NFL Minicamp Holdouts 2021: List of Players Skipping Mandatory Minicamp Including Aaron Rodgers and Jamal Adams

In a relatively uneventful part of the NFL calendar, seeing which players make the list of minicamp holdouts draws at least a little interest. So, which players are skipping mandatory minicamp in 2021?

Mandatory minicamps are debatably the least important part of a team’s offseason preparations. Rookie minicamp and OTAs are longer, and much more focused.

Mandatory minicamp spans just 3 days, and there’s no contact drills at all. Therefore, what usually hogs the headlines at this time of year is the players who decide not to show up.

Usually, it’s the star players who have a reasonable amount of bargaining power and are holding out to request a trade. However, we often see players do it in hopes of getting a more favorable contract or just out of animosity towards the front office.

Now, the 2 obvious names that you’ll expect to see on the list of this season’s absentees are Aaron Rodgers and Deshaun Watson. The Rodgers story has particularly taken over this summer.

While there have been multiple claims and versions of the incident, the gist of the situation is that Rodgers wants out of Green Bay. Reportedly, he has requested a trade and is disgruntled with the actions of the front office, especially the GM’s decision to draft Jordan Love.

Rodgers will officially will go down as a mandatory minicamp holdout, but on the other hand, Watson actually will not. This is because the Texans, along with the Colts, Eagles, and 49ers, have cancelled their minicamps.

Houston head coach David Culley claims that the decision was unrelated to the Watson drama. “We got accomplished what we wanted to get accomplished. We felt like that getting them here was more important than being able to just have those two and a half days of minicamp,” he said.

List of Notable NFL Minicamp Holdouts in 2021

A good majority of the teams actually holding minicamp will start today, June 15th, and wrap up on the 17th. The following is a list of the most popular players who are holding out, presumably over contract disputes.

Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers
Jamal Adams, Seattle Seahawks
Stephon Gilmore, New England Patriots
Xavien Howard, Miami Dolphins
Chandler Jones, Arizona Cardinals

Players not participating in their respective minicamps over presumptive contract issues include: Patriots CB Stephon Gilmore, Dolphins CB Xavien Howard, Seahawks S Jamal Adams, Cardinals Edge Chandler Jones.

(Yes, Aaron Rodgers is in a different category) https://t.co/1Vra3PG2rs

— Field Yates (@FieldYates) June 15, 2021