What to do with X? | Page 3 | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

What to do with X?

I like X when he is on the field. He is one of the best. However this clamoring for more money when he is still one of the highest paid DB's in the league on a contract he recently signed is complete BS! Also dude is 28 years old with 2 knee surgeries and has already missed substantial time. Either he plays for the more than fair contract he has, we treade him and get something while his market value is high, or he can sit at home like a little bia and not get jack. Just MHO.
 
Finuk said:
It might not be spelled out in the contract but considering X's guaranteed money runs out after this season, its pretty obvious he'd be looking to renegotiate now - especially after having such a good year.

Teams rarely honour contracts, unless its a year-long prove it. Fans are happy to cut players who go out and play hard. If X got a serious injury next season, people would be calling him to be cut. I can't blame a player for looking to make as much money as they can. @GeauxFins2020 absolutely hit the nail on the head.
Click to expand...
I have no idea why you state, “fans are happy to cut players who go out and play hard”. I wasn’t aware any fans cut players. I always thought it was the organization that was responsible for cutting players.

As far as the teams not honoring contracts is concerned. The players and the owners have a CBA which
states that the only money a player is entitled too under a contract is the guaranteed money in the players contract. Any other money in the contract is only paid if the player remains on the team or meets certain goals during a season.

So saying a team doesn’t honor a player contract is not correct. If the players aren’t happy with the way contracts work in the NFL, they need to change the terms of the contracts when they sign their next CBA
with the owners. The reality is the player and each organization know the terms of the CBA when they enter into a contract and that is why players try to get as much guaranteed money as possible when they sign their contract. They are all fully aware that any money in their contract beyond
the guaranteed money will only be paid if they remain a player in the NFL.

Therefore every team does honor the terms of every player contract based on the the terms of the CBA,
 
1972forever said:
I have no idea why you state, “fans are happy to cut players who go out and play hard”. I wasn’t aware any fans cut players. I always thought it was the organization that was responsible for cutting players.

As far as the teams not honoring contracts is concerned. The players and the owners have a CBA which
states that the only money a player is entitled too under a contract is the guaranteed money in the players contract. Any other money in the contract is only paid if the player remains on the team or meets certain goals during a season.

So saying a team doesn’t honor a player contract is not correct. If the players aren’t happy with the way contracts work in the NFL, they need to change the terms of the contracts when they sign their next CBA
with the owners. The reality is the player and each organization know the terms of the CBA when they enter into a contract and that is why players try to get as much guaranteed money as possible when they sign their contract. They are all fully aware that any money in their contract beyond
the guaranteed money will only be paid if they remain a player in the NFL.

Therefore every team does honor the terms of every player contract based on the the terms of the CBA,
Click to expand...
Nothing you said is incorrect, but the counter is that teams are fully aware holding out is a thing. So while it’s technically a breach of contract to hold out and it’s not to cut someone early, effectively it really doesn’t matter in terms of the legalese. All the parties know the landscape.
 
The main thing to understand regarding X is . . . there is no guaranteed funds left.

When you come off the season he just had, you absolutely are looking to get that resolved. Even if it does nothing to the overall contract except force Steven Ross to sign a base salary roster bonus check in march vs. throughout the season. He is not going to play on a contract without guaranteed funds. It never happens so people need to stop thinking Miami is gonna play hard ball here. They will be doing something to the contract this offseason.

Secondly, when Xavian signed this deal in 2019 . . . this conversation was had between him and Grier about returning to the table in 2 years, so nobody is surprised. This isn't some cutthroat team operation that Miami has been running the last 2 years. Everything has been fluid and the initial deal, which in a headline made it look like X was the "highest paid" corner and is an easy thing to write down . . . . wasn't actually the case. The guaranteed money was light and that was to the benefit of Miami. The benefit to X signing a deal like this is to get a pay day a year early while he remains on a 2nd round contract that wasn't paying very much.

So win/win.

Also, people want to reference the 2019 season and X missing injuries. You don't think Miami made the conscious decision to not forcibly play X in a season that had no meaning? They actively kept him out when he potentially could of played if something was on the line. It wasn't worth the risk to the player or the value to the team. And it was brilliant because after 2020, his personal value went up and his value to the team, both as a player and as a potential tradeable asset is now at its highest point.

There is a lot of chess that gets played with NFL contracts and how to handle players. Chris Grier is playing it at a very high level since taking full control in 2019.

So where does that leave us? That leaves us with X coming back to meet with Chris Grier and working out an updated contract, with probably 2 additional years guaranteed, and probably 15-20 million added across the 4 years remaining with a portion of the overall base being converted to a roster bonus so he can have some lump sum money immediately. If there is a cap issue, it can be converted to signing bonus and free up some additional space with the squeeze were are seeing for most teams in 2021.

Welcome to the world of having a superstar player on your hands. This is how these contracts are handled when the player is out of contract guarantees, in his prime and coming off an All pro season while playing a cornerstone position
 
Last edited:
1972forever said:
I have no idea why you state, “fans are happy to cut players who go out and play hard”. I wasn’t aware any fans cut players. I always thought it was the organization that was responsible for cutting players.

