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Late Sunday evening there was a report by the Associated Press that the Jacksonville Jaguars will be voiding the remaining guarantees on running back Leonard Fournette’s rookie contract. To no one’s surprise, it appears that Fournette and the NFLPA will be filing a grievance if/when the Jaguars officially make the decision to enact the clause to void the guarantees.
Lost in the news that the #Jaguars are keeping their coach & GM was AP's report that the team plans to void RB Leonard Fournette's guarantees. If the Jags attempt to do so, the NFLPA & Fournette will file a grievance. Based on his contract, it’s not clear cut that they can do it.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 31, 2018
By making the decision to void the remaining guarantees, it would mean that $7.1 million of remaining salary over the next two years of Fournette would no longer count against the salary cap as dead money if the team ultimately decides to release or trade him this offseason as a growing number of people seem to think.
Naturally, Fournette and the NFLPA is going to fight this action by the team, as they should. The intent of the suspension clauses were more for things like suspensions from violations of the NFL’s drug, PED, or domestic violence policy more so than a one-off single game suspension. It will all depend on the wording of the language in the contract if/when a grievance is filed, however.
Sounds like it could get uglier!