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Cowboys' offseason attendance high for variety of reasons
9:00 AM CT
Todd Archer
ESPN Staff Writer
FRISCO, Texas -- Some teams have to do what they can to ensure players show up for the voluntary offseason program. The Green Bay Packers have close to $5 million in workout bonuses ready for their players.
The Dallas Cowboys do not have one player with a workout bonus.
The North Texas climate, the new facility and the peer pressure means the Cowboys have a high percentage of players at the voluntary workouts.
There is another reason: de-escalators.
More than 20 players have de-escalators in their deals that could end up costing them parts of their base salaries.
The monetary amounts of the de-escalators vary from player to player, but if cornerback Orlando Scandrick does not meet 90 percent of his workouts, he would forfeit $1 million of his $3 million base salary. Dez Bryant has a $500,000 de-escalator if he doesn’t attend 90 percent of the workouts tied to his $13 million base salary.
Jason Witten, Sean Lee, Tyron Smith and Travis Frederick also have de-escalators in their deals.
A number of teams use the de-escalator provisions in their deals with players, so the Cowboys are not alone. Players can miss roughly three workouts and not forfeit part of their salary. In 2015, Rolando McClain had a $250,000 workout bonus that he failed to collect after opting to do most of his knee rehab in Alabama.
According to this story by Packers NFL Nation reporter Rob Demovsky, Aaron Rodgers, Jordy Nelson, Clay Matthews and David Bakhtiari have $500,000 workout bonuses. The Packers have workout bonuses for 20 players.
The closest the Cowboys come to a workout bonus is with new offensive lineman Byron Bell. He can earn up to $450,000 if he makes a predetermined weight the first day of minicamp, training camp and the regular season.
9:00 AM CT
Todd Archer
ESPN Staff Writer
FRISCO, Texas -- Some teams have to do what they can to ensure players show up for the voluntary offseason program. The Green Bay Packers have close to $5 million in workout bonuses ready for their players.
The Dallas Cowboys do not have one player with a workout bonus.
The North Texas climate, the new facility and the peer pressure means the Cowboys have a high percentage of players at the voluntary workouts.
There is another reason: de-escalators.
More than 20 players have de-escalators in their deals that could end up costing them parts of their base salaries.
The monetary amounts of the de-escalators vary from player to player, but if cornerback Orlando Scandrick does not meet 90 percent of his workouts, he would forfeit $1 million of his $3 million base salary. Dez Bryant has a $500,000 de-escalator if he doesn’t attend 90 percent of the workouts tied to his $13 million base salary.
Jason Witten, Sean Lee, Tyron Smith and Travis Frederick also have de-escalators in their deals.
A number of teams use the de-escalator provisions in their deals with players, so the Cowboys are not alone. Players can miss roughly three workouts and not forfeit part of their salary. In 2015, Rolando McClain had a $250,000 workout bonus that he failed to collect after opting to do most of his knee rehab in Alabama.
According to this story by Packers NFL Nation reporter Rob Demovsky, Aaron Rodgers, Jordy Nelson, Clay Matthews and David Bakhtiari have $500,000 workout bonuses. The Packers have workout bonuses for 20 players.
The closest the Cowboys come to a workout bonus is with new offensive lineman Byron Bell. He can earn up to $450,000 if he makes a predetermined weight the first day of minicamp, training camp and the regular season.