The Offseason Training Activities (OTAs) are voluntary. It’s amazing how many people seem to forget that. It’s written into the Collective Bargaining Agreement for a reason. That agreement is intended to strike a balance between players and owners – and to hopefully be a fair compromise for both parties.
Voluntary is supposed to mean of one’s own free will.
In Washington, voluntary seems to mean, of one’s own free will that toes the corporate line.
Three Washington players are not at the voluntary 2023 OTAs right now – Chase Young, Montez Sweat, and Charles Leno Jr.
Almost every drop of print that came out of the first few days of OTAs seemed to take a shot at Young for not being there. How it says something about Young that he’s working out somewhere else. And yet, that same print material usually lacks any sort of vitriol towards Sweat. Or Leno. Sure a few shots have been fired across the bow there too, but a whole lot less seems to be made about anyone-not-named-Young.
Is that just a personal perception, or is it truly just that most of the venom seems to be reserved for Young?
Devil’s Advocate
It seems naive to lash out at Young for a couple of reasons.
Firstly, coming off the degree of injury that Young is coming off of, is something that seems to be completely ignored. Thirty years ago, if Young had sustained the knee injury that he did, there was a 95% chance that he’d never play again.
Modern medicine is leaps and bounds from where it was back then, so nowadays, a player can recover from such an injury. But that shouldn’t downplay or underestimate the severity of Young’s damage. If they use the words, “used part of the other knee to re-build the injured one” – your first thought should be, “Oh dear. That sounds pretty serious.”
Because it is.
If your next thought is, “Yeah but he needs to rehabilitate it by playing on it,” then you maybe it’s the rigors of an NFL season that you’re downplaying. You may be getting lured into the thoughts of, “it’s only a 17 game season.” After all, no sport has shorter career spans than football does.
So there’s nothing nefarious about opting out of a voluntary workout when you might have a vested interest in making sure you can handle an entire NFL season.
Different Interests
And what exactly might that vested interestlook like?
Well, Young is entering the final season of his rookie contract. The team opted NOT to exercise the fifth-year option. That means Young will be looking elsewhere for work next year if he doesn’t live up to the expectations of the brass and work out a new contract. Whatever those expectations might be.
The ownership side can of course just decide to sign Young if he shows out and looks like he’s worth keeping.
Young’s only option is to get out there and earn his next contract.
It’s easy to sit in an arm chair and judge that. But it means that protecting yourself is part of the game.
OTAs Are Voluntary
So once more for the kids at the back…OTAs are voluntary.
If you remove emotion from the equation, and consider just that resting a surgically repaired knee is not a bad decision, it should be a lot easier to understand the voluntary decisions that might be made.
If on top of the added rest and protection, you also consider that the NFL is a business, it should get easier and easier to understand some people’s decisions on voluntary sessions.
Of one’s own free will. Remember? Whatever that individual sees fit.
The workouts are voluntary for a reason. The team will always insist that participating in everything is the better choice for a player. What they really mean is that participating in everything is the better choice for management. That’s why the union got the league to put the decision in the hands of the player. So that the player could consider what was best for themselves personally.
Because their interests may sometimes differ from those of ownership. In fact, their interests (contractually) will almost always differ from those of management. After all, they are two sides manning the opposite side of an equation.
But it’s an equation that has a union and a bargaining agreement involved, to try and make things fair for the “little guys”.
So if you need to throw Chase Young under the bus, go ahead.
The young man has only himself to look after his own personal interests, and shouldn’t feel sheepish about doing so.
Don’t Miss: Chase Young Caps Off Dynamite Rookie Season With Major Award
But, But, But…
Ever wondered why you’re not reading press snippets about how upset other players are about three guys not being at voluntary OTAs?
Because they understand.
They have the same vested interests typically.
Sure some players may feel that the guys should be there, but what they really care about is guys showing up when it actually matters. And when it’s not voluntary.
What Does It All Mean, Man?
If Chase under-performs, he will be left to his own devices. Free to pursue any further NFL existence he desires, just not in Washington. At that time, there may even be the odd mention in the news, about the role that missing OTAs had in it. Or said about the young man.
If he balls out and plays well, the team will likely sign him regardless of cost, especially if he plays up to his lofty expectations.
The press will write about what a loss it would be, if they don’t sign him.
The fans will lament about how many times that Washington has let good player’s go, and how that’s not how good teams operate.
And everyone will then forget about the fact that Chase Young was not at the 2023 voluntary Offseason Training Activities.