Every year at this time, NFL teams jettison plenty of “vested veterans” -- players with four or more years of service. It happens in part because the players are no longer good enough to win roster spots. It also happens because vested veterans have special protections if on the Week One roster.
Special protections that put them in danger of losing their jobs.
Every player with four or more years of service who is on a team’s Week One roster can collect the balance of his salary as termination pay, if he’s cut at any point during the season. It’s a benefit for players with four or more years of service, and it can be a significant chunk of change.
It was incredibly significant two years ago for former Buccaneers quarterback Josh Freeman, who received an extra $5.95 million after being cut during the 2013 season. He also was permitted to keep $2 million from the Vikings, resulting in a total salary of $10.43 million for what apparently was his last NFL season.
It’s a one-time-only protection; if Freeman had made it to the Week One roster in Miami, he wouldn’t be eligible for it again.
Ditto for former Jets linebacker Jason Babin, who already collected termination pay after being cut by the Seahawks during the 2008 season. Which may explain the confidence he expressed before the Jets cut him: “If they don’t want me, I’m sure there’s 31 others that do if it comes down to that.”
Every year, there’s a belief that many of the players cut before Week One will easily land jobs after Week One. In reality, not that many end up being signed once the entitlement to be paid for the rest of the season evaporates.