TeamoftheCentury":1ifhblw2 said:
Popeyejones":1ifhblw2 said:
^^^ This is totally standard when players retire due to injury, age, etc..
The only recent exception I can think of is that Chris Borland gave his bonus money back to the 9ers after retiring after one season, but overall that was a really atypical situation. (I'm guessing the 9ers would have rather had the third round pick back than the 400K of bonus money :lol: )
Sure can't be because of how John Schneider and the Seahawks treat their players, huh? They're no better than the standard, is what Popeye is saying. Nothing special about the treatment the Hawks are giving Marshawn?
Does everyone here agree with that? Just curious.
Generally, Popeyejones is spot on.
Most players, especially ones with history of service -- aren't typically asked to repay the prorated signing bonus.
In general, the cases where the bonus has been repaid (willingly or not), has been in cases where a player retires soon after signing a multi year deal when the team thinks the player can still play and misrepresented his intention when negotiating the deal.
For recent examples, see Kyle Orton (Cowboys) and Jake Plummer (Tampa Bay). One could also look at the case of Andre Johnson in 2014. Johnson restructured a massive deal in 2011, 2012 and 2013 to convert base salary to signing bonus. This was at the request of the team and for their benefit to get under the cap.
When the situation between him and the team turned acrimonious in 2014 -- leading to threats of retirement from Johnson -- the team held the repayment of his signing bonus over him to force him to play. And that bonus was exceptionally high because of the massive amounts of base salary converted to bonus at the behest of the team.
The most comparable recent instance was Kurt Warner's retirement in 2010 from Arizona. He signed a two year deal in 2009 with an 11.5m signing bonus. It was a deal similar to Lynch's. A sweet deal to reward a SB appearance to a guy who was the heartbeat of the team.
Arizona forced repayment of the remaining 7.5m in 2010. Even though there wasn't much in the way of acrimony. The situations were very similar and the money outstanding was very similar. The Cards went after the money. Seattle -- it remains to be seen.
And then there is the case of Barry Sanders. One of the most beloved players in Lions history. But this is the Lions we're talking about. When he retired in '99 and offered to repay half of the remaining signing bonus if Detroit would release his rights so he could play elsewhere -- the Lions did what we would expect. Forced him to repay the entire amount and held on to his rights until they expired. Scorched earth policy at it's finest. Cheating NFL fans of a couple years of Barry's talents.
So there aren't set rules. But in general teams rarely recoup bonuses unless they feel like players negotiated in bad faith or if they deemed the retirement as a holdout/ruse or attempt to force a trade.
Also worth noting that Brett Favre had language added to his deal with the NY Jets whereby the team conceded the right to go after signing bonus money should he retire (which he did). The Jets knew going in that the multi year deal they agreed to was going to be a 1 year rent a QB deal. So there is the ability for players to bargain that.
Players that retire due to injury very rarely are asked to forfeit their signing bonus.
It was surmised even at the time Lynch signed his deal last year, that this three year deal was really a one year deal. The bonus not being prohibitive enough that Seattle couldn't simply release him. I wouldn't be at all surprised to learn that this outcome was already agreed to behind closed doors.
