The New England Patriots will hold fullback Jakob Johnson. The six-time Super Bowl winner awarded the German with an exclusive rights free agent tender.
Johnson is facing a third season with the Patriots, who named him to the active squad in 2019 after his stay in the NFL’s International Pathway Program.
Johnson completed all 16 games of the season (11 starts) for the first time in the preseason after he had to pass after a shoulder injury after only four games in his rookie season.
He was mostly a blocker in the Patriots game, but scored his first touchdown catch after a pass from quarterback Cam Newton in week 2 of the 2020 season while visiting the Seattle Seahawks. It was also the first offensive touchdown by a German ever in the NFL.
Johnson will earn the league minimum of $ 850,000 under the applicable CBA.
NFL: Exclusive Rights Free Agents erklärt
Exclusive rights free agents are players whose contracts are about to expire but who have not served more than two accredited years in the NFL. Such tenders are usually covered by an ERFA tender for which the salary is not guaranteed.
In addition, the free agency of a player is blocked by the ERFA tender. So he cannot negotiate with any other team. For teams, such tenders are equivalent to the futures contracts that players usually sign immediately after the season, after spending the year on the practice squad.
Since the salary is so low, it usually does not count against the salary cap in the offseason, as soon as at least 51 players have been signed – everything below is only relevant for the regular season, should a player make it into the 53-man squad.
