Expected opt-outs? …
- Thread starter Shmuley
- Start date
i guess we will find out pretty quick how much his absence hurts us. he was really the only one we had that could possibly stretch the field to keep the defense honest
He disappeared in plenty of games already this year. One more what matter much
Stretching the field ain't been our bread and butter but spreading it to multiple receivers has. Hate to see him go but his salary increase demands were not justifiable according to Leach. We'll get by fine.
Hate to see **** like this when these kids can get $millions of insurance against injury for that one game at not a great expense. Especially since I think they get a nice policy paid for by the school.
Now, with NIL, there is no reason why we couldn't offer a great policy to these potential opt-outs at no expense to them.
On a side note, if these guys are getting paid to play for us, playing in bowl games ought to be mandatory.
I agree. College football is now a job. You're taking money to play... so play.
Looks like NIL funds need to do it like the NFL and cut game checks.
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I think its a bit naive to think that these bowl game opt out decisions are always made by these NFL prospects in November / December. In many cases, they are made in August. In those cases, the players may not have the option to play anymore after December.
I also won’t pretend to know how much those policies are, but if its more than a couple hundred bucks or something, it may be better to just add that to the pool for incoming guys. Its not that important to win a non-CFP bowl game….spend the money on getting great players who will be here at least a full season. Much more bang for the buck.
I know nothing about those insurance polices, but they likely sound better than they are. Forbes currently has a 2nd round grade, he'd probably rather enter the combine healthy to try to up his stock. Late second round to late first/early second round is probably several hundred thousand/year. If he was my son, I'd advise him not to play in the bowl game,
This from an article pertaining to 2020 salary range for 2nd & 3rd round picks:
"The day two selections in the second and third round will all receive four-year contracts. The top second-round pick will sign a deal estimated to be a four-year, $8.68 million contract which includes a $3.87 million signing bonus, per Over the Cap. The last pick of the second round has a four-year, $5.24 million contract with a $1.37 million signing bonus."
The insurance policies are based on a draft grade that estimates where a player is expected to be drafted and the salary associated with that. So, if your son was a 2nd round pick, his "loss of potential income" payout would be inline with those projections. In 2020, it would have been somewhere between $5.24 million & $8.68 million. Obviously those numbers are higher this year.
Plus, those policies also include if he is still drafted, but goes lower than his projection because of any injury sustained in the bowl game, or practices, etc. So, if he was projected at $7,000.000 for 4 years, got hurt and slipped to a later round, say for $2,000,000, then the policy pays out $5,000,000.
An argument can be made, though, that it only protects for that first contract estimate, so can't compensate for lifetime earning if for instance the plyer would have continued past the 4 years, etc. But now you're talking about letting down your teammates, coaches, fans, etc. on the very slim chance that out of all of the games you have practiced for and played for your entire life, it is this last one that injures you that badly.
Possible, sure, but likely...no, not even close. So your worst-case scenario is your son is the one-in-thousands perhaps that takes that bad injury and still walks away with multi-millions of dollars...set for a life of ease if he isn't foolish with his money,
For me, that makes the refusal to play a *****-move.
But do those policies pay in the case of a s-hitty game? I doubt it. I would bet some guys (not all) have been advised that they have a pretty high draft spot locked up, so just 'hold what you got' for now, and try to move up at pro day, combine, etc. In other words, not only could Forbes get hurt in a fairly meaningless (to him) bowl, he could also allow 2 TD passes in the game and hurt his current draft position as well. No insurance for that. I wish he would play too, but I also get why he would pass.
Like I replied, the insurance policy probably sounds much better than it actually is. Plenty of players have gotten hurt in bowl games. So unless you're a sports agent or university athletic department official with a lot of first-hand knowledge of these policies, I'll keep on assuming it's much better to enter the combine healthy. Why don't up just thank Mr. Forbes for his service and go about your day?
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Please expound because I don't claim to be an insider. Inquiring minds would like to know.
I've read another article that literally says schools are allowed to buy this insurance, and most now do, or at least offer to. Pretty sure the SEC allows it.