As far as the teams not honoring contracts is concerned. The players and the owners have a CBA which
states that the only money a player is entitled too under a contract is the guaranteed money in the players contract. Any other money in the contract is only paid if the player remains on the team or meets certain goals during a season.

So saying a team doesn’t honor a player contract is not correct. If the players aren’t happy with the way contracts work in the NFL, they need to change the terms of the contracts when they sign their next CBA
with the owners. The reality is the player and each organization know the terms of the CBA when they enter into a contract and that is why players try to get as much guaranteed money as possible when they sign their contract. They are all fully aware that any money in their contract beyond
the guaranteed money will only be paid if they remain a player in the NFL.

Therefore every team does honor the terms of every player contract based on the the terms of the CBA,
Click to expand...
I think the point that was trying to be made was "fans are quick to support cutting an above average player" once said player tries to get paid out of rotation. I don't feel bad for X, when he signed his contract he was a top paid CB (might have even been the top CB).
 
Jimi said:
Nothing you said is incorrect, but the counter is that teams are fully aware holding out is a thing. So while it’s technically a breach of contract to hold out and it’s not to cut someone early, effectively it really doesn’t matter in terms of the legalese. All the parties know the landscape.
Click to expand...
The point is that when ppl say teams don't honor contracts, that is incorrect. Therefore that arguement is a strawman.

If you find the system unfair, that's a different matter. Even there, the NFLPA agreed to it, and they got concessions from the owners for doing so.
 
Last edited:
Mach2 said:
The point is that when ppl say teams don't honor contracts, that is incorrect. Therefore that arguement is a strawman.

If you find the system unfair, that's a different matter. Even there, the NFLPA agreed to it, and they git concessions from the owners for doing so.
Click to expand...

The system is what it is and both the owners/GMs and the players/NFLPA have tools to help them with leverage.

I don't blame the owners/GMs for getting out of a deal when it makes fiscal sense for their organization and I don't blame the players looking for more security when the situation comes up that helps them do that.

While people choose sides on who is right and wrong, I enjoy watching it from afar and how it plays into the overall landscape of the team.

Nothing is more boring that watching a baseball player sign a 400 mllion dollar deal for 10 years, watch him be injured for 6 or 7 of the years, yet still get fully paid. Good for him to be in that setup, but its a boring watch.
 
I really like X and he is clearly the best player on our defense and 1 of the top defensive players in the league. Double digit interceptions in a single season hadn’t been accomplished since 2007 until X done it this year. He deserves some kind of incentive or a nice bonus for his efforts.

HOWEVER.... If this is going to turn into a big dispute that involves a holdout then I would trade him today and not think twice. His value will never be higher than it is right now as he’s right in the middle of his prime/downfall bc it will be coming sooner rather than later. Someone above mentioned how he’s already paid top 5 money at his position and this is my stance as well. Yes we overpaid to get Jones here and that’s probably why X feels a slight bc he far and away out performed Jones yet Jones is the highest paid CB in the league. I say tough s***. Yes he deserves something maybe an extra year with a nice bonus up front but he also needs to understand that with the cap situation this year and us having multiple premium draft picks this is not the year for wanting to go from the 3rd highest paid CB to the highest or whatever he is right now. He signed his deal which he was super eager to do but with the knee problems and the off the field stuff even though he hasn’t been charged with any crime he’s kind of teetering on the edge with it as it is theirs just no way I’d redo his contract entirely when it’s barely over a year old. We are trying to put the pieces in place for a Super Bowl run. We can’t worry about him when he’s already paid a premium for his position.

We need to figure this out in a hurry and either settle up with him or get him out of here. As I said his value will never be higher but I want him to stay here in Miami bc he really is a very valuable player to us and our defense. He’s locking down 1 side of the field and that’s makes everyone else job that much easier. If we can up the pass rush this offseason then Xs job will get that much easier. This is something we need to deal with asap and figure out which way this is going to go but I would very much prefer to keep him... just not at all costs.
 
I would definitely lean heavily toward keeping him.

The year he had may have added three wins to Miami's total. Certainly one of the best corner years I have seen, especially when you factor in the rules of play and quarterbacks throwing fewer interceptions, taking fewer chances.

He may not be irreplaceable, but I think Miami's at the point where they should keep talent.
 
Last edited:
One of the game announcers let out that x tore his acl in 2019.

something the team kept hush hush

think about it we still don’t know what Preston Williams injury is. Id gander lis franc but they ain’t ever gonna tell us
 
hoops said:
One of the game announcers let out that x tore his acl in 2019.

something the team kept hush hush

think about it we still don’t know what Preston Williams injury is. Id gander lis franc but they ain’t ever gonna tell us
Click to expand...

I remember seeing where they specifically said it wasn't an ACL/MCL issue . . . but more in the line of removing scar tissue. Which makes sense because he had the surgery in mid December and there was never any hold up when it came time for camp (although to your point we all were more out of the loop in 2020 due to Covid).

With Preston we only know it was a foot injury, it wasn't broken but it required surgery. Not a great sign for him ending 2019 with an ACL and now 2020 with a foot injury that sidelined him for half a season.
 
I don’t see how scar tissue would keep you out of early camp. Clean up jobs don’t usually take that long.

remember they weened x in in camp. Think it was something more significant than that.

At any rate the guy bounces back from surgery at a clip few can match.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom