I want to say Fuck all rookie players that want to hold out. (especially 1st rounders) They are guaranteed 5 years even if they wash out year 1.
In fact rookie contracts shouldnt be allowed to be held out.
If a team wants to extend them so they dont have to negotiate after the last year so be it.
but saying you are gonna hold out, should be stopped. Teams draft in the 1st rd. for 5 rounds of guarantee. They should have it. it is guaranteed pay.
After that is in the players hands. As far as I know. This is apart of the player association agreement.
I dont think any rookie contract should be allowed to be boycotted.
About the only way you can do that is to have predetermined contracts. I guess the rule could be something crazy like dollar caps if the existing contract isn't adhered to, make it by position.
1) If a player holds out from mandatory gatherings (practices, camps, games, etc) with years still on a contract, then the value of their contract is capped at the average of the top 5 AAV of that same position in both years and dollars.
2) for every year remaining on a contract where the player doesn't participate in mandatory gatherings and/or games, their contract is maxed at 10% per year less than the top 5 AAV
3) And this is the kicker here...if a player is removed from a team prior to their full announced contract value at time of signing, and making assumptions every dollar and year of non-incentive compensation is met, 10% of the full value of the contract will be removed from the teams salary cap the following season
With something like that you punish the best players, who are the only ones able to hold out, if they decide to pull a power play. You also give the players some protection while punishing owners who get greedy and give out fake contracts that they never had any intention of fully honoring. Both sides get something.
