The NFL’s Opt Out Option
One of the conditions that will make this season interesting is the NFL’s opt out option for the year. Players take the option, get a package to hold them over for the season, and they can take the year off and be safe. They get a 150k or 350k stipend to cover the year, depending on if they are deemed “high risk”. A good example of a High Risk guy would be the Giants Nate Solder, who has cancer history and also has a family who are high risk. I was not surprised to see him opt out and I’m glad he did it.
So far there really hasn’t been a true star that has opted out, but enough players seemed to be taking the option (namely from the Patriots, with 8 so far) that all of a sudden the NFL announced they would shorten the amount of time players had to make the decision. There was also some speculation that some players who expected to be cut were taking the option so they could get paid no matter what for the year, which…yeah. Do that. More players should do that. This is going to be a bizarre and broken year if it even manages the entire season. Take the cover if you think you don’t have a good chance to make it anyway.
Von Miller almost opted out, he knows first hand how hard Covid hits and is a high risk individual. I think he still should. Not like his job is in danger, but his life sure is.
Joey Bosa honestly had probably the best take about the season so far, if the season manages to occur all the way through. This is going to be a mulligan of a season no matter what. This is going to be a season that a lot of people view with an asterisk no matter what. And if the season lasts, the team that makes it is going to be the team least affected by the virus. In this case, the best asset for every team is going to simply be availability. It is very likely that a few weeks in we will be seeing half a team be backups due to Covid infections and mandatory quarantines. injuries kill so many teams every year, and this year will be that multiplied tenfold. The team that wins this year (provided we don’t get the vaccine out, it gets cancelled, other potential new outcomes, etc) is going to be the team that takes the threat seriously. The one that stupid people will moan about taking it too seriously will probably win. The one with the roster of players who take the most responsibility and accountability will make it to the endgame.
Or maybe the team that simply gets hit first and then recovers by the time everyone else is infected will take the trophy. The Eagles seem to be going for that approach. No wonder Doug got infected.
Looking forward to watching Super Bowl 55 in April 2021 with no fans in the stands after a significantly shortened and delayed season, held only so they can keep the consistency of the Super Bowl numbers and calendar years paired the same (bowl ends in a 5 held in a year that ends with a 1, etc.). The game will be held at Rogers Place hockey arena in Edmonton, the same place the 2020 Stanley Cup Finals took place.
Hey maybe the Browns might finally have a shot after taking over the ones shipped to Baltimore.
Only problem is that players who take the low risk opt out option will have to pay back the money next season (https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2020/08/04/opt-out-stipend-must-be-repaid-even-if-player-is-cut-in-2021/), so even the players that decide to opt out are still on the hook.
While I can’t imagine competent ownership actually demanding the money be returned, as a measure of good will, and I agree that players shouldn’t necessarily just be given 150k, there’s the possibility that they could get hurt down the road for not wanting to risk their careers during a tough time.
Andrew Brandt, a former Packers executive, says that in his experience, any bubble player who opts out and gets cut next year most likely won’t pay it back and the teams won’t be able to force them to pay it back either.
Call the season , now. Its not worth the death of one single player, or one single fan (if they allow them back in with distancing) just to get a game of football played.
This was to be the 17th season for the football pool I run. It’s kind of a complex thing on the back end, so I clock a lot of hours every August getting everything running smoothly.
Fuck that noise — it’ll almost certainly be on hiatus for this year. I’m not busting my hump to get things ready for a season that is going to come crashing to the ground.
As a side note, I still don’t get why the NFL decided to make it mandatory for teams to basically push the entire cap hit of players who opt out into next year. Yeah, they end up with more cap space this year, but why increase the cap hits next year when the cap is expected to crash as is?
I think you can still roll unused cap for the next year on the new CBA so it doesn’t really matter anyway
HOLY SHIT, are you trying to say that the LIONS could win because everyone there is already infected? Like Golladay and Hockenson?
Am I the only person who thinks it’s all going to go to the team whose coaching staff is best able to get good production out of replacements and nobodies? If this season shakes out the way it looks like it might coach of the year should be the most significant prize awarded. Few, if any, teams will be riding high on collective skill and talent.
(All of this assuming a season happens.)
Soooo… Patriots win the Super Bowl? Getting production out of nobodies is what gets Belichick hard at night.
Im already expecting Cam to throw for 5000yards & 60 TDs as a giant fuck you finger to the panthers so we might as well give Darth Bill the trophy right now and call off the season already.