The NCAA’s Catastrophic Injury Insurance Program
The NCAA does provide some disability insurance through its Catastrophic Insurance Program. The NCAA pays the full premiums for the catastrophic injury policy, and all member NCAA schools are automatically provided with the insurance coverage. The insurer of the policy is the Mutual of Omaha Insurance Company. The NCAA catastrophic program provides three main types of benefits: medical benefits, true catastrophic injury benefits, and death benefits.[50]
The “medical benefits are available to those Insured Persons[51] who meet the deductible within the required timeframe, incur medical expenses in excess of the deductible as a result of an injury sustained during a Covered Event, and has not triggered the date of recovery clause.” A covered event under the policy is “a. a Qualifying Intercollege Sport competition scheduled by the Insured Person’s Participating School; b. official team activities; c. conditioning; or d. practice sessions.” Events held by organizations other than the participating school, such as camps or clinics, are not covered. A policy deductible is “the total amount of eligible medical expenses that must be incurred as a result of an injury sustained during a Covered Event before the benefits under the NCAA catastrophic policy will be available.” Furthermore, “[t]he deductible must be met within two years following the date of injury.” Currently, the deductible is $90,000, increasing from $75,000 recently. If all institutions comply with the NCAA mandatory health insurance regulations, the “catastrophic program deductible will be covered by the student‑athlete’s or parents’ personal insurance coverage or through a basic accident medical policy carried by the institution.” The NCAA explains that the goal of this requirement is to “avoid a situation where a student-athlete is faced with paying the amount under the NCAA Catastrophic policy deductible out-of-pocket.”
Exceptional Student-Athlete Disability Insurance Program
The Catastrophic Injury Insurance Program is not the only insurance the NCAA offers. The NCAA also offers extra disability insurance coverage to a select group of elite athletes. This disability insurance coverage is known as the “Exceptional Student-Athlete Disability Insurance” program. “This program ‘helps’ elite college athletes—those who will likely earn millions from careers in professional sports—get insurance . . . if an injury causes a playing career to end.” The ESDI program began in 1990, but it initially only covered football and men’s basketball. The NCAA explains the original reason the program was created was to protect student-athletes from “both injury concerns and attempts by agents to lure the student-athletes away from school and into the professional leagues.” Another concern listed was that it was designed to protect NCAA athletes’ amateur status because agents were giving money to players to purchase insurance.
For a student-athlete to be eligible for the ESDI program, the student-athlete must have remaining athletic eligibility at an NCAA institution in football, basketball, baseball, or men’s ice hockey. The student-athlete must also demonstrate that “they have professional potential to be selected in the first two rounds of the upcoming National Football League or National Hockey League draft or the first round of the upcoming draft of the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball or Women’s National Basketball Association.” However, “the policy does not explicitly list what criteria is used to determine whether a student-athlete demonstrates ‘professional potential,’ but the NCAA often uses professional scouting services to assist in their evaluations, which can be an inexact science.”The NCAA also notes that the program is not limited to the sports listed above as other student-athletes are eligible for coverage, but their cases are reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
Athletes are not required to apply for the program before the season starts but are capable of playing their way into the ESDI program. Essentially, if a student-athlete is found to be ineligible before the start of a collegiate season, but he plays well enough during the season to increase his draft stock, they can then apply and obtain coverage mid-season. “The polices are written in a way that incentivizes players to want to continue playing their sport, as they will be able to earn more as a professional than they would by collecting on a policy.”
The policy acquired through the ESDI program is not paid for by the NCAA or the student‑athlete’s institution but instead is paid by the student-athlete or their family. However, student-athletes approved for the program are automatically eligible for a loan to pay the premiums on the policy. If the student-athlete acquires a loan to pay the premiums, they are not responsible for making any payment on the loan until one of the following occurs: “(1) the student-athlete signs a professional contract, (2) the disability benefits become available due to a covered injury or sickness or (3) the coverage is no longer in effect and the loan note matures.”[106] Because the ESDI program is a group program, the premiums are relatively affordable. This is because the insurer can share the administrative cost and spread the risk among the participating athletes. The premiums “for the policy can be as much as ten thousand to twelve thousand per one million insured.”
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