The list of Las Vegas Raiders has decided as a group to stand behind the NFL Players Association and boycott the upcoming OTA season.
The players of the Raiders joined several other rosters in this decision. I would expect most, if not all, rosters around the NFL to come to this conclusion. The Raiders met as a team on Wednesday and Thursday and voted on it.
The NFLPA has repeatedly asked players to boycott the session in person over the past week due to the coronavirus pandemic. The NFLPA has been insisting on another virtual off-season since last year, when the entire off-season program was virtual.
Jon Gruden was one of the coaches who said he hopes there will be OTA sessions in person this season. This decision should bother Gruden a lot, but he certainly understands the situation of his players with the rest of the league.
On Tuesday, the NFL tilted and reduced its personal portion for this spring. The virtual part of the off-season begins Monday in the league. At this stage, players are expected to participate in that voluntary aspect of the off-season.
If this boycott holds, there will be no personal campaign again.
As mentioned in the statement from the Raiders players, there is a bit of wrapping space for players who have built training tracks into their contracts.
Here is #Payers players with practice bonuses per Over The Cap:
Derek Carr
Cory Littleton
Darren Waller
Carl Nassib
Nick Kwiatkoski
Denzelle Goed
Jalen Richard
Jeff Heath
Nathan Peterman https://t.co/4Dqz73cQg3– Josh Dubow (@JoshDubowAP) 16 April 2021
But mostly, the Raiders will be working on their own again for the second year in a row. If players are injured away from the facility during this time, they will not be paid as part of their contract.
I do not think this story is over, but for now we will only see the Raiders at training camp at the end of July.