It’s officially that time of the NFL year.
New England Patriots starting DT Lawrence Guy wasn’t in attendance at the team’s start of mandatory minicamp, according to Mike Reiss of ESPN.
Filed to ESPN: Starting DT Lawrence Guy did not report to the Patriots on Monday for the initial portion of mandatory minicamp, according to a source.
Believed to be contract-related.
Voted to Patriots 2010s All-Decade Team. Captain in 2020. Community Service Award winner (’21)
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) June 12, 2023
Guy is currently signed to a four-year contract with a base value of $11.5 million that could go up all the way to $24 million.
HC Bill Belichick hasn’t addressed Guy’s situation, although he did say that the team was ‘working through a couple of things’ when asked about whether there were going to be some unexcused absences at any point of mandatory training camp.
Notably, the team holds the right to fine Guy — or anyone who misses training camp.
The fine for missing the first day of practice is $16,459, then $32,920 for the second day, and $49,374 for the third day.
Guy wasn’t exactly at his best last season, playing just 44.5% of the defensive snaps and logging just 46 tackles and two sacks.
He was mostly used against the pass and was off the field in later downs.
He’s due to make a base salary of $2 million next season, with a per-game roster bonus of nearly $60,000.
He could make an additional $3.5 million in incentives, but there’s no more guaranteed money remaining in the contract he already signed, so the Pats could simply opt to release him and that’s it.
That’s not likely to happen, given his presence and importance within the locker room, but the Pats have never hesitated to pull the plug and take a business-first approach when it comes to managing the personnel.
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