CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -Jon Beason and his agent scheduled a face-to-face meeting with the Carolina Panthers for Sunday, perhaps signaling a breakthrough in the first-round pick’s weeklong holdout.
“Check with me tomorrow and I will update you,” Beason’s agent Michael Huyghue said Saturday in an e-mail, without elaborating.
Beason, a linebacker from Miami, missed his eighth day and 12th practice on Saturday in a dispute over how Beason’s bonus money would be distributed.
But discussions heated up on Saturday, and Beason and Huyghue scheduled a flight to Charlotte for a meeting with general manager Marty Hurney and chief negotiator Rob Rogers on Sunday.
If a deal is signed, Beason would then be in Spartanburg, S.C., when the team returns to practice on Monday.
Hurney and Huyghue wouldn’t say if a deal is in place, but Hurney said the two sides were in agreement Beason couldn’t miss much more practice time.
“There’s been urgency to get Jon in from day one, and from both sides because Jon Beason feels the same way, I’m sure,” Hurney said. “Both sides try and do what they think is best, so hopefully we can get a resolution to this.”
Huyghue said previously the stumbling block was over the Panthers’ refusal to give Beason a so-called “option bonus” in the second year of the contract. Huyghue said instead Carolina wanted to give the bulk of the bonus money in the third year, but it would be at the club’s discretion.
The Panthers, Huyghue said, were trying to set a precedent of not giving option bonuses after a judge ruled this spring that second-year option bonuses are not recoverable if the player later defaults on the contract.
Huyghue wouldn’t comment on the negotiations Saturday.
Beason, the 25th pick in the draft, was scheduled to compete with veteran Na’il Diggs for a starting job at outside linebacker. Beason could also be used at middle linebacker if Dan Morgan can’t return after missing all but one game last season following at least the fifth concussion of his career.
Sunday was seen as a critical time to get Beason into camp to help ensure he wouldn’t miss any preseason games. Carolina visits the New York Giants on Aug. 11.
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