Earl Thomas Carted off field with an air cast on his right leg **merged**

[glimmerman]

Anyone still want him now? Next year he will be healed up and a FA.

 

[CouchCoach]

That's BS. Teams must honor the contracts just like the players.

They can't just cancel a contract because they changed their mind down the road, and they can't change their mind and decide to pay less if the player is underperforming.

Option years are optional. The player agreed to them when he signed the contract - probably because the option years meant he was offered a higher salary or more guaranteed money.

He was more than capable of signing a contract for a shorter duration with no option years at the tail end, but he wanted the larger salary that came with locking up his services for longer (if the team chooses to keep him that long ).

Players whining are wanting it both ways.

This is only going to get worse with the escalating salaries meeting egos.

Fans often take the player's side and do not consider they are upholding their end of the contract. Player gets injured or just plays poorly, he still gets paid.

Thomas is pissed because of the contract they gave Wilson on a D team and he was not the only one. He thinks he's deserving of the highest FS salary but in order to get that, he had to play out this season. He will get full comp for this season and probably had injury insurance.

I am much more empathetic to a player not willing to get tagged than one not willing to show up while still under contract. When did it become OK not to keep your word like some of these players do? Thomas didn't do that, he did show up to play but was he really part of the team or more of a distraction while they're preparing for the season?

Teams do not have to renegotiate contracts, they do that as a reward to the player exceeding their present contract or to keep from getting held up in the contract year. Carroll was saying he wanted to keep Thomas and get something worked out but he was the only one and don't know if that was even true. I think they'd already decided to let him walk after this season when he pulled that stunt in Dallas to try and instigate a trade. I don't think he was keeping his dissatisfaction to himself.

 

[CouchCoach]

Anyone still want him now? Next year he will be healed up and a FA.

No, didn't want him this year, I don't like him.

 

[CPanther95]

I understand your what you are saying but NFL contract rules are not exactly the same as they are for CEO's of most corporations. While I agree with your point, its not like NFL owners are held to the standard you highly preach... see example: Dez (whether you agree with his being cut or not). It is a two ways street sometimes.

Dez was guaranteed $43.5 million in exchange for a 5 year commitment to the Cowboys. He would have earned $70 million if the relationship lasted the duration of the contract, and he would have earned the full $43.5 million even if he got injured in preseason and never played another game after signing the contract .

But make no mistake, a significant portion of that $43.5 million was for the 5 year commitment Dez was making to the Cowboys. The Cowboys were paying the guaranteed salary and they paid the premium for the option years at the end.

When a team doesn't keep the player those option years, they are taking advantage of the insurance they bought and paid for. When a player doesn't want to play during those option years, he's like an insurance company wanting to give part of your premium back instead of paying the claim.

 

[3rd_n_inches]

“Dude was killing it before the injury”- Me in FA

 

[Nightman]

If they honor player contracts (which I am not opposed to doing) then they need to have a clause in the salary cap so a team isn't crippled by an injured player. Give the player his money, but the team should be able to write some major injuries off and get the cap space back to field a competitive team instead of having their cap killed by a player unable to perform. Obviously it would be limited to major injuries but there needs to be some relief. Possibly any injury extending into a 2nd year or longer can qualify for cap relief. Something like that.

If they get insurance on the contract and have to pay it out for injury they get that cap space back

They only have to insure 1/2 the contract because the injury payments are tax free

If a player was set to earn 10m in base salary but gets insured for 5m it comes out almost even and the team gets 5m in cap space back

Insurance generally runs 10k for every 1m so it is pretty smart on those big deals

 

[CPanther95]

This is only going to get worse with the escalating salaries meeting egos.

Fans often take the player's side and do not consider they are upholding their end of the contract. Player gets injured or just plays poorly, he still gets paid.

Thomas is pissed because of the contract they gave Wilson on a D team and he was not the only one. He thinks he's deserving of the highest FS salary but in order to get that, he had to play out this season. He will get full comp for this season and probably had injury insurance.

I am much more empathetic to a player not willing to get tagged than one not willing to show up while still under contract. When did it become OK not to keep your word like some of these players do? Thomas didn't do that, he did show up to play but was he really part of the team or more of a distraction while they're preparing for the season?

