going to be fined. Whenever that’s the case, especially if it’s money-related, it makes the news. Luckily, that just doesn’t happen with the Philadelphia Eagles.
It’s been over a decade since an Eagle has held out of practice
In 2023, Haason Reddick missed the first six days of training camp with a groin injury. When he finally made it to practice, he was asked about his $15 million per year contract and how he was outplaying it. Reddick said, “...Y’all see it, y’all know what’s going on. I’m just worried about being the best version of myself. And I’ll let everything else sort itself out, truly.”
We didn’t (and still don’t) know the severity of his groin injury, but knowing about his holdout that he had with the Jets in 2024, there’s a non-zero percent chance that he was using the groin injury as a type of informal hold-in. Again, that’s all speculation, but there’s a possibility that it’s what happened.
Other than that, the last Eagle to hold out of training camp practice was DeSean Jackson in 2011 over a rookie contract thing.
The Eagles are great at making sure their players are happy, and that’s impressive because they have some incredible players who are paid insane amounts of money.
As we’ve been seeing this week, that’s not normal. T.J. Watt is holding out from the Steelers' mandatory minicamp, Terry McLaurin is for the Commanders, Trey Hendrickson and rookie Shemar Stewart are for the Bengals, and Micah Parsons is for the Cowboys
For the Steelers and Watt, it’s bizarre. He’s entering the final year of his four-year $122 million ($28 million per year) contract. He’s 30 years old, entering his eighth season, has been a Pro Bowler for the past seven years, an All-Pro and Defensive Player of the Year finalist for five years, and was the DPOY in 2021. Set aside how expensive their roster is, you just don’t let a guy like that get upset; you move mountains to make sure he’s happy.
With McLaurin, it’s pretty different than Watt because Not-so Scary Terry isn’t anywhere close to the player Watt is. Instead, he’s pretty much the most stable player that franchise has seen in the past decade and a half.
It’s also not like he’s a washed receiver who is begging the franchise for money based purely on sentimentality. He’s been a 1,000-yard receiver in each of the past five seasons, and he’s done it with a real ‘who’s-who’ of quarterbacks: Case Keenum, Dwayne Haskins, Kyle Allen, Taylor Heinicke, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Garrett Gilbert, Carson Wentz, Sam Howell, and then Jayden Daniels.
It seems kind of bonkers not to pay your very young quarterback’s best receiver, especially when that means they’re not getting to practice together and get meaningful yet low-stakes reps with each other.
Hopefully, Adam Peters decides to make McLaurin the highest-paid receiver in the NFL. After all, D.K. Metcalf and McLaurin were both drafted in 2019, and Metcalf is getting paid $30 million per year. Mr. Peters, if you’re reading this: You don’t want your franchise receiver to feel any more disrespected than he already is, right?
Mr. Peters, you can stop reading. In reality, this whole thing rocks. The Commanders are already a really old roster, and McLaurin is 29 years old. If/when they do pay him, it’ll be for a multi-year thing. That means they’re going to be tied to him and less likely to sign an actual high-end receiver (Deebo Samuel is not that guy) while Jayden Daniels is in his rookie contract.
The Bengals are just a hot mess and will continue to be a hot mess, so it’s absolutely not surprising that they’re at odds with Trey Hendrickson, one of the only productive players on defense. What is surprising is that they’re already starting off on the wrong foot with their first-round rookie edge rusher Shemar Stewart.
Stewart hasn’t signed his rookie contract yet over some kind of language dispute. Essentially, the Bengals got burned last season by Jermaine Burton having off-field issues, and because of that, they’re using Stewart as a lab rat for a new type of contract that voids future guaranteed money if there are problems. It’s really, really dumb.
As for Micah Parsons, this is how the Cowboys do business: Have a contract dispute, try to make the offseason about them, and then sign whatever player for a billion dollars a few days before the season starts. Rinse, repeat.
On the other hand, Howie Roseman and Jeffrey Lurie get ahead of everything. Last offseason, Roseman was asked about the Eagles and how they avoid holdouts. He said, “I think it starts with ownership. Starts with Jeffrey’s ability to let us sign guys early and to try to get out ahead of things, which we couldn’t do without his help and support. I think he deserves the credit on this.”
It’s not just a general manager thing. It’s the way that the Eagles do business. That’s awesome.
Roseman continued, “...When you’re a good team, people are responsible for making you a good team, and those players are going to want to be compensated that way, those coaches, those front office personnel. I think it’s just the nature of the business.”
They understand who the players are, what makes the team great, and how to make the team’s heart beat year in and year out. It seems like a no-brainer, but there are clearly other franchises that don’t get it, don’t try to get it, or straight-up refuse to get it.
“Obviously, the key for us has been to go to guys early and try to get ahead of those things. It’s not perfect, and I’m sure sitting here we’ll have issues going forward. You know, I think that it’s hard to understand what goes on in those situations from other teams because we’re sitting here with our own issues and situations.” (11:42 in the video below)
That was a year ago, and the issues that the Eagles have right now are far from being contract-related. Sure, they had to trade C.J. Gardner-Johnson to save money that will eventually go to Jalen Carter, but that’s way different than having your star wide receiver or edge rusher being so unhappy with their contract that they’re cool with being fined for missing practice… It’s also much different than having your first round draft pick not even signed with the team yet.
Instead, the Eagles signed A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith to huge deals, and they did it way before they came close to their contract years. The next bump for the Eagles might come soon because Brock Purdy's signing a big deal with the 49ers knocked Jalen Hurts out of the top 10 highest-paid quarterbacks. For any other team, that’d be a worry, but there’s no reason to think the Eagles won’t make it right with the reigning Super Bowl MVP. It’s just what they do.