NFL | Tagliabue trying to stop poison pills

[WoodysGirl]

Mon, 27 Mar 2006 18:59:13 -0800

Mike Sando, of the Tacoma News Tribune, reports NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue said he plans to speak with NFLPA executive director Gene Upshaw about putting a stop to the poison-pill offer sheets signed by Minnesota Vikings OG Steve Hutchinson and WR Nate Burleson.

 

[zrinkill]

Good ..... that habit is more classless (see Commander and eaglefans for what that is) than ANY touchdown celebration that they want to outlaw.

 

[Rack]

Good ..... that habit is more classless (see Commander and eaglefans for what that is) than ANY touchdown celebration that they want to outlaw.

I agree. But I also have no problem with Seattle giving Minnesota a taste of their own medicine.

 

[Da Hammer]

i actually had no problem with the poison pills and found it very creative

 

[Rack]

i actually had no problem with the poison pills and found it very creative

Yes but they can get out of hand.


For example, let's say Roy Williams were to become a RFA (I know he won't, but this is just an example).

What if the Lions offered him an insane deal that was heavily backloaded, and to screw the cowboys over they added a poison pill that states the entire contract is guaranteed if he is the only person on the team named Roy Williams. Obviously if he plays for the Lions it won't be guaranteed cuz there will be another Roy Williams on their team.


That's just stupid. It's those kind of poison pills that need to stop.

 

[iceberg]

or they could just say "if >40% of your playing time is in a texas city, we'll pay you an extra $5mil that year.

if he signs w/dallas well since 8 games are there, that's already 50% if it splits evenly. NO WAY IN HELL would any non-texas team have to pay that $5mil bonus so they're exempt and it would cost dallas $5mil extra just to play him in texas.

 

[Eskimo]

The only thing about this is Upshaw represents the players and it is in the player's best interest to have the "poison pills" because it ensures them freedom of movement if they want to switch teams (remember that Hutch wanted to switch teams because he felt Seattle disrespected him by not negotiating a long-term deal before he hit FA). I don't see why the players would give this up without getting something back in return.

I think the lesson to be learned here is don't let your top players hit FA without having the franchise tag on them. Seattle could have prevented this whole situation by re-signing Hutch early or slapping the franchise tag on him.

We would be well advised to do the same if RoyW ever hit FA.

 

[koolaid]

Yes but they can get out of hand.


For example, let's say Roy Williams were to become a RFA (I know he won't, but this is just an example).

What if the Lions offered him an insane deal that was heavily backloaded, and to screw the cowboys over they added a poison pill that states the entire contract is guaranteed if he is the only person on the team named Roy Williams. Obviously if he plays for the Lions it won't be guaranteed cuz there will be another Roy Williams on their team.


That's just stupid. It's those kind of poison pills that need to stop.

then we find another roy williams!

 

[Concord]

i actually had no problem with the poison pills and found it very creative

This always makes me laugh...If we had lost Williams or Witten or Newman or Ware to a Poison Pill...I really doubt that you would be saying this.

 

[Natedawg44]

Seattle has no one to blame but themselves. They are the ones that didn't franchise Hutch. If Roy was a RFA we would get a 1st and a 3rd if anything happened as well.

 

[Rack]

Seattle has no one to blame but themselves. They are the ones that didn't franchise Hutch. If Roy was a RFA we would get a 1st and a 3rd if anything happened as well.

Same can be said regarding Minnesota. They have no one to blame but themselves as far as Nate Burleson goes.

 

[CrazyCowboy]

A good thing .....IMO.

 

[Boom]

Seattle has no one to blame but themselves. They are the ones that didn't franchise Hutch. If Roy was a RFA we would get a 1st and a 3rd if anything happened as well.

They probably wanted to avoid paying a guard the average of top 5 OL money.

 

[Pokes28]

They can't give a poison pill that increases the amount paid. That has already been settled. The "guaranteed" poison pill is new and is very creative. Losing players because of poison pills is bad, but in every case thus far, had the team given a higher offer, the player would either still be on the team or the team would be getting at least a first round pick (which teams shy away from losing).

This will be a fun negotiation.

David Harrell - Pokes
dwh

 

[Doomsday]

I agree. But I also have no problem with Seattle giving Minnesota a taste of their own medicine.

Im with you Minnesota got what they deserved. They do need to put an end to these ridicilous poison pill contracts though.

 

[Falcon]

I agree that Minnesota got what it deserved. It was also kind of stupid to put out a poison pill kind of offer when you have a vunerable RFA of your own just set for retalliation.


The poison pills are a bad idea for the league. The current team should not have more onerous terms to keep their player than the acquiring team. The thing with playng time in a particular state would end up making RFA obsolete. Any player worth anything could be had with the right contract wording.

 

[aikemirv]

I'm a little out of the loop here, what was the poisoin pill in Burlesons contract?

 

[AbeBeta]

This always makes me laugh...If we had lost Williams or Witten or Newman or Ware to a Poison Pill...I really doubt that you would be saying this.

Had we been stupid enough to let them become transition FAs or restricted FAs then we'd have no one to blame but ourselves in that situation.

Keep in mind the only reason why these deals ever got to the poison pill stage was because the player's original team didn't take care of them. They had a long time to work out a new deal and didn't get it done. In both cases the players could have received a better tenden. Hutch could have been franchised and Burleson could have received a tender that would require a 1st round pick as compensation.

These players had their original team go cheap on them and the team got burned.

I'm pretty sure the NFLPA is happy with how that is working out.

 

[lspain1]

I'm pretty sure the NFLPA is happy with how that is working out.

I saw that Tagliabue is going to talk to Upshaw (NFLPA) about these contracts. If I were Upshaw I would be asking.."What's so bad about poison pills?" If the teams took care of their players these situations would not arise. It seems to me the rules continue to get stacked against the more senior players. The salary cap limits the number of higher paid players and so the rules are slanted to where you just keep cutting them and go with younger guys.