Thomas Jones Shows at Camp; Leon Washington Doesn't

One of the two Jets running backs disgruntled with his contract status, Thomas Jones, has arrived at training camp. Leon Washington has yet to show, perhaps setting the stage for a holdout.

Although contract talks are progressing, running back Leon Washington was a no-show this morning as the Jets veteran players were scheduled to report to their Florham Park complex at 7 a.m., The Star-Ledger has learned.

Veteran running back Thomas Jones, who is also unhappy with his contract, did report, however. Jones, who is scheduled to make $900,000 this season, had skipped most of the voluntary offseason workouts but did participate in a mandatory June minicamp.

The Jets appear to have no plans to rework Jones' contract.

Washington is subjected to be fined up to $17,000 per day because he's under contract.

 

I'll be honest. I'm very surprised the Washington situation is not resolved. Mike Tannenbaum's specialty has been getting fair deals done. James Farrior and Darrelle Revis are the only holdout Draft picks since Tannenbaum arrived on the scene in 1997. With that said, I'm still not that worried. These guys are in such good shape that camp and preseason are basically formalities. Peyton Manning usually sits most of the preseason. It doesn't hurt him. Since Brian Schottenheimer's still around, it's not like the team is putting in a new playbook. I'll worry more in a month if this thing's still going on, and Leon's threatening to sit out the Houston game.

The Jones situation, on the other hand, is going exactly as I expected it would. No matter how good he was a year ago, no team is giving a running back in his 30's a big contract.