MINNEAPOLIS -- Bryant McKinnie said he's more determined than ever to get what he considers a fair deal from the Minnesota Vikings, and he's willing to sit out the season if he doesn't get it. The offensive tackle, who's been holding out for 47 days, said Wednesday he considers the Vikings' current offer "a slap in the face." "All I'm asking is for a fair deal," he said. "And that's real simple. All you do is give me a deal that's the average between the sixth pick and the eighth pick, and there you go." On Aug. 1, McKinnie, the seventh pick in the draft, turned down a five-year, $13.1 million contract that included an $8.1 million signing bonus. The eighth pick in the draft, Dallas safety Roy Williams, received a $9.3 million bonus while the sixth pick, Kansas City defensive lineman Ryan Sims, received a $9.8 million bonus on a six-year, $16 million contract. "Why would you offer me $1.2 million less than the number eight guy?" McKinnie said. "I looked at that and said, 'Are you serious?' Just put me in the middle. I'm not asking for $2 million more or something. Just give me more than (Williams), and I'll be satisfied. To offer $8.1 million, that's a slap in the face." McKinnie's mother, Michele Green, also weighed in on the impasse. "I'm just sorry that (Vikings owner Red McCombs) can't see how we feel," she said. "The bottom line is, we want a fair deal. The market value is what it is. It's there in black and white." Green added: "If we get a fair deal, Bryant will be there playing, and I'll move to Minnesota, and we'll put this behind us. It's just a shame that he can't utilize his skills the way he should, because of this problem. But Bryant is a team player, and when he gets there, he will give 100 percent." McKinnie reported to the April minicamp in poor shape but said he has been working out five days a week and that he weighed in Tuesday at 343 pounds -- his listed weight while playing left tackle last season at the University of Miami. McCombs said earlier this week that the Vikings were willing to lose McKinnie's rights rather than capitulate to his contract demands. McKinnie could then enter next year's draft. McCombs blamed the holdout on Jim Steiner and Ben Dogra, McKinnie's agents. Steiner called McCombs' statements "a classic case of someone attempting to try to drive a wedge between us and a client." "Really," he said, "that works in just the opposite fashion. It's really brought all of us closer together." The agents also denied McCombs' accusation that they initiated a collusion inquