NFL Contract Holdouts: How Will They Affect the League?

If you are a fan of football you may have noticed that in recent years NFL players have increasingly been holding out over contracts. Some notable players who held out this past offseason include Ja’marr Chase, Trent Williams, CeeDee Lamb, and Brandon Aiyuk. Despite all these players holding out in the offseason, all of them played in the first week of the season and have continued to play for the rest of the season. But how has holding out affected the players and the teams so far this season? How have contract holdouts altered the culture of the NFL over the years? And perhaps most importantly, is there a solution that benefits both the players and the teams which doesn’t involve holding out?
Holding out over a contract, in simple terms, is when a player chooses not to participate in training camps, practices, and sometimes even games until they receive a contract that they believe is fair. This has been especially popular among wide receivers. Holdouts have been a useful tactic for many players as they typically receive their monetary requests when their teams are forced to make a decision. However, the effects of not attending practices and training camps can be seen across the league.
Forty-niners receiver Brandon Aiyuk is a great example. In the first five weeks of his monster 2023-2024 season, Aiyuk had 454 receiving yards while under a four-year $12.5 million contract. Meanwhile, five weeks into this 2024-2025 season, he only has 314. under a four-year $120 million contract.
Further, Aiyuk isn’t the only one struggling after holding out in the offseason. CeeDee Lamb had 1,749 receiving yards last season, and so far he is on pace for only 1,285 yards — over 400 yards fewer than in 2023. Similar to Aiyuk, Lamb was under a four-year $14 million contract and is now under a four-year $136 million contract.
This begs the question, has their underperformance affected their team? Yes. In the first five weeks of 2023, the Forty-niners were 5-0, and five games into this season, they are 2-3. And the Cowboys? They are the same 3-2 as they were five weeks into the season a year ago, but their offensive output has taken a clear hit. They are averaging roughly four points and 20 yards fewer per game than last season.
Now take a player who also came into the 2024 season seeking a new contract, but chose not to hold out, Alvin Kamara. Just five games into the season, Kamara already has 388 rushing yards and 214 receiving yards to go with six all-purpose touchdowns. He’s made himself invaluable to the Saints and their offense, and is projected to receive a substantial pay-day come this offseason.
It seems clear how the effects of holding out have harmed players and their teams, but the biggest issue hasn’t been addressed yet. The biggest issue with holding out is the culture it has perpetuated throughout the league and among wide receivers. Holding out creates self-absorption for the players as they become more interested in themselves than their teams. When this happens, the team’s chemistry can fall apart completely and the feeling of unity in the locker room quickly turns to discontent and envy among the players. The whole meaning behind this beautiful game is lost when players do not prioritize the team’s success over their own.
Unfortunately, it seems that holdouts are going to become more common in the future, with players expecting more and more money each year. But there may be a solution. Currently, the NFL does not require teams to pay out a player’s contract in full if they choose to release that player. If the NFL altered this to force teams to completely pay out contracts regardless of the situation, they could possibly work towards a deal with the Players Association. In this theoretical deal, the NFL would offer to pay out all players’ contracts, and would in turn ban holdouts. The way to ban holdouts would be to refuse to pay players at all if they participated in a holdout. This may sound harsh, but it might actually be an appealing deal to the Players Association. The reason they would accept the deal is that the majority of players in the NFL will never hold out in their careers and require a stable income. Accepting the deal would provide these players with exactly that.
We will probably never see this deal come to actuality, but nonetheless, it’s an interesting concept to consider. However, if the NFL does not find a solution to this issue, contracts will continue to rise, and players will continue to hold out, creating even more friction between players and their teams. Regardless of what actually happens, hold outs will continue to be an interesting part of the game and something to keep in mind every offseason.