49ers tight end Vernon Davis has decided not to attend voluntary workouts. He also has decided not to volunteer many details about the reasons for his absence.
“I might be there,” Davis told the San Francisco Chronicle, via CSNBayArea.com. “I might not. It’s mandatory. I probably should be there. We’ll see.”
Davis reportedly is skipping the non-mandatory workouts because he wants a new contract. He already has sacrificed a $200,000 workout bonus in support of his desire to get a new deal.
His contract provides for base salaries of $4.7 million and $4.35 million in 2014 and 2015, respectively. He’ll be a free agent in 2016.
When determining his demands, Davis needs to take into account the requirement that 10 percent of all future football earnings go to Fantex, as part of the deal that paid him $4 million up front.
Still, by choosing not to earn his workout bonus, Davis has cost his “investors” $20,000. And that’s another reason to not carry the burden of paying 10 percent of all earnings to someone else.
Meanwhile, coach Jim Harbaugh has decided to leave to someone else the task of talking about the situation.
“I’m not going to speak for another man and what they’re trying to get done with their contract,” Harbaugh told KNBR, via CSNBayArea.com. “If they want to talk about it publicly, and they think it’s beneficial to talk about it publicly, then they’ll choose to do that. Certainly, you could have Vernon or Alex [Boone] on the show and ask them or talk to their agent, if they think that’s something that’s beneficial. I choose to not do it.”
And Davis chooses not to show up. And the 49ers choose not to give him the new contract he wants.