Rice will get paid for the season. All he has to do is demonstrate that he was cut only because of public pressure and pressure from the NFL.
If the Ravens don’t pay him, he will sue and win big if it goes to trial. The Ravens and the NFL cannot risk a trial and will settle for at least what he would have been paid this year; and possibly much more.
If the Raven’s try to withhold any of his guaranteed signing bonus (if any more is due), Rice will get that, too. Rice’s potential claims could include a federal wage claim for withheld pay, which would at least double what he is owed.
No he won’t. Public pressure wouldn’t do it. And there was no reason for the NFL to pressure the Ravens, they punished Rice.
The NFL has non-guaranteed contracts (unless specified individually), a team can cut a player any time and pay them nothing. It was fully within the Raven’s right to cut him, and they won’t pay him a dime that wasn’t in a guarantee clause. He can sue all he wants, he’ll lose. He was signed to an at will contract that one party had the ability to void at any time for any reason.
They’ll pay off, and probably already paid off, anything guaranteed. Anything else is gone. Just like any other cut player. He has no more wage claim than when the Redskin cut McNabb, not one penny.