The Cost of Unsold Uniform Inventory

ESPN - Jersey change too costly for Raiders WR Porter - NFL

Bad news for Oakland Raider Jerry Porter:

The Oakland Raiders receiver said Wednesday he would have to pay $210,000 to switch his uniform from No. 84 to 81 in order to reimburse the team and Reebok for the cost of the unsold jerseys.

I guess with a "leaner" uniform supply chain, they wouldn't have this type of problem? Either way, it's a drag for Porter to get hit with this. You'd think this sort of inventory risk would be part of the cost of doing business for Reebok. What if Porter retired or got hurt, thus reducing uniform sales? Do the Raiders pay a penalty if they had released or traded Porter? I guess you could argue that changing or not changing numbers is truly under Porter's control, but still...