Former Florida DL becomes first NFL player to take 'high-risk' opt-out plan for 2020 season
The NFL is allowing players to “opt out” of the 2020 season if they don’t feel safe participating during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A number of players have already taken the league up on that offer, but on Monday, a former Florida defensive lineman became the first player to do so under the “high risk” clause.
Per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, Washington Football Team DE Caleb Brantley will be paid a $350,000 stipend and have his contract roll over to next season:
Washington DE Caleb Brantley is the first NFL player to take the "high risk" opt out, per the transaction wire.
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Brantley, who played in one game last season, gets a $350,000 stipend with no offset and an accrued/credited season. His contract tolls.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) July 27, 2020
That makes 7 players who have currently decided to opt out of the season, according to Alex Kozora on Twitter:
The seven:
Laurent Duvernay-Tardif (KC)
De'Anthony Thomas (BAL)
Chance Warmack (SEA)
Caleb Brantley (WSH)
Marcus Cannon (NE)
Danny Vitale (NE)
Najee Toran (NE)— Alex Kozora (@Alex_Kozora) July 27, 2020
Brantley was a Round 6 pick of the Cleveland Browns in 2017. He signed with the Washington team in 2018 but missed almost all of the 2019 season with an injury.
Now, he’ll have a chance to come back at full speed in 2021.
Can i ask my boss if he could pay me 350k to sit out of work for a year?
You sure could. If your skill set generated millions of dollars a yr, I’m sure your boss would go for it….
If not doing so could potentially lead you do dying, sounds reasonable.
Maybe i’ll just ask for a raise for working in hazardous conditions. All kidding aside, my wife works in the medical industry and this is an extremely dangerous virus. Some people think of it as just another flu-bug, but it can kill you in a matter of days, and the scary thing is they don’t know why. Think about that before you mingle amongst strangers.