News: PFT: All franchised players should play the tag game, absent fair long-term deals

[NewsBot]

An item from Sunday suggested a strategy for receiver Dez Bryant, if the Cowboys apply the franchise tag — and if they don’t offer him a long-term deal with sufficient fully guaranteed money at signing.

Some Cowboys fans believed this advice was exclusive to Bryant, aimed only at helping him play (and win) the tag game with owner Jerry Jones. But this advice applies to any player who: (1) gets the franchise tag; and (2) doesn’t get a long-term offer with sufficient guaranteed money. Bryant was the only one mentioned, because it seems likely that he’ll get the tag — and won’t be happy about it.

Whether it’s Bryant or Broncos receiver Demaryius Thomas or Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul or Chiefs linebacker Justin Houston, a long-term deal that doesn’t fully guarantee two years under the franchise tag (i.e., 100 percent of the 2015 tag plus 100 percent of the 2016 tag, which is 120 percent of the 2015 amount) should be rejected. Too many long-term NFL contracts have become year-to-year propositions with a little extra protection against career-ending injuries. If that’s all that’s going to be available for Bryant and other tag candidates, players restricted by the franchise tag should do exactly what Dez Bryant should do.

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[Hoofbite]

Haha,

"For whatever reason, the Cowboys aren’t willing to make Bryant an offer that would pay him $30 million or more fully guaranteed at signing."

What does he mean, "for whatever reason"? He just put out an article that went as far as to speculate that there may be a video of him beating the hell out of a woman.

I think any player who is actually looking out for himself should avoid financial advice from internet tabloid writers.

 

[AzorAhai]

A team has 1 franchise tag. 1. That means theteam can only protect itself with one player each year. Maybe its not ideal for that player, but I'm sure the owners dont think its ideal to sign 30+ million in guaranteed contracts for other players either. IF Dez plays under the tag for 2 years he would get around 27-28 million guaranteed in 2 years and then possibly get another 30m guaranteed deal after that. Maybe its not the security the players want, but they are fairly compensated for the tag and should honor that commitment once mandatory otas and camp starts.

 

[CashMan]

I sounds like, with the $30 mill guarantee, that 2yrs are guaranteed. Does he really not think, he would be here longer than that? If realistically, he signs this 10yr or 7yr deal, he would play like 4yrs of it?

 

[Ashwynn]

Moneys going to ruin the NFL. Greed is not good. The boys should tell Dez to check out FA and if he can get the moon take it. I'm getting turned off by all this money talk. I no longer care if hes on the team. We have 52 other players that we have to sign. Surely we can get a receiver who can hang on to the ball, instead of the big hit, we can just move down the field . Screw the money grubber. I under stand that he could get injured at any time and put an end to his earning potential, but that does not mean he should cripple the boys with his desire for more than any other receiver in history. If he cant put a little of 7 million or 10 million away for the future, hes an idiot.

 

[xwalker]

A team has 1 franchise tag. 1. That means theteam can only protect itself with one player each year. Maybe its not ideal for that player, but I'm sure the owners dont think its ideal to sign 30+ million in guaranteed contracts for other players either. IF Dez plays under the tag for 2 years he would get around 27-28 million guaranteed in 2 years and then possibly get another 30m guaranteed deal after that. Maybe its not the security the players want, but they are fairly compensated for the tag and should honor that commitment once mandatory otas and camp starts.

The Cowboys should offer Dez the following 10 year, 300M contract with nothing guaranteed. He seems like the type of person that would push his agents out of the way to be the 1st player to sign a 300M contract regardless of the non-guaranteed money. He would probably believe that he is so great that they would actually pick up the 40M salary in year 5.

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[slick325]

Great article and advice...surprised Florio wrote it.

 

[CF74]

Do they really have insurance that will pay on potential future earnings if a player God forbid has a career ending injury early on in his career? It's a rough sport and more and more players are coming up with issues far removed from the game. I can see wanting to get compensated accordingly.

If player X is worth $15-17Mill per season and only gets 13, well that's a problem when u factor in risk vs reward.. Are u going to change his depends as a fan when he's no longer making circus catches for another overpaid player? I doubt it...

