Contract Blues: Why Do NFL Players Hold Out? Shaun Alexander Knows

Contract negotiations between teams and players dominate NFL news in the summer months. Dirty, sexy, money talk comes complete with agent sound bites and team press releases promising to do, “Whatever is best for the organization.” Fans get angry as their season hopes become contingent upon the negotiating skill of their local front office staff. As much as we love the game, football is a business. The more we understand the business relationship between players and teams the better we will be able to temper our emotions during this difficult part of the season. The truth of the matter is that players hold out for one major reason: job insecurity. Professional football is obviously a very competitive industry. Every year NFL teams draft hundreds of young men who intend to take a current player’s job. The number of openings are finite, and the number of candidates continue to grow every year. Professional players with contracts need to go out and make their team every year in ... (link)