Why is it unlikely that veteran players such as Jeff Garcia, A.J. Feeley, Zach Thomas, Jon Runyan, Sean Mahan and others will be signed this week?
The reason is the rule requiring vested veterans who are on opening-day rosters to receive full salary in the form of termination pay if they are released. Teams are careful to note any vested players on their roster at the start of the season, as they are financially committed to them for the year.
This doesnt mean that these players wont be signed soon, but its unlikely to be this week. After this week, the requirement to vested players is a four-week requirement, a far cry from a full year.
Teams routinely play the circumvention game during this week, signing a vested veteran early in the week and releasing him before the weekend, thus avoiding the termination pay requirement.
In that case, the player gets paid his weeks salary but doesnt count on the opening-day roster for those purposes. Ive seen firsthand teams play fast and loose with these rules, and it was frustrating to deal with from a competitive standpoint.