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The Jacksonville Jaguars have placed Branden Albert on the team’s reserve/retired list, according to the team.
The Jaguars are placing OT Branden Albert on the team's reserve/retired list. He was previously on the "left team" list.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) August 8, 2017
For those asking what means, it's procedural stuff. But it means they're not interested in his services. Not now. Likely not ever.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) August 8, 2017
So what the heck does all this mean?
Effectively, the team is forcing Albert to show up if he wants to get paid. If he shows up, the Jaguars can then either give him his roster spot back or cut him — allowing Albert to recoup his signing bonus either way.
But if Albert doesn’t show up, he likely has to give back $3.4 million of his signing bonus.
The Albert saga has been an interesting one to watch. In July, he retired from the NFL and the Jaguars shortly after the team started practicing in full pads. The move came as a total stunner to most, as the feeling was Albert would be a starter on the Jaguars offensive line at some position, be it left tackle or one of the guard spots. After skipping voluntary workouts in hopes of a new contract, Albert returned when practices were mandatory as the team’s starting offensive left tackle.
Then Albert un-retired, seemingly in hopes of recouping his signing bonus and not having to pay part of it back to the team. But the team wasn’t having it, placing the veteran offensive lineman on reserve/retired. Now the team can move on without him if Albert doesn’t show up or cut him if he does.
With all this Albert drama, rookie second-round pick Cam Robinson should (still) be the team’s starting left tackle.