Earl Thomas Broke His Leg and Maybe the Entire NFL
On Sept. 5, All-Pro safety Earl Thomas announced the end of his offseason-long holdout from the Seattle Seahawks in an Instagram post. "I’ve never let [my] teammates, city or fans down as long as I’ve lived and don’t plan on starting this weekend," Thomas wrote. "With that being said, the disrespect has been well noted and will not be forgotten."
So when he was carted off the field last night after suffering a season-ending broken leg during Seattle's 20-17 victory over the Arizona Cardinals, Thomas reminded the Seahawks organization just how much he had not forgotten by flipping off what looked to be his own sideline. (See above for a truly malice-filled bird.) Sure, it's completely possible Thomas was sending a message to some random fan who happened to be over his teammates' shoulders, insofar as it's also completely possible that he possesses Wolverine's mutant healing powers and will be back on the field next week.
Thomas had originally chosen to hold out because he was entering the final year of his contract and wanted an extension or a trade in order to protect himself from exactly this horrible situation—a season-ending injury that will now completely alter his ability to get paid. Seattle management, in the midst of a roster teardown while still somehow remaining competitive(-ish) thanks to quarterback Russell Wilson, instead played a game of chicken with arguably the greatest safety of the last decade. The team won that game of chicken, in that Thomas, tied for the 75th-highest paid player in the NFL this season, delivered three interceptions (tied for the league lead) in four games before his tragic injury. On the other hand, Seattle simultaneously lost that game of chicken for obvious reasons. And the longer-term effects of screwing over Thomas will reverberate not just through the Seattle locker room, but throughout the league, for a long while.
NFL players have become increasingly fed up with the volatile nature of the contracts they're able to sign, which are often riddled with incentive-based bonuses and dismal fractions of guaranteed money. Steelers star back Le'Veon Bell hasn't played a single down in 2018 because of that very situation, doubly fed up with having his prime-years contract negotiations stymied by being slapped with the franchise tag—which comes with a mandated one-year deal—for both of the past two seasons. Back in March, Bell told ESPN:
"I understand how the Steelers do contracts. Last year, I was pounding the table on guaranteed money. That's not the case. If I'm not getting guaranteed money, I want a lot more up front. ... It's year-to-year with the Steelers. Essentially if I sign a four- or five-year deal, I'm playing four or five franchise tags."
In light of Thomas's injury, Bell offered this comment:
Where the average joe will knee-jerk himself into the old "boo-hoo for multi-millionaires" response, it's worth pointing out that NFL contracts often have roughly the same value as toilet paper, given that most can be torn up at the discretion of the team. Unless your name rhymes with Dom Grady, even superstars get one, maybe two opportunities to truly cash in during their careers, assuming those moments aren't waylaid by, oh, season-ending "lower leg injuries." Thomas and Bell, for the record, are the outliers: high-profile talents who can sit out, garner media coverage, and still slide back into the game if they so choose. Plenty of players on the fringes of the league, the guys you watch on Hard Knocks who get cut on a whim, have neither the leverage nor the ability to cash in. And by "cash in," we mean "make a small percentage of their value from multi-billionaire team owners." Team owners such as Jerry Jones, who recently said of the NFL players he employs, "[they're] paid a lot of money to go out and incur those type [of] situations that have more risks in them."
Or, in the case of Earl Thomas, they're paid not nearly enough.
