What is an injury settlement in the NFL?
Injury cases are a terrible part of the NFL. Players put their bodies through an extreme physical toll, and that toll sometimes presents itself on season-ending injuries, or at least sidelining the player for weeks on end.
One way NFL teams and players can protect themselves is to reach an injury settlement that allows the players to cash in on some of their weeks of payments per their contract. Here's a look at what an injury settlement means in the NFL.
How is an NFL player protected from injury during preseason?
If a player happens to go down during the preseason, and the team doesn't plan to keep the said player on IR to return sometime during the regular season, the team can then strike an injury settlement deal with the player. The deal is meant to pay the player some form of their contractual agreement. Like Nick Thurman of the New England Patriots.
Players will be removed from the IR designation and paid whatever weeks their injury pertains to. If a player, unfortunately, has an MCL tear in Week 3 of the preseason and the doctors state that the player will miss 6 weeks of action, the team can then pay the player 5 to 17 weeks of their contract.
Being that the preseason game doesn't count towards the regular season contract that has been signed. The players are then free to sign with whatever team they wish once they have returned from injury if they so choose.
There are some stipulations involved within an injury settlement. The player's doctors and medical staff are also relieved of any liability the player can act on due to said injury. The injury settlement also acts as a buffer to free up space on rosters and gives players the chance to also resign from the team once they are healthy.
Resources can be allocated to players who remain on IR, also creating more space for free agents to be signed instead of the player who has been given an injury settlement, and any players that will not be returning to the team for several weeks.
The shuffling of players during tryouts and preseason helps maintain and create the final 53-man roster. If the player has been given an injury settlement that may benefit the team, the injury settlement is given in good faith by the team.
Unfortunately, injury settlements can sour the relationship between players and teams. If an injured player goes for a second opinion outside of the team doctors, and the second opinion doctor gives the player's injury 10 weeks to heal versus six weeks, the player's agent will push for that 10 weeks of salary to be paid.
Things can get ugly, but an injury settlement is put in place to protect both teams and players. If there is an injury-prone player that can't stay healthy attempts to take advantage of a team, the team is protected. The same goes for a player who has been injured once and said the team is trying not to pay the player's worth. Expect some injury settlement players to return to action when regular-season injuries start to occur.