The bad news is that he's signed a contract that gives him the right to take a sabbatical – a break period, should he execute it, that will probably stall histest career, set him back 12 months and serve virtually no purpose other than to encourage yet more Japanese clubs to poach All Blacks on short-term contracts.
The sabbatical was originally conceived as a snazzy means to retain once-in-a-generation players.
Now it's standard fare, a basic expectation for any mid-to-senior All Black who makes a three-year commitment to New Zealand Rugby.
And now it's not a sabbatical at all, but a licence to play a highly lucrative club season in Japan; and why NZR continues to dole out these leave of absence clauses in contract extensions is a mystery, because they have long-ceased to be the win-win they once were.
The origins of the rugby sabbatical trace back to early 2008 when the All Blacks coaches of the time began a series of catch-ups with the players they had used at the 2007 World Cup and discovered they were going to be without a first-five later that year.
Both Dan Carter and Nick Evans were ready to leave New Zealand, with the former in discussions with Perpignan about a three-year deal and the latter well-advanced in negotiations with Harlequins.
The situation was potentially going to be disastrous, so the idea of taking a sabbatical was put in front of Carter.
Rather than go to France for three years, why not make it six months, as part of a three-year contract with NZR?
He could skip Super Rugby in 2009, earn a small fortune in France, experience the lifestyle he craved, and all regulations would be waived to allow him to return straight back into the All Blacks, no questions asked.
It was an idea with one intent – to retain Carter through to the 2011 World Cup and stave off a play-making emergency.
Dan Carter ended up playing several money-spinning seasons in Japan. Photo / Photosport
It was a win-win, as was the sabbatical afforded to Richie McCaw in 2013 when, after battering himself for 13 relentless seasons, he needed a six-month break to recharge a mental battery that had run flat.
NZR gave him the time off, knowing he'd storm back for the last two years of his career. Which he did and led the All Blacks to a successful World Cup defence.
But somehow, over time, the sabbatical has become too-widely offered and gone from being a genuine retention tool to keep the most special players, to a ridiculously generous perk that serves little purpose other than to fulfil the new-found expectation most players hold about their right to take one.
And in recent years there no evidence of the player having benefitted from their time off in a way that can advantage NZR, mostly because the sabbatical is no longer used as a voyage of professional and personal discovery, but a money grab in Japan.
The likes of McCaw and Conrad Smith used their sabbaticals to travel the world and get away from all rugby, but the modern player now, without exception, uses their time off to play a massively lucrative club season in Japan.
NZR continues to say that this refreshes players mentally, sharpens their skill-sets, and gives their bodies a chance to play less collision-based rugby, but there has been precious little evidence to date that players are returning from Japan better able to contribute than when they left.
Beauden Barrett, Brodie Retallick, TJ Perenara, Patrick Tuipulotu and Damian McKenzie are the most recent returnees from Japanese sojourns and none came back obviously better players, and none were able to seamlessly transition back to rugby life in New Zealand.
Whatever Super Rugby's flaws, New Zealand's test players need to be part of it if they are going to be equipped to play for the All Blacks.
The sabbatical has proven time and again that Japanese club rugby develops bank balances much better than it does All Blacks and if Jordie executes his right to skip a Super Rugby season, it's likely it will stall his development, which appears to be fast-tracking after a slow start.
Nor is it clear how mentally refreshed players are when they return, because to fulfil their Japanese obligations they have to transition at the end of the New Zealand season and effectively play for 15 months consecutively without a break.
The final piece of damage these sabbaticals cause is to the reputation of Super Rugby. The competition is trying to regain its credibility after its ill-fated expansion years and NZR continually offering up free passes to so many players to skip a season when they feel like it hardly does much to sell Super Rugby to fans.
Maybe NZR needs to give the sabbatical clause a sabbatical.
