The Minnesota Vikings have signed five of their seven 2024 NFL Draft picks to contracts. The only picks that are still unsigned are quarterback J.J. McCarthy and edge rusher Dallas Turner. It's not a big deal that they are still unsigned at this point, but it has some raising concerns.
While not a traditional NFL insider like Adam Schefter and Ian Rapoport, Twitter user Pretty Rickey developed a following during free agency as he got multiple moves right. He tweeted that McCarthy is planning to hold out if he doesn't get his signing bonus in a lump sum.
Interesting development in Minnesota. JJ McCarthy plans to hold out unless he gets 100% of his signing bonus up front. The Vikings have never done that before. #Skol pic.twitter.com/8ieVKxh5Z9
— Rickey (@prettyrickey213) June 11, 2024
It's an interesting theory and one that deserves to be parsed out on the off chance that it's true.
Could Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy hold out?
Holding out has become a lot less common in today's NFL than it has been previously. The new CBA and rookie wage scale make holdouts mostly non-existent. Most holdouts end up being over offset language so they can't double dip if they get cut. That is why Russell Wilson is playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers on the league minimum. I broke things down on The Real Forno Show on why McCarthy might hold out.
There are two reasons why the Vikings might not want to do that: they haven't done it before and potentially void out guarantees.
This goes back to the Henry Ruggs situation. When an extreme off-the-field incident happens, teams can void out guarantees on a contract. Now, that is the most extreme of incidents and rarely happens. However, when you are running a business, it's good practice to make sure you have all of your ducks in a row.
The reason why this gets brought up with the Vikings is they did have Jeff Gladney get into some alleged trouble and cut him when he was charged with domestic violence. It is much easier to void out guarantees when the money hasn't been paid.
The other element is that the Vikings have never done this before. Well, they haven't done a lot of things before until they did them. They had never fully guaranteed a three-year contract (Kirk Cousins), they hadn't guaranteed salary into year two of the extension (T.J. Hockenson) and they instituted a paradigm shift with the Justin Jefferson extension.
The Vikings rarely pick this high and McCarthy is the first top 10 quarterback selection in team history. Other top quarterbacks are getting their signing bonuses paid in full. Trevor Lawrence, C.J. Stroud and Zach Wilson have gotten their signing bonuses paid up front and Travon Walker did so the next year.
Will that happen for McCarthy? It's definitely possible, but the idea of a holdout right now isn't something to take seriously yet. If it's a day or two ahead of when the players report to training camp, then we can be concerned. Outside of that, don't stress about it.
Does this look like a player who is planning on holding out?
The #Vikings have 5 weeks before training camp; J.J. McCarthy said he'll spend much of it the team facility. He traveled plenty this spring, he said.
— Ben Goessling (@BenGoessling) June 12, 2024
"I'm going to be in the building as much as I can, focused on building habits," he said.
And, "maybe play a little golf."
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