Browns safety Abe Elam, a restricted free agent, hasn’t signed his tender offer and thus has no obligation to attend the team’s mandatory minicamp this weekend.
And so, according to Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, he won’t.
Elam received a second-round offer, worth $1.759 million for one year. If he doesn’t sign by Tuesday, the team can drop the offer to 110 percent of his 2009 base salary. In Elam’s case, the reduction would cover only $109,000.
Thus, he could decide to continue to hold out, and he could show up on the eve of Week 1 and get his full $1.759 million.
In so doing, he’s risking that the team will decide to withdraw the tender, making Elam a restricted free agent without restrictions. But if he thinks that means he’d cash in, he should have a chat with O.J. Atogwe.