Branden Albert skips beginning of offseason programs, holding out for new deal

While most of the players reported for the beginning of offseason activities on Monday, newly acquired left tackle Branden Albert decided to ask the Jacksonville Jaguars for a new deal instead.

With the draft less than 2 weeks away, some attention has shifted to the players finally reporting to facilities for the start of offseason training programs. The Jacksonville Jaguars are one of the many teams with players showing up on Monday, with almost all their players showing up to Everbank Field.

Almost.

While the first inclination here is to laugh at the Jaguars for seeing a player they just traded for not show up to his first voluntary team activity, it really isn’t too big of a deal. Again, these are voluntary activities and it’s not uncommon for veteran players to forego attending these, especially early on. Yes, you’d prefer a new addition like Albert to be with the team as much as possible, but it’s not time to panic yet. If Albert doesn’t show up to the mandatory three day minicamp later on, then the discussions should start on what to do with him.

We likely won’t hear the team comment much on this situation, especially with new executive vice president of football operations Tom Coughlin under a microscope. Coughlin has already ruffled some feathers with NFL Players Association, sending an email earlier this offseason asking players to come into the facility for physicals. Jared Odrick filed a grievance as well, asking for some guaranteed money owed to him that the Jaguars are claiming Odrick voided by “refusing checkups during injury rehab.”

Again, this doesn’t appear to be anything to worry about for the time being. It’s still not even clear what Albert wants, as the Jaguars didn’t seem to publicly state a desire to lower his cap number.