Rapoport: Bills to Seek Repayment of Vontae Davis' Signing Bonus After Retiring

Veteran cornerback Vontae Davis surprisingly retired at halftime of the Buffalo Bills' 31-20 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 2, and now the Bills are reportedly going to "seek repayment" of his signing bonus, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.

Per that report, "They have not filed the paperwork to do so, but it is expected to happen."

As Rapoport noted, Davis had a $1.5 million signing bonus and $1 million in per-game roster bonuses this season.

He noted: "As for the signing bonus, the Bills may argue that because Davis left mid-game, he's only entitled to 1/17th instead of 2/17 of it. He could earn just $88,235, though that precise amount is up for debate because there isn't a lot of precedent for a player exiting during a game and never returning."

There certainly isn't much precedent for that type of retirement, and Davis' teammates were stunned by his decision to call it quits in the middle of a game.

"I think I did lose a little respect for him as a man," safety Rafael Bush said, per Sal Maiorana of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. "In this game, we're always taught to fight to the end, and for you to give up on your teammates in the middle of the game, I've never seen anything like that."

"Never have seen it, Pop Warner, high school, college, pros, never heard of it, never seen it," linebacker Lorenzo Alexander added. "Completely disrespectful to his teammates. He didn't say nothing to nobody. You know as much as I know. I found out going out for the second half of the game. They said he’s not coming out, he retired. That’s it."

Davis, however, defended his decision.

"My intention was not to hurt my teammates," Davis told Domonique Foxworth of The Undefeated of his abrupt retirement. "In that moment, my intuition was telling me I don't belong on that field anymore."

He continued in a text to Foxworth:

"I left everything the league wanted me to be, playing for my teammates while injured, the gladiator mentality, it all just popped. And when it popped, I just wanted to leave it all behind. So that’s why I don’t care what people say. That experience was personal and not meant for anyone else to understand. It was me cold turkey leaving behind an identity that I carried with me for so long."

The team has since put him on the reserve/left squad list. And now it would appear the unexpected close to Davis' career might have another chapter, depending upon how aggressively the team pursues his bonuses.