Teams do not have to renegotiate contracts, they do that as a reward to the player exceeding their present contract or to keep from getting held up in the contract year. Carroll was saying he wanted to keep Thomas and get something worked out but he was the only one and don't know if that was even true. I think they'd already decided to let him walk after this season when he pulled that stunt in Dallas to try and instigate a trade. I don't think he was keeping his dissatisfaction to himself.

My views are completely different when looking at things like the franchise tag or rookie contracts.

 

[Nightman]

My views are completely different when looking at things like the franchise tag or rookie contracts.

Salaries have risen so much that the FT is very fair

LBell was due to make 26m over 2 years under the Tag.....that is more than fair

Cousins got 44m for 2 years.... DLaw will get 38m for 2 years

It is just a little delayed gratification but not by much..... even guarantees are staggered over 2-3 seasons

As far as Rookie deals they had gotten out of hand with huge expected increases every year.... the new rookie scale is pretty fair and 100% guaranteed for 1st and 2nd rounders

 

[Silver N Blue]

Anyone still want him now? Next year he will be healed up and a FA.

Nope and just to repeat the obvious this team doesn’t need an injury prone selfish player who clearly has been declining for several years. No reason to bring in the Sean Lee of safeties, guy can’t stay on the field. Besides his actions only cemented what I have been saying forever now and this young team doesn’t need a me first example showing them the ropes. At least he doesn’t have to worry about missing practice and getting fined.

 

[Colombiacowboy]

Ehh offer em a 5th for him right now

Eat his contract as well? No way.

 

[Baileyneverfailey]

I wouldn't make a trade for ET now. If he wants to be a Cowboy he's got a great opportunity because I don't think Seattle tags him this offseason. We should be looking to use this injury as leverage to give him a fair but not crazy high deal in free agency.

 

[CPanther95]

Salaries have risen so much that the FT is very fair

LBell was due to make 26m over 2 years under the Tag.....that is more than fair

Cousins got 44m for 2 years.... DLaw will get 38m for 2 years

It is just a little delayed gratification but not by much..... even guarantees are staggered over 2-3 seasons

As far as Rookie deals they had gotten out of hand with huge expected increases every year.... the new rookie scale is pretty fair and 100% guaranteed for 1st and 2nd rounders

I agree that the franchise tag offers "fair" compensation in the vast majority of cases, although "fair" is a very subjective term. I'm just not comfortable with the league dictating what is fair and locking the player up rather than the market deciding - especially on the tail end of rookie contracts that are already extremely regulated.

I fully agree with how the Steelers have handled Bell under the existing rules, but I also agree that it's not really fair to Bell. I said in the preseason that he'd be foolish to show up for Game 1 like he said he was planning instead of the latest possible date (Game 10 or 11??). He's risking $35-$40 million in guaranteed salary to make an extra $8 or $9 million this year. I think we're going to see more and more players refuse to play a complete season under the franchise tag, and any system that keeps marquee players off the field isn't a good thing.

 

[Praxit]

...so sources say he was flipping the bird to his sideline? ..that's not nice.

 

[reddyuta]

Anyone still want him now? Next year he will be healed up and a FA.

heck ya,hopefully he will give us some home town discount.

 

[DuncanIso]

Don't want a soon to be 30 safety who clearly can't stay healthy, is going to get paid and doesn't seem to be the best teammate.

Agree. He’s at the last stage of his career. Over 120 games played.

That’s a lot of football.

 

[ghst187]

Agree. He’s at the last stage of his career. Over 120 games played.

That’s a lot of football.

Still 100x better than what we have at S. I remember Ed Reed was way past his prime but still pretty effective in Houston. Thomas would still have some tread left. Well worth a reasonable contract.

 

[DallasDomination]

Seattle lost Sharman, chancellor and Thomas all in a blink of an eye.

The legion of boom is dead. Sucks for Seattle but good for the NFC. Now we'll see what Rus can do without that safety net.

 

[DallasEast]

Seattle's defense was left without a leg to stand on.

 

[glimmerman]

heck ya,hopefully he will give us some home town discount.

I am sure he will now. That cost him millions.

 

[Aviano90]

Anyone still want him now? Next year he will be healed up and a FA.

Nah, I want to see how far Jeff Heath can carry the defense.