 

[Hoofbite]

Do they really have insurance that will pay on potential future earnings if a player God forbid has a career ending injury early on in his career? It's a rough sport and more and more players are coming up with issues far removed from the game. I can see wanting to get compensated accordingly.

If player X is worth $15-17Mill per season and only gets 13, well that's a problem when u factor in risk vs reward.. Are u going to change his depends as a fan when he's no longer making circus catches for another overpaid player? I doubt it...

The only player I have heard who has used such a policy is the guy the 9ers picked up after his knee was completely shredded. Well, now that I think of it maybe a Packers TE as well.

I think there are retirement deadlines in place and I don't know if it extends multiple seasons. Insurance companies aren't in the business of giving out more than they have to.

I can't imagine any policy would insure a guy for years on end at the price Dez would make playing.

 

[CF74]

The only player I have heard who has used such a policy is the guy the 9ers picked up after his knee was completely shredded. Well, now that I think of it maybe a Packers TE as well.

I think there are retirement deadlines in place and I don't know if it extends multiple seasons. Insurance companies aren't in the business of giving out more than they have to.

I can't imagine any policy would insure a guy for years on end at the price Dez would make playing.

Yep, a man's gotta work if he's gonna eat.

 

[AzorAhai]

Do they really have insurance that will pay on potential future earnings if a player God forbid has a career ending injury early on in his career? It's a rough sport and more and more players are coming up with issues far removed from the game. I can see wanting to get compensated accordingly.

If player X is worth $15-17Mill per season and only gets 13, well that's a problem when u factor in risk vs reward.. Are u going to change his depends as a fan when he's no longer making circus catches for another overpaid player? I doubt it...

I dont know about the nfl, but in baseball it is common for teams to take out insurance policies on the big contracts because they are fully guaranteed. I would assume both NFL teams and players would do the same, but only on the guaranteed portion of the players contract. If not I cant think of a reason why they wouldn't.

 

[Nightman]

The only player I have heard who has used such a policy is the guy the 9ers picked up after his knee was completely shredded. Well, now that I think of it maybe a Packers TE as well.

I think there are retirement deadlines in place and I don't know if it extends multiple seasons. Insurance companies aren't in the business of giving out more than they have to.

I can't imagine any policy would insure a guy for years on end at the price Dez would make playing.

Teams and/or players can buy insurance for particular years and for career ending injuries. Navarro Bowman had part of his contract guaranteed for injury and when he blew out his knee in 2013 he got paid and SF got money back against the cap.

It is expensive and it counts as a paid benefit for the player and the league has to approve, but they can get insurance.

If Dez played next year under the 12.7m franchise tag, he could definitely buy a policy to protect against a catastrophic injury.

What I don't like it that almost the whole league is playing without a safety net, except for the guys that recently signed a new, long term deal. Why is Dez' health any more precious than ZMartin's or OScandrick's?? If Dez wants security then sign the dang deal and bet on himself to be valuable enough to be paid for 5-6 years.

 

[Toruk_Makto]

The Cowboys should offer Dez the following 10 year, 300M contract with nothing guaranteed. He seems like the type of person that would push his agents out of the way to be the 1st player to sign a 300M contract regardless of the non-guaranteed money. He would probably believe that he is so great that they would actually pick up the 40M salary in year 5.

10M
10M
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40M
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Again...this sounds incredibly insulting to Dez.

Essentially calling him an idiot.

Do you know Dez?

 

[Wood]

A team has 1 franchise tag. 1. That means theteam can only protect itself with one player each year. Maybe its not ideal for that player, but I'm sure the owners dont think its ideal to sign 30+ million in guaranteed contracts for other players either. IF Dez plays under the tag for 2 years he would get around 27-28 million guaranteed in 2 years and then possibly get another 30m guaranteed deal after that. Maybe its not the security the players want, but they are fairly compensated for the tag and should honor that commitment once mandatory otas and camp starts.

exactly. This 'poor me' negotiating line by franchised players and their agents is laughable. As you said, Dez could land $60 mill in guaranteed money over next 3 years if he plays his cards right.