Jason Kelce Says 'It's Bulls--t' Frank Ragnow Has to Return Contract Bonus to Lions After Retirement

The Detroit Lions have a long-standing policy of making retired players pay back a portion of their signing bonus. They upheld that practice with Frank Ragnow upon his retirement this offseason, and Jason Kelce isn't a fan.

While Kelce acknowledged that teams should be allowed to do so when players retire out of nowhere or simply lose the desire to play and don't fulfill their contractual obligations, he didn't feel that was the case with Ragnow:

"Frank was known for being hurt and playing through injuries most players wouldn't play through constantly," Kelce wrote on social media. "Broken foot, a torn pec, multiple knee injuries, back issues. There was always something, and I'm sure he was continuously dealing with multiple ailments to try and continue playing the game. His body clearly had deteriorated to a degree that made football no longer a viable option, physically, and probably mentally. In my opinion, the signing bonus is supposed to protect players from future physical ailments limiting their availability on the field, that's one of the reasons you want more guaranteed money upfront. So while I get that the team has a right to ask for money back, in the spirit of the agreement, I think it's bulls--t Frank is being asked to return money. This was clearly a player that the game had physically taken its toll on, and his body was clearly no longer holding up to the rigors of the NFL. It wasn't just some player deciding he didn't want to play anymore, it wasn't that simple, and these signing bonuses are there to protect players from the inevitable injuries they incur on the field."

Team president Rod Wood made a different argument.

"Our precedent goes all the way back to Barry Sanders," he told Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. "And if Barry Sanders paid back money... And I think the reality is, they're not paying back their money, they're returning our money. Because they were paid in advance for services that they hadn't completed."

Not every team takes the same approach, of course, and it's fair to argue that when a team and player agree to a signing bonus in contract negotiations, the team has agreed to pay out the money at that point. Teams that seek to recoup signing bonus money, especially in the case of mainstays like Ragnow, also risk damaging the relationship with cornerstone players and potentially impact how current players and free agents view them.

Certainly, what the Lions pulled with Ragnow didn't sit well with Kelce.