Former Vikings cornerback Trae Waynes agreed to a three year, $42 million deal with the Bengals earlier this offseason.
Waynes moved his family to Cincinnati in May to get them settled and to finalize the deal he agreed to in March.
But, as Albert Breer writes on SI.com, the deal has not been finalized yet because he still hasn’t taken a physical with the team.
The Bengals are among the teams not allowing third-party physicals. So even though he’s in Cincinnati, the Bengals are not allowing for the team doctor to do the physical at his private practice. So Waynes has wait for the league to reopen facilities to players in order to take his physical.
Because of all this, Waynes has been advised by his agent not to do any football drills.
“He moved to Cincinnati, bought a house there, brought his wife and two kids there for the sole purpose that he could drive down to doctor’s private office and get his physical and do a deal,” Waynes’s agent, Brian Murphy said. “He’s got no other reason to be in Cincinnati, because all the offseason workouts were via Zoom. But we thought if he went there, he could get the physical, and it turns out he can’t.”
“I’ve advised Trae not to do any football drills, not to get out there on the field, certainly don’t do any live drills against other people,” Murphy added. “And my hope is that he’s following my advice.”
Without a signed deal, a serious injury could lead to a major mess.
- The team could honor his contract but put him on the non-football injury list, which would allow them to withhold payment of his signing bonus until he passes a physical, and not pay his base salary while he’s hurt.
- The team could try and back out of the deal altogether.
- The team could do the right thing and honor the deal.
“He’s gotta be creative, he’s gotta find different ways to be at peak physical performance,” Murphy said. “But assuming he’s not doing the one-on-one drills, assuming he’s not battling other players, he’s just not gonna be where he otherwise would be in a normal year.”
Along with Waynes, the Bengals also agreed to terms with DJ Reader, Vonn Bell, Mackensie Alexander, among others this offseason.
Most NFL teams are scheduled to report to training camp on July 28.
Follow @MySportsUpdate on twitter for all the latest info from around the NFL.
Be the first to comment