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If anyone deserves a big time contract, it's him. Pats not looking too good on this one. They need to just pay the man...
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By Kevin Mannix/ NFL Notes
Sunday, April 3, 2005 - Updated: 11:08 AM EST
There has been very little to second-guess around the Patriots [stats, news] these days. No surprise there. A certain sense of confidence tends to surround you when you're considered one of sport's model franchises and you've won three world championships in four years.
Even the decision to release Troy Brown [news] - the heart of the Patriots for the last a decade - was greeted with a collective yawn. No outrage about unceremoniously dumping the man who had been the heart of this team for the last decade. It would have been nice to keep him around but at $5 million for the 2005 season? That wouldn't have been a good business decision. And this team is all about good business decisions.
Besides, Brown might come back after finding there's not a lot of interest elsewhere in a 12-year veteran whose latest season was as a fourth wide receiver (one who played only 22 percent of the offensive snaps in 2004), fifth defensive back and a punt returner.
Then along come the Tom Brady [news] negotiations to nudge us back to reality. Even model franchises make mistakes. The Patriots apparently aren't content enough to have Brady accept a new contract that would fall well below market.
Brady wasn't insisting on getting the kind of money Peyton Manning, Michael Vick and Donovan McNabb got in their recent contracts. Even though he had earned the right to be at that level, he wasn't looking to be a nine-figure superstar. He was apparently happy with a six-year, $60 million deal that included a $24 million signing bonus.
That's a package not entirely dissimilar from the contracts just signed by the Jets' Chad Pennington and Seattle's Matt Hasselbeck, two decent players but whose resumes fall quite short to that of Brady.
A bargain? You better believe it.
But rather than just saying, ``Thanks, Tom, for bailing us out once more and allowing us to spend more money on other people on this team,'' Patriots management apparently decided to attempt to force another concession from their franchise player.
Instead of fully guaranteeing the bonus portion of the contract, which is standard practice with new, long-term contracts, the Pats apparently tried to diversify the bonus money which could have put some of it at risk.If a player gets a signing bonus as part of a new contract, the money is guaranteed. But if the money is in the form of either a roster bonus or an option bonus, it's not. An injury or a dramatic drop in productivity could lead to roster or option bonuses not getting paid. Drew Bledsoe found that out.
Apparently that's the route the Pats took in these negotiations. Rather than provide a significant portion of the contract as a signing bonus (as the Colts did with Manning), the Pats wanted Brady to accept a portion of the $24 million as a roster/option bonus. That would have meant that only the up-front signing bonus would have been guaranteed.
That's not the NFL way. In a league in which annual salaries aren't guaranteed, and in which one injury or one coach's decision can force a player to forfeit millions of dollars in salary, signing bonuses are key.
All of a sudden, the term ``taking one for the team'' takes on a whole new meaning in Brady's case. Not even the ultimate team player is willing to do that. And reportedly that's why the new contract, which was considered ``imminent'' just a month ago, is now very much in question.
Brady has already indicated his willingness to strike a deal that would be cap-friendly for the long-term competitiveness of the team. He didn't seem to care that he was talking about a deal involving considerably less than those just received by other ``upper echelon'' NFL quarterbacks.
Atlanta's Vick signed for $100 million over 10 years with $37 million of it guaranteed over the first three years. Manning's 10-year, $98 million contract with Indianapolis included a $34.5 million signing bonus. A $20 million signing bonus was part of McNabb's 12-year, $115 million agreement with the Eagles.
Pennington's seven-year, $64 million contract with the Jets included an $18 million signing bonus and has a total of $23 million guaranteed. Hasselbeck re-upped with Seattle for $49 million over six years, with a signing bonus of $16 million. How many of them have quarterbacked teams to three Super Bowl championships in four years. How many are two-time Super Bowl MVPs? How many would be willing to settle on a contract for considerably less than market value as Brady was?
And what's his reward for his magnanimous gesture? A deal in which the signing bonus was spread out over six years and wasn't fully guaranteed.
It makes you wonder just what the team was trying to accomplish. This is an organization that hasn't made many serious blunders in recent years. But for them to mangle a contract negotiation with this important a player this badly is definitely out of character.
Maybe it was all a misunderstanding and maybe the team will agree to guarantee the signing bonus and get the deal done. But maybe Brady will look around at the business aspect of the game and decide that he's earned the right to be the NFL's highest player.
That's when things could get messy.
