SEATTLE — Tuesday marked the sixth day of running back Marshawn Lynch’s holdout from Seahawks training camp.
SEATTLE — Tuesday marked the sixth day of running back Marshawn Lynch’s holdout from Seahawks training camp.
It also signaled a change in the penalties the team can now levy on Lynch for not having shown up in a dispute over his contract.
Per the rules of the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement, Lynch can be assessed fines of $30,000 per day for each day he misses.
Beginning Tuesday, the sixth day of camp (the countdown started when players officially reported for camp last Thursday) Lynch can be fined 15 percent of a $1.5 million signing bonus for this year in addition to the daily $30,000 fine.
The bonus is the prorated share of the $6 million bonus he got for signing his four-year contract worth as much as $31 million in 2012.
Add up the $150,000 for the first six days and the $225,000 for the signing bonus, and that’s $405,000 the team can already fine Lynch for holding out.
The team can now fine Lynch 1 percent of that same signing bonus for the next several days, with the total fine capped at 25 percent during training camp. He could be fined an additional 25 percent of the bonus for missing the first regular season game.
Should his holdout last into the season, he would then be subject to being fined one week’s game check for each game he would miss (with Lynch having a base salary of $5 million, that’s $312,500 per game. He is apparently not subject to fines for missing preseason games, however).
All such fines are at the discretion of the team, and usually become part of negotiations — the team can reduce or waive them, for instance, in exchange for the player dropping his holdout.
The fines are in place as an inducement to compel players not to hold out, and there has been some thought around the league that as the potential fines pile up, Lynch might be more willing to relent. Recall that Lynch agreed to talk to the media last year to avoid a $50,000 fine, and showed up to minicamp to avoid a possible fine of almost $70,000.
Lynch, who led Seattle with 1,257 yards last season as the team won its first Super Bowl, is said to be seeking more up-front money for this season, knowing that the team may cut him prior to 2015 when his contract is scheduled to count for $7.5 million against the salary cap. The team could, for instance, guarantee a $500,000 incentive in Lynch’s contract for rushing for 1,500 yards or more.