Some ended in blockbuster trades. Others ended with players walking away from football entirely. And a few culminated in record-breaking contracts that reset the market at their position.
Holdouts can lead to blockbuster trades, retirements, and record-breaking contracts that reset the market.
Disputes over rookie wages, veteran extensions, and pride drive these high-stakes contract standoffs.
Holdouts demonstrate the significant leverage and risk players have when deciding not to report to camp.
Source: Icon Sportswire / Getty
Most Recent NFL Player Holdouts
Contract standoffs are as old as the NFL itself, and every summer brings fresh speculation about which star will sit out training camp in pursuit of a bigger payday. Most holdouts resolve within days or weeks, but a handful have stretched into months or even entire seasons reshaping careers, rosters, and sometimes league history in the process.
Some ended in blockbuster trades. Others ended with players walking away from football entirely. And a few culminated in record-breaking contracts that reset the market at their position.
Whether driven by rookie wage disputes, veteran extensions, or simple pride, these standoffs remind fans just how much leverage and risk is on the table when a player decides not to report.
Take a look below at The Longest NFL Player Holdouts Ever.
Hendrickson, coming off a league-leading 17.5-sack season, held out for the first several days of camp before reporting and staging a hold-in, refusing to practice as he pushed for a long-term deal. The Bengals reopened negotiations and agreed to terms on Aug. 25, ending the standoff.
Terry McLaurin — Washington Commanders (2025)
McLaurin missed the first four days of camp before reporting and going on the PUP list with an ankle injury, continuing his hold-in while seeking a deal in line with what DK Metcalf got from Pittsburgh. Washington and McLaurin agreed to a three-year, $96 million extension on Aug. 25.
Cameron Heyward — Pittsburgh Steelers (2025)
Heyward held in throughout camp and the preseason as he sought a raise on his existing extension. The two sides didn’t agree to a reworked deal until less than 24 hours before the Steelers’ regular-season opener.
Jonathan Taylor — Indianapolis Colts (2023)
Taylor requested a trade after a tense meeting with owner Jim Irsay on the team bus during training camp, spending weeks away from the team amid injury and contract friction. Irsay initially refused to trade him, but reversed course weeks later, granting Taylor permission to seek a deal. No trade ultimately materialized, and Taylor returned to the Colts, later signing a extension in 2024.
Micah Parsons — Dallas Cowboys (2025)
Parsons publicly requested a trade amid frustration over stalled extension talks, a saga that dragged into the season before Dallas dealt him to the Green Bay Packers for defensive tackle Kenny Clark and two first-round picks. Parsons landed a record-setting four-year, $188 million deal with $136 million guaranteed — the largest guarantee ever given to a non-quarterback.
James Cook — Buffalo Bills (2025)
Cook staged a “hold-in,” reporting to camp but declining to practice while pushing for a long-term extension, repeatedly deflecting reporters’ questions about his situation with a single word: “Business.”
Trent Williams — San Francisco 49ers (2024)
Skipped the start of camp seeking additional guarantees despite already being one of the NFL’s highest-paid tackles; eventually re-signed with San Francisco.
Brandon Aiyuk — San Francisco 49ers (2024)
Requested a trade while seeking a long-term extension, then staged a hold-in by reporting to camp but sitting out practice before ultimately re-signing with the 49ers.
CeeDee Lamb — Dallas Cowboys (2024)
Skipped mandatory minicamp and held out into camp seeking a market-setting receiver deal, eventually landing a four-year, $136 million extension.
Haason Reddick — New York Jets (2024)
Held out virtually the entire offseason and into camp after being traded from Philadelphia, seeking a new deal from a team that hadn’t given him one; the standoff dragged deep into the season without resolution before he was eventually moved again.
Nick Bosa — San Francisco 49ers (2023)
Held out into training camp before signing a five-year, $170 million extension right before the season opener, briefly becoming the NFL’s highest-paid non-quarterback.
Chris Jones — Kansas City Chiefs (2023)
Held out of training camp seeking a new deal, eventually agreeing to a reworked contract before the season started.
Zack Martin — Dallas Cowboys (2023)
Withheld his services over guard-market pay, reworking his deal in mid-August for a $9.35 million raise on his final two contract years.
Ezekiel Elliott — Dallas Cowboys (2019)
lliott’s 40-day holdout through camp and preseason ended when Dallas gave in and signed him to a market-resetting extension.
