Ask Brett Tessler | Page 62 | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Ask Brett Tessler

Brett, what do you think about this recent article on sportsline about Prisco saying JT needs more work to get in the HOF, and that Zach Thomas has no change of getting in?

and, What do you think of Prisco, because honestly what i think about all sports analysts is that they are regular people being paid for what they thing, no matter how much more/less they know then anyone else.
 
Brett, what do you think about this recent article on sportsline about Prisco saying JT needs more work to get in the HOF, and that Zach Thomas has no chance of getting in?

and, What do you think of Prisco, because honestly what i think about all sports analysts is that they are regular people being paid for what they thing, no matter how much more/less they know then anyone else.

I didn't read the article and I generally don't pay attention to guys like Prisco. Columnists need to be controversial in order to get people's attention (and obviously he succeeded with you).

I don't know if either or both of those guys will eventually make the Hall of Fame, but to say that Zach Thomas "has no chance" is absurd.
 
I didn't read the article and I generally don't pay attention to guys like Prisco. Columnists need to be controversial in order to get people's attention (and obviously he succeeded with you).

I don't know if either or both of those guys will eventually make the Hall of Fame, but to say that Zach Thomas "has no chance" is absurd.

Prisco apparently needs a lot of attention.
 
Rookie Holdouts

Brett:

Why the fuss every year on rookie holdouts? It's proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that it is bad for both the team and the player. The player misses too much TC and is WAY behind for the season which means that basically their rookie season is shot. (See Jason Allen) It is my understanding that picks 1-16 can sign for up to 6 years and picks 17-32 can sign for 5 years. I would imagine that most teams would want to maximize the length of the contract. It appears that the goals are fairly simple on both sides:

  • The agent wants to get as much UP FRONT money as possible for his client.
  • The team wants to get the best BARGAIN it can for the player.
So, it would seem that its in the best interest of both parties to reach an agreement quickly because we all know if the player is doing THAT well the team will give him an extension well before the contract is over.

So, why are SO many players holding out? Shouldn't it be simple.

"You're the #9 pick. Last year's #9 pick got X over 6 years, so you get X+Y% for 6 years on your deal" Sign the contract deposit cash, play football.

Obviously, this is SUPER simplistic, so naturally we are looking to you to educate us on the process a bit so we don't take such simplistic viewpoints.

Thanks!
 
Brett:

Why the fuss every year on rookie holdouts? It's proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that it is bad for both the team and the player. The player misses too much TC and is WAY behind for the season which means that basically their rookie season is shot. (See Jason Allen) It is my understanding that picks 1-16 can sign for up to 6 years and picks 17-32 can sign for 5 years. I would imagine that most teams would want to maximize the length of the contract. It appears that the goals are fairly simple on both sides:

  • The agent wants to get as much UP FRONT money as possible for his client.
  • The team wants to get the best BARGAIN it can for the player.
So, it would seem that its in the best interest of both parties to reach an agreement quickly because we all know if the player is doing THAT well the team will give him an extension well before the contract is over.

So, why are SO many players holding out? Shouldn't it be simple.

"You're the #9 pick. Last year's #9 pick got X over 6 years, so you get X+Y% for 6 years on your deal" Sign the contract deposit cash, play football.

Obviously, this is SUPER simplistic, so naturally we are looking to you to educate us on the process a bit so we don't take such simplistic viewpoints.

Thanks!

I am not an agent but what I think of it is pretty simple, agents are the ones that usually want to make sure a client gets the best deal possible, sometimes at the expense of said player, had brady wuinn struck a deal with the raiders he definitly would of made more money than what he will get now. But his agent then couldnt probably sign the best players to their agencies looking at what could be a poor deal for a set draft spot
 
Brett:

Why the fuss every year on rookie holdouts? It's proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that it is bad for both the team and the player. The player misses too much TC and is WAY behind for the season which means that basically their rookie season is shot. (See Jason Allen) It is my understanding that picks 1-16 can sign for up to 6 years and picks 17-32 can sign for 5 years. I would imagine that most teams would want to maximize the length of the contract. It appears that the goals are fairly simple on both sides:
  • The agent wants to get as much UP FRONT money as possible for his client.
  • The team wants to get the best BARGAIN it can for the player.
So, it would seem that its in the best interest of both parties to reach an agreement quickly because we all know if the player is doing THAT well the team will give him an extension well before the contract is over.

So, why are SO many players holding out? Shouldn't it be simple.

"You're the #9 pick. Last year's #9 pick got X over 6 years, so you get X+Y% for 6 years on your deal" Sign the contract deposit cash, play football.

Obviously, this is SUPER simplistic, so naturally we are looking to you to educate us on the process a bit so we don't take such simplistic viewpoints.

Thanks!

