Jets offensive tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson has the largest workout bonus in the NFL, $750,000. In an attempt to earn that bonus, Ferguson is showing up to the Jets’ facilities today, one day after Judge Susan Nelson lifted the lockout.
Ferguson knows he’s not actually going to work out, but (as we’ve explained before) he wants to reserve the right to sue to collect his $750,000 if the Jets never pay him that bonus.
Ferguson’s agent, Brad Blank, told ESPN what he expects will happen.
“It only makes sense for a guy with a big workout bonus,” Blank said. “It’s not going to be a huge thing. He’ll go to the office, the security guard will say, ‘No, I can’t let you in’ and he’ll leave quietly. It’s not going to be James Meredith at Mississippi, with the national guard.”
So Ferguson will simply make a brief appearance at the team’s facilities, reserving the right to claim later that he was present and ready to work out when the lockout was lifted, and that he’s therefore owed $750,000.
UPDATE: Ferguson did briefly show up, saying before he left that his appearance should count as attending an offseason workout.