Trent Williams — Washington Redskins (2019)
Williams held out the entire season amid a dispute over how the organization handled a cancerous growth he’d been diagnosed with, missing all 16 games before being traded to San Francisco the following offseason.
Melvin Gordon — Los Angeles Chargers (2019)
Held out through the preseason and the first three games of the regular season, seeking a new deal. He eventually reported without an extension and left for Denver in free agency the following year.
Jadeveon Clowney — Houston Texans (2019)
Held out under the franchise tag before eventually signing and being traded to Seattle.
Yannick Ngakoue — Jacksonville Jaguars (2019)
Skipped camp seeking an extension on his rookie deal.
Michael Thomas — New Orleans Saints (2019)
Also among that summer’s no-shows before eventually signing an extension.
Earl Thomas — Seattle Seahawks (2018)
The six-time Pro Bowler missed the entire training camp and preseason before finally returning just ahead of the regular season opener.
Le’Veon Bell — Pittsburgh Steelers (2018)
Bell sat out the entire 2018 season rather than play under the franchise tag for a second straight year, forgoing roughly $14 million in salary. It remains the most extreme “holdout” of the modern era — an entire lost season over a long-term deal that never materialized in Pittsburgh.
Aaron Donald — Los Angeles Rams (2018)
Held out all of training camp and the preseason, returning just before Week 1 and signing a record-setting six-year, $135 million extension shortly after
Duane Brown — Houston Texans (2018)
Held out through camp before eventually reporting
Donald Penn — Oakland Raiders (2018)
Also held out that summer amid a contract dispute.
Von Miller — Denver Broncos (2016)
Held out of offseason workouts and part of camp under the franchise tag before signing a then-record six-year, $114.5 million deal just before the season.
Josh Norman — Washington (2016)
Not a traditional holdout, but his situation (a rescinded franchise tag by Carolina) is often grouped with these contentious contract standoffs from the era.
Justin Houston — Kansas City Chiefs (2015)
Avoided a holdout by signing a deal right at the franchise tag deadline, but was heavily speculated as a holdout risk that summer.
Melvin Ingram — San Diego Chargers (2015)
Held out of the start of camp while seeking a new deal.
Maurice Jones-Drew — Jacksonville Jaguars (2012)
Held out 38 days after leading the NFL in rushing the year before, but returned without a new contract, forfeiting $1.2 million in fines and eventually losing his starting job.
Chris Johnson — Tennessee Titans (2011)
Held out 35 days before signing a four-year, $53.5 million extension. His production notably declined afterward, and the Titans released him in 2014.
JaMarcus Russell — Oakland Raiders (2007)
The No. 1 overall pick held out 47 days as a rookie before signing, missing valuable development time. He was out of the league within a few years, often cited as one of the biggest draft busts in NFL history.
Terrell Owens — Philadelphia Eagles (2005)
Just one year into a seven-year, $49 million deal, Owens held out for a renegotiated contract. The situation escalated into a suspension, deactivation for the rest of the season, and his eventual release.
Keenan McCardell — Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2004)
McCardell’s holdout lasted 82 days before Tampa Bay traded him to the Chargers just ahead of the trade deadline.
Emmitt Smith — Dallas Cowboys (1993)
mith held out the first two regular-season games, both Cowboys losses, before Dallas relented and made him the highest-paid running back in NFL history at the time.
Bo Jackson — Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1986)
After being drafted first overall, Jackson refused to sign with Tampa Bay and sat out the entire season, choosing Major League Baseball instead. He later re-entered the draft and was scooped up by the Raiders in the seventh round.
Sean Gilbert — Washington Redskins (1997)
Gilbert sat out the full season in a contract dispute before being traded to the Carolina Panthers, who sent two first-round picks to Washington to acquire him.
Joey Galloway — Seattle Seahawks (1999)
Galloway held out 101 days and missed eight games of the regular season before eventually returning to the Seahawks.
Chris Hinton (via “Bennett” rookie holdouts) — Indianapolis Colts (1987)
Second-overall pick Cornelius Bennett held out 102 days as a rookie before eventually being dealt to Buffalo in a three-team trade at the end of the players’ strike.
John Riggins — Washington Redskins (1980)
The star running back sat out the entire season over a contract dispute, returning in 1981 and going on to help lead Washington to a Super Bowl title two years later.