First of all, teams almost NEVER offer fair market contract extensions to players who are outperforming their rookie deals (Deion Branch, Larry Johnson, and a million other examples...). If a young player becomes a star and wants long-term security, he often has to take an extension that's well below market value. Most teams try to take advantage of bad deals for as long as they can, and if the player speaks up he often gets labeled as selfish and greedy. However, if the player quietly honors his contract and waits for free agency, his team can slap him with the franchise tag and limit him again (Asante Samuel, Dwight Freeney, etc.).... So please don't make it sound like teams just hand out new contracts to underpaid players on a daily basis.

Secondly, there's more at work here than just looking at the contract of last year's number 9 pick and applying it to this year's number 9 pick... Did last year's number 9 pick have an agent who knew what he was doing? Did last year's team get taken advantage of? Did the CBA change since last year? How much has the rookie pool gone up? What position did last year's number 9 pick play? What position is this year's? Was the number 9 pick from last year drafted to start immediately? Was this year's? Did last year's number 9 pick get drafted earlier or later than expected? Did this year's? See????

At the end of it all both sides have a pretty good idea of what the deal should look like. It's just that agents will always try to get as much as they can for the reasons listed in paragraph one (as well as to impress next year's recruits), and the team negotiators will try and save as many cap dollars as possible while showing off to their owners about how much money they're saving them.
 
Brett something I've always been curious about,

Because of salary cap restraints sometimes its necessary for a team to go to a player and ask him to restructure and give the team some relief. Do teams ever offer these players side incentives, like extragovent gifts, stock tips, or very well paying winter jobs?

Is it legal for them to do so?
 
Brett something I've always been curious about,

Because of salary cap restraints sometimes its necessary for a team to go to a player and ask him to restructure and give the team some relief. Do teams ever offer these players side incentives, like extragovent gifts, stock tips, or very well paying winter jobs?

Is it legal for them to do so?

A team is allowed to give a player nothing of obvious value as it would be a major cap violation. When a player restructures, his team usually gives him more guaranteed money up front in place of future base salaries making it worth the player's while to accept.
 
Brett:

With all the trouble going on with NFL players getting in trouble & arrested and such. I wonder if it is popular now (or going to be popular in the future for teams to put clauses in contracts to get back SB $ or some other recourse to help protect themselves if a player does a bonehead thing like DWI, or some other crime.

Some people don't think it's fair; but I don't know of a company in the "Real" world that would keep someone around who gets into trouble. Most companies would get rid of people for WAY less than what some of these guys do.

AND with these signing bonuses and guaranteed $ that players are getting (See Joey Porter's $20M), shouldn't the teams have some sort of protectection? If a key player is under contract for a lot of $, it appears that one bonehead move by a player can SERIOUSLY damage a team, potentially for multiple seasons depending on the salary cap ramifications. Especially now that Goddell is going the suspension route vs the fine route.

I would imagine that the Players Union would fight this tooth & Nail.

Do you currently deal with such clauses or are you asked to include these types of cluses in a players contract? If not, are you aware of any planned for players contracts to make players accountable for their actions and behave more like the rest of us?

Because I'm certain the Arrests/Capita is much higher for NFL players than the general population (the US Congress notwithstanding!)

Can you please enlighten us with you thoughts on this and where you believe this is going?

Thanks
 
Brett:

With all the trouble going on with NFL players getting in trouble & arrested and such. I wonder if it is popular now (or going to be popular in the future for teams to put clauses in contracts to get back SB $ or some other recourse to help protect themselves if a player does a bonehead thing like DWI, or some other crime.

Some people don't think it's fair; but I don't know of a company in the "Real" world that would keep someone around who gets into trouble. Most companies would get rid of people for WAY less than what some of these guys do.

AND with these signing bonuses and guaranteed $ that players are getting (See Joey Porter's $20M), shouldn't the teams have some sort of protectection? If a key player is under contract for a lot of $, it appears that one bonehead move by a player can SERIOUSLY damage a team, potentially for multiple seasons depending on the salary cap ramifications. Especially now that Goddell is going the suspension route vs the fine route.

I would imagine that the Players Union would fight this tooth & Nail.

Do you currently deal with such clauses or are you asked to include these types of cluses in a players contract? If not, are you aware of any planned for players contracts to make players accountable for their actions and behave more like the rest of us?

Because I'm certain the Arrests/Capita is much higher for NFL players than the general population (the US Congress notwithstanding!)

Can you please enlighten us with you thoughts on this and where you believe this is going?

Thanks

I agree that it's a disturbing trend. Most of the players in our League are great people. It's just that the few bad apples (like Pacman Jones or Chris Henry) get covered closely by the media and are the first stories you see on Sportscenter every night. Back in the day, guys like Mickey Mantle probably could have been arrested for drunk driving a hundred times, but in those days the police and the media just looked the other way. I don't know the statistics on whether or not professional athletes get arrested at a higher rate than the average American, but I do know that these guys always need to be mindful of who they are and accept the responsibilities that come with being in the spotlight.

The standard NFL Player Contract DOES include a conduct policy, and most signing bonus addendums contain additional language as well. Really, it's up to the teams and the Commissioner to decide who to punish and how. It seems like Commissioner Goodell has made it clear that this type of behavior will no longer be tolerated.
 
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