Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
Maybe the hold out of Washington All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams is just about getting a new or reworked contract. He has 2 years left on his current deal, with cap hits of $14.7 million this year and $14.6 million in 2020.
Maybe Williams wants to be like or surpass the other Trent…as in Raiders offensive lineman Trent Brown, who became the highest paid offensive linemen in league history. He will earn $36.75 million guaranteed and an average annual salary of $16.5 million per year.
After all, he holds ALL the leverage in this situation for a number of reasons:
- He is arguably the best left tackle in the game, which protects the typical right throwing QB’s blind side;
- His probable replacement, Ereck Flowers’ pass blocking has been described as “a backwards skating 300 pounder”. That is an attempted humorous way of saying that he isn’t very good;
- Instability at this position makes it all the more difficult to throw your first round QB to the wolves
If it is just about money, all of the above explain the situation and there really is nothing unique about this. A “financial apology” may smooth over all animosity.
I suspect there is more to this hold out and recent reports support my suspicion.
In the winter, Williams underwent surgery to remove a tumor from his head. It was determined to be malignant, which means that it was made up of cancerous cells.
Subsequent reports say that Williams was unhappy with how the team doctors handled his situation and some have even said he seeks a trade as opposed to playing for the team again. Due to health privacy laws, the team is limited in what it can say about this matter without Williams’ consent.
Be that as it may, Williams is not the only player unhappy with the team doctors and overall handling of injuries. Keep in mind that Washington has been the most injury-riddled team in the NFL in each of the past 2 seasons. They put 26 players on the injured reserve in 2017 and topped that with 28 in 2018.
Football is a violent game and injuries must be baked into the planning recipe. To lead the league in injuries is bad luck.
To lead the league in consecutive years is extremely abnormal.
The team has tried a number of responses, including ice made of Gatorade.
That was not an attempt at humor but is true.
There are a number of theories, including the team’s tendency to draft players with an injury history under the thinking that they would be financial bargains. Say whatever one wants about owner Daniel Snyder, but he has no history of being cheap.
All of this leads me to believe two things: 1) that the prospect of Cancer is as terrifying for a 300 plus pound multimillionaire as it would be for any one of us, and 2) that such fear made him more conscious of his medical treatment than perhaps he had been before. More than a few of his teammates have echoed his concerns and stand by him.
The NFL’s “M.O.” is to treat players the way a factory treats a conveyor belt. When they are of no more use, they are discarded and replaced. Players are not conveyor belts in a factory. They are human beings. The fact that they are very well paid human beings does not mean that they forfeit the desire to play with their grandchildren one day.
Then again, it could be just about money. I’m sure that some will utter the tired trope, “he signed a contract and he should honor his contract”. Teams cut players under contract all the time. In other words, it’s only a contract as long as the team says it’s a contract. Under those conditions, holding out is the player’s only direct leverage.
Either way, I’m on the side of the players, which is to say labor. You need go no further than the health struggles of retired players to know how little the NFL cares about its most valuable asset and how hard it has resisted the moral responsibility to take care of them. When one considers all of this, Trent Williams’ indignation is more than righteous!
Gus Griffin, for War Room Sports
Tags: All's Fair in Sports and War, Daniel Snyder, Gus Griffin, Holdout, Left Tackle, NFL, Trent Williams, War Room Sports, Washington Redskins, WRS