This Tuesday, July 15th, is a big date for the Ravens and Terrell Suggs. Under a new rule created by the CBA extension of 2006, if Suggs and the Ravens do not reach an agreement on a contract extension by that date, then the team can not re-sign their star LB/DE until after the season ends. If no agreement is reached, Suggs will end up playing this year under the Franchise Tender of close to $8.5M. It would also mean that he will become an Unrestricted Free Agent next Spring – unless he is re-signed (after this season) or Franchised again.
Recent media reports have indicated that there has been relatively little dialogue between the sides. Therefore if the team and Suggs’ representatives want to get something done, they’ll need to get together and get it done very quickly.
If they don’t get anything accomplished, it’ll be interesting to see how Suggs handles the signing of his Franchise Tender. For the most part, Suggs has said (and done) all the right things throughout this process, but until he signs his Tender, he is not required to attend any team activities. In the past (prior to the 2006 CBA extension, the rule was the exact opposite and teams could not re-sign franchised players until after July 15th), unsigned Franchise players would not show up on time to Training Camp, in hopes of pressure the team into a new long-term deal. However, with the change in the rule, that leverage is now gone. So, with no hope of forcing the issue in hopes of getting a long-term deal, the only real reason for Suggs not to sign his Tender at this time is to avoid having to come to Training Camp (after all, most veterans seem to hate training camp anyway).
So, will Suggs still stay away (it’s not technically a “holdout†since he’s not under contract) or will he “do the right thing†by signing the Franchise Tender and show up to Training Camp on time?
