The Sam Darnold rookie contract saga has come to a close. Darnold missed the first several days of training camp in his standoff with the Jets, but the two sides officially reached agreement on a contract on Monday, the club announced.
Offset language was a point of contention between the two sides, but the deal will indeed include offset language according to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News (Twitter link). Darnold’s reps fought hard on that front, but the team “was not moving off that,” Mehta writes.
Over the weekend, conflicting emerged about what exactly was keeping Darnold away. Some reported that bonus money and under what circumstances it would void was the issue, but according to Mehta, “offsets were the real issue” (Twitter link). Mehta adds that Darnold’s agency, CAA, was “fuming” after number one overall pick Baker Mayfield agreed to a deal with offsets in it that reduced their leverage. He also notes that attempts this weekend to muddy the waters about why Darnold was holding out were purely an attempt by Darnold’s agent, Jimmy Sexton, to “save face.”
Finally, Jets fans can stop worrying. Darnold’s absence has prompted a lot of fan anger toward the team for adopting such a hardline stance against the rookie quarterback, and now the team can get back to football. Ultimately, it seems as if this was a battle between two sides who both just wanted to “win” the argument, and Darnold’s camp caved first. Bears linebacker Roquan Smith is now the last remaining unsigned first round pick.
4-years, $30 million. All guaranteed. Nice work if you can get it…
I miss Art Donovan and his great anecdotes about football in the 50s and 60s. There were a few rookies back then who had their contracts written out on the back of a table napkin.
Back when it was a game and not a business…
There has always been a business component to the sport but back then owners were much more passionate about the game itself and not totally consumed by the almighty dollar as they are today.