It's about money, not how likeable he is. Some of these players may be negotiating for the last opportunity they will ever have to make a fortune that will take care of their families for a couple of generations. Ireland could be Jabba the Hutt and if he pays these players close to what they believe they are worth, they would sign.
What is probably happening is that, in order to beat them down on price, Ireland attacks their self-esteem. Some GMs have people skills and talk about team needs and cap space, never putting the player down. But we know that Ireland is a lowballer and that he doesn't care about players' self-esteem (is your mother a prostitute?) No one wants to work for that kind of an a$$hole. Flynn as much as said so when he praised the "vibe" in Seattle; he just didn't say "compared to Miami's."
What gets me is that, with Ireland's M.O. of beating players down to the last dollar, we should be in a lot better cap shape than we are.
