grooves12 said:
You missed my point, those guys took less money BEFORE they received their big paydays.
This is NO different than Jason Taylor signing his 1-year tender and playing under it even though he was coming off of a season where he had 14.5 sacks and was named the Dolphins Team MVP. He did not whine and cry about what other Defensive Ends got in free agency. He did what everyone else does and played by the rules outlined in the CBA, knowing he would eventually get paid.
He did not demand a trade when he was franchised the year after or air his dirty laundry to the media... he negotiated privately with the Phins and accepted a deal BELOW market value, because he wanted to be a Phin. (He received LESS than Marcellus Wiley did that same year, and MUCH less than other prominent defenders were getting.) It was a BIG contract... but it was fair to all sides involved and he did not make rediculous demands when he held no leverage as an RFA. He shut his mouth and let his play do the talking... Ogun should do the same.
While I don't really have any argument that Ogunleye should not talk trash, I do have a problem with some players taking less money.
A restructured contract is usually for cap purposes. A simple restucture like Taylor's first was just guaranteeing base salary making it a signing bonus to reduce the player's cap charge. It is
no sacrifice at all.
Taylor was drafted and received a signing bonus of about $345 thousand in 1997. From 97 to 99 he put up 16.5 sacks. In 2000 he did himself a great favor by playing for the one year tender and produced 14.5 sacks. In 2001 he signed a 6 year $42 million deal including a $9 million signing bonus. I am not getting down on Taylor as he has a well deserved excellent reputation. I just think we ought to look at things how they happened.
Marcellus Wiley:
Releasing Wiley, who signed a six-year, $40 million contract when coming to San Diego as a free agent in 2001, will cost the Chargers $4.5 million in cap space next season.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=1749613
$4.5/3*6=9 So it seems he also received a $9 million bonus.
Sam Madison's restructure this year was a pay cut. That's why he received some money up front. Some people think Sam caved in to management but I don't think so. It was a cut from $27.7 million to $18 over his remaining four years. But he got a $ 4.7 million signing bonus and a $1.29 million roster bonus for up front money. Then his base salaries were reduced to realistic levels reducing his chances of getting cut.
Madison was originally scheduled to earn $27.7 million the next four years.
''We knew he would get only $13 million of that,'' Burrough said. ``We figured in the last two years he would get cut or traded anyway. So, really, he goes from making $13 million to $18 million over the next four years.''
And while the team benefits from lowering Madison's cap numbers in 2004 and the three years after that, the player benefits in that his future with the Dolphins should be relatively secure as long as he continues to perform at his current level.
Ricky Williams as you know is not really interested in money was a number one draft pick. In 1999 he received a $8.840 million signing bonus with minimum salaries for each of the 8 years of it term. The Dolphins just changed the incentives from impossible to good if he performs well. In 2003 his agent did make some statments that Ricky was under paid and his contract should be addressed. This is true and to Ricky's credit he probably told his agent to keep quiet as we haven't heard from him since.
Ogunleye's money history.
Year Base Salary Sign Bonus Other Bonus Cap
2003 $375,000 $0 $250,000 $625,000
2002 $ 300,000 $ 0 $ 4,410 $ 304,410
2001 $ 209,000 $ 0 $ 4,400 $ 217,150
2000 $ 111,000 $ 3,800 $ 0 $ 114,800
Please note these are all minimum salaries and the $250k is the incentives he earned for 15 sacks, the most team sacks and making the pro-bowl.