The Patriots [stats, news] definitely need Brady more than he needs them. For all Bill Belichick [news]'s coaching ability, there is a direct relationship between his success and having Brady on the field, remember. As a head coach without Brady at quarterback, Belichick's record is 42-58. With Brady running the offense, Belichick's Patriots are 57-14.
http://patriots.bostonherald.com/patriots/view.bg?articleid=76338
-----------
By Kevin Mannix/ NFL Notes
Sunday, April 3, 2005 - Updated: 11:08 AM EST
There has been very little to second-guess around the Patriots [stats, news] these days. No surprise there. A certain sense of confidence tends to surround you when you're considered one of sport's model franchises and you've won three world championships in four years.
Even the decision to release Troy Brown [news] - the heart of the Patriots for the last a decade - was greeted with a collective yawn. No outrage about unceremoniously dumping the man who had been the heart of this team for the last decade. It would have been nice to keep him around but at $5 million for the 2005 season? That wouldn't have been a good business decision. And this team is all about good business decisions.
Besides, Brown might come back after finding there's not a lot of interest elsewhere in a 12-year veteran whose latest season was as a fourth wide receiver (one who played only 22 percent of the offensive snaps in 2004), fifth defensive back and a punt returner.
Then along come the Tom Brady [news] negotiations to nudge us back to reality. Even model franchises make mistakes. The Patriots apparently aren't content enough to have Brady accept a new contract that would fall well below market.
Brady wasn't insisting on getting the kind of money Peyton Manning, Michael Vick and Donovan McNabb got in their recent contracts. Even though he had earned the right to be at that level, he wasn't looking to be a nine-figure superstar. He was apparently happy with a six-year, $60 million deal that included a $24 million signing bonus.
That's a package not entirely dissimilar from the contracts just signed by the Jets' Chad Pennington and Seattle's Matt Hasselbeck, two decent players but whose resumes fall quite short to that of Brady.
A bargain? You better believe it.
But rather than just saying, ``Thanks, Tom, for bailing us out once more and allowing us to spend more money on other people on this team,'' Patriots management apparently decided to attempt to force another concession from their franchise player.
Instead of fully guaranteeing the bonus portion of the contract, which is standard practice with new, long-term contracts, the Pats apparently tried to diversify the bonus money which could have put some of it at risk.If a player gets a signing bonus as part of a new contract, the money is guaranteed. But if the money is in the form of either a roster bonus or an option bonus, it's not. An injury or a dramatic drop in productivity could lead to roster or option bonuses not getting paid. Drew Bledsoe found that out.
Apparently that's the route the Pats took in these negotiations. Rather than provide a significant portion of the contract as a signing bonus (as the Colts did with Manning), the Pats wanted Brady to accept a portion of the $24 million as a roster/option bonus. That would have meant that only the up-front signing bonus would have been guaranteed.
That's not the NFL way. In a league in which annual salaries aren't guaranteed, and in which one injury or one coach's decision can force a player to forfeit millions of dollars in salary, signing bonuses are key.
All of a sudden, the term ``taking one for the team'' takes on a whole new meaning in Brady's case. Not even the ultimate team player is willing to do that. And reportedly that's why the new contract, which was considered ``imminent'' just a month ago, is now very much in question.
Brady has already indicated his willingness to strike a deal that would be cap-friendly for the long-term competitiveness of the team. He didn't seem to care that he was talking about a deal involving considerably less than those just received by other ``upper echelon'' NFL quarterbacks.
Atlanta's Vick signed for $100 million over 10 years with $37 million of it guaranteed over the first three years. Manning's 10-year, $98 million contract with Indianapolis included a $34.5 million signing bonus. A $20 million signing bonus was part of McNabb's 12-year, $115 million agreement with the Eagles.
Pennington's seven-year, $64 million contract with the Jets included an $18 million signing bonus and has a total of $23 million guaranteed. Hasselbeck re-upped with Seattle for $49 million over six years, with a signing bonus of $16 million. How many of them have quarterbacked teams to three Super Bowl championships in four years. How many are two-time Super Bowl MVPs? How many would be willing to settle on a contract for considerably less than market value as Brady was?
And what's his reward for his magnanimous gesture? A deal in which the signing bonus was spread out over six years and wasn't fully guaranteed.
It makes you wonder just what the team was trying to accomplish. This is an organization that hasn't made many serious blunders in recent years. But for them to mangle a contract negotiation with this important a player this badly is definitely out of character.
Maybe it was all a misunderstanding and maybe the team will agree to guarantee the signing bonus and get the deal done. But maybe Brady will look around at the business aspect of the game and decide that he's earned the right to be the NFL's highest player.
That's when things could get messy.
The Patriots [stats, news] definitely need Brady more than he needs them. For all Bill Belichick [news]'s coaching ability, there is a direct relationship between his success and having Brady on the field, remember. As a head coach without Brady at quarterback, Belichick's record is 42-58. With Brady running the offense, Belichick's Patriots are 57-14.
http://patriots.bostonherald.com/patriots/view.bg?articleid=76338