I see your point here, but the bottom line is TM has no leverage at all. If he sits out games hoping for failure, that's not really going to help his case
For one thing, he'd be forfeiting damn near a million per game. If you're griping about money, you can't exactly toss it out the windows cause life's so unfair to him.
And, suppose to does decide he can piss away a few million to take a stand against the powers that be over his ill-perceived slight, AP is not going to change his stance regardless of wins/losses. It's business and the current market.
One thing I'll echo is that, like a lot of posters here have said, he's getting some very unsound advice from folks in his inner circle. Most notably would be his agent, who I think we all can agree has in the very least shown he's been out 9f his depth in these negotiations (more leaning to complete incompetence).
At this point, I can't see TM sitting out games and losing that kind of bread even if it pisses him off. He should bet on himself (if he truly believes he's a top 5 receiver and therefore should be compensated as such) and go ball out.
He did show up for this last preseason game even if he seemed pissed off about. Honestly, it would make sense because he has come to the realization that he'll have to play this season without a new deal.
Stay tuned, folks.
HTTR!