Rams demand part of bonus back

Rams demand part of bonus back
By Jim Thomas
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
08/19/2008

As a result of his one-year suspension for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy, defensive tackle Claude Wroten already is out $445,000. That figure represents his scheduled base salary for 2008. Now, Wroten could be out even more money.

That's because the Rams have filed a grievance with the league for the pro-rated portion of Wroten's signing bonus. Wroten, a defensive tackle from Louisiana State, received a signing bonus of $805,000 from the Rams after being selected in the third round (No. 68 overall) of the 2006 draft.

Wroten signed a four-year contract coming out of college, so the Rams are asking for one-fourth of that bonus back — or $201,250 — representing the lost season of 2008.

Wroten will be represented by the NFL Players Association in the grievance. The case gets assigned to an arbitrator, with the hearing usually taking place in the team's city. The entire process normally takes about one year, but most cases are settled before they reach the hearing stage.


Since Wroten already has been paid the bonus, he will have to pay back the money out of pocket if he loses the grievance.

The decision by the Rams to seek part of the signing bonus is not unusual. In fact, it's something of a cut-and-dried procedure in recent years because of provisions in the collective bargaining agreement giving teams the right to get back pro-rated portions of signing bonuses in the case of one-year suspensions.

Rams president of football operations Jay Zygmunt declined to comment on the grievance; so did Wroten's agent, Joel Segal.

Wroten's suspension was announced by the NFL on reporting day for Rams training camp on July 24.






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