NFL Expected to Allow Players to Opt-Out of 2020 Season
Let the speculation begin, after a report emerged on Wednesday afternoon that the NFL could allow players to opt-out of the entire 2020 season.
The opt-out was first reported by NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero on Wednesday’s NFL NOW. Pelissero said the league and NFLPA anticipate player opt-outs would be available but would need to be communicated by a certain date.
The opt-outs are being offered to any player who has a pre-existing condition, who have family members with pre-existing conditions, or any player in general who has concerns about playing during a pandemic.
Any player with young children could decide to take the league up on its offer and there are three very important Eagles who leap quickly to mind with young children they may want to protect from the virus: quarterback Carson Wentz, center Jason Kelce, and defensive end Branon Graham.
Wentz and Kelce became first-time fathers recently and Graham and his wife Carlyne have a young daughter and son.
Wentz and his wife Madison welcomed their daughter Hadley on April 27.
Kelce and his wife Kylie welcomed their daughter Wyatt on Oct. 2.
Not any of the three will choose to sit, and, in fact, they 99.9 percent probably won’t, but others around the league might.
"General managers were told on a call earlier this week there would be a specific date by which players would need to opt-out,” said Pelissero. “That date is still to be determined."
Also to be determined is how that would impact a player’s contract. Pelissero indicated that there would not be any penalty should a player decide to sit out the year.
Already, the league has proposed keeping 35 percent of a player’s earnings this season to help manage costs in light of the expected decline of the salary cap.
The NFLPA already has come out strongly against that idea.
There is still plenty to work out between the league and the NFLPA as training camps get closer to opening on July 28.
Eagles defensive tackle Malik Jackson took to social media and expressed outrage over the owners' lack of any concrete details on safety and financials.
What if it’s Wentz, Kelce, and/or Graham choose to sit?
The trio is probably the three players the team could least likely afford to lose.
If Wentz sits, Nate Sudfeld takes over and the idea of drafting Jalen Hurts doesn’t look like too much of a reach. Still, Wentz is the franchise.
If Kelce sits, who steps in for him? There has already been plenty of change on the offensive line, with Andre Dillard expected to be the starting left tackle over veteran Jason Peters, who remains a free agent, and right guard Brandon Brooks missing the season with a torn Achilles.
Imagine throwing a new center in there, too.
If Graham sits, the Eagles’ defensive end position, already considered one of the more troubling parts of the defense due to its relative inexperience behind him and Derek Barnett, gets even murkier.
Again, all three are likely to play, but it bears watching other parts of the Eagles’ roster as well as the roster of the other 31 teams.
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