Ja'Wuan James Possibly Out for 2021 Season

[EDGECRUSHER]

Tore his ACL working out away from the club, so Denver may not have to pay him either.

His whole contract has been a disaster from Day 1, he's played like 4 games in what will be 3 years. Thank God we didn't match such a stupid offer but this is why you draft O-Line guys as much as you can, they are really expensive where even the "just solid" guys like James are getting big money.

[CF DolFan]

Dang ... that guys body has definitely let him down in recent years.

[EDGECRUSHER]

Dang ... that guys body has definitely let him down in recent years.

Health is 90% a trait you either possess or do not. You can do some things to avoid injuries but once you are a certain size and play sports, you either got it or you don't.

[ArtieChokePhin]

We reached for him back in 2014 when we needed O-Line help and he was the best available after there was a run on tackles in the first round.  Turned out to be a massive bust once he got that second contract.  Like Edgecrusher says, I'm glad we didn't match the offer.

[EDGECRUSHER]

We reached for him back in 2014 when we needed O-Line help and he was the best available after there was a run on tackles in the first round.  Turned out to be a massive bust once he got that second contract.  Like Edgecrusher says, I'm glad we didn't match the offer.

We were *THIS CLOSE* to getting Zack Martin but Dallas beat us to it. Go back and look at that draft, what a sorry one that was.

[Dolphster]

I always liked Ja'Wuan James and thought he had a lot of potential.  Like a lot of athletes though, injuries eventually made him yet another "what could have been" story.

[ArtieChokePhin]

Looks like there is going to be a big fight between the NFL and the Players Union about him not being paid. 

[EDGECRUSHER]

Looks like there is going to be a big fight between the NFL and the Players Union about him not being paid. 

The language should be clear. If he got hurt working out by himself, is he still eligble to be paid or not? I have no idea what it says, but I'm sure the teams want their players to stay in shape during the offseason. I can only see issues coming up if he got injured on a motorcycle or doing some extreme sports stuff, but the contract would say if that was prohibited.

[EDGECRUSHER]

https://broncoswire.usatoday.com/2021/05/05/patrick-mahomes-reacts-jawuan-james-contract-denver-broncos/

This clears up some of the questions I had. The NFLPA advised players to not report to team facilities for involuntary offseason workouts. This shifted the liability from the team to the player in case of injury. I have no idea why they are allowed to not pay a player if he was trying to stay in shape at home, but it does seem pretty clear cut and horrible advice from the NFLPA.

I don't even know why the NFLPA exists, by far the worst union in professional sports that does nothing for the players.