Steve Ross is not your typical bad owner. He has tried to win, as opposed to using the franchise as his personal piggy bank, like many owners in sports tend to do (for example Loria with the Marlins). He has spared no expense, neither payroll nor team facilities. The just released NFLPA players survey shined a very favorable light on him.
However, in his tenure here as owner, without rehashing all the gory details, he has made a lot of poor decisions when it comes to the coaches and GMs he has hired, as well as some other organizational mistakes.
But, at least, his goal really does seem to have been to win a Super Bowl. Spent the money to try and do it, tanked (poorly) to try and do it, and fired coaches and GMs to try and do it.
Now, is winning a Super Bowl still Steve Ross's goal?
He is 83 years old. He knows the clock is ticking. That is one of the reasons why he is now considering selling a piece of the team.
Is it possible at this point, Steve Ross just wants to not suck again, and go through the pain and embarrassment of another rebuild, that could potentially fail as well, and another wash, rinse, repeat? Is that now Ross's goal for the organization - maintain status quo, put a respectable product on the field, and be done with it? Or alternatively, does he believe what is here is Super Bowl caliber stuff for the next 5-10 years?
It sounds like Tua is going to get his big deal. Do not kid yourself, when it comes to 5 years and $250mm, this is an ownership decision.
The million dollar question is what internally do they really think about Tua? Do they believe he is a Super Bowl winning QB, or do they believe they will be "fine" with Tua back there, and put a decent product on the field, but never truly be a great team, especially if Tua takes up a big portion of the salary cap?
Nobody knows the answer to this question.
The question is, does Tua get this deal because they believe he is that good, or at his age Ross does not want to go through the whole process of finding another QB and stinking while you try and do it, and then hearing everyone complain about what a bad owner he is all over again?
This is just food for thought. I do not know the answer. However, I do think the calculus on this one is quite complex, and there may be more things at play than people realize.
To be clear, nowhere did I say Tua is a bad QB. Nowhere did I say they believe they cannot win a Super Bowl with him getting 5 and $250mm. I am just raising the question about what they really think (as opposed to what they say, because of course when they give him the deal they will tell us he is the guy to win us a SB), and what will really drive their (which in this case will ultimately be Ross) decision making?
However, in his tenure here as owner, without rehashing all the gory details, he has made a lot of poor decisions when it comes to the coaches and GMs he has hired, as well as some other organizational mistakes.
But, at least, his goal really does seem to have been to win a Super Bowl. Spent the money to try and do it, tanked (poorly) to try and do it, and fired coaches and GMs to try and do it.
Now, is winning a Super Bowl still Steve Ross's goal?
He is 83 years old. He knows the clock is ticking. That is one of the reasons why he is now considering selling a piece of the team.
Is it possible at this point, Steve Ross just wants to not suck again, and go through the pain and embarrassment of another rebuild, that could potentially fail as well, and another wash, rinse, repeat? Is that now Ross's goal for the organization - maintain status quo, put a respectable product on the field, and be done with it? Or alternatively, does he believe what is here is Super Bowl caliber stuff for the next 5-10 years?
It sounds like Tua is going to get his big deal. Do not kid yourself, when it comes to 5 years and $250mm, this is an ownership decision.
The million dollar question is what internally do they really think about Tua? Do they believe he is a Super Bowl winning QB, or do they believe they will be "fine" with Tua back there, and put a decent product on the field, but never truly be a great team, especially if Tua takes up a big portion of the salary cap?
Nobody knows the answer to this question.
The question is, does Tua get this deal because they believe he is that good, or at his age Ross does not want to go through the whole process of finding another QB and stinking while you try and do it, and then hearing everyone complain about what a bad owner he is all over again?
This is just food for thought. I do not know the answer. However, I do think the calculus on this one is quite complex, and there may be more things at play than people realize.
To be clear, nowhere did I say Tua is a bad QB. Nowhere did I say they believe they cannot win a Super Bowl with him getting 5 and $250mm. I am just raising the question about what they really think (as opposed to what they say, because of course when they give him the deal they will tell us he is the guy to win us a SB), and what will really drive their (which in this case will ultimately be Ross) decision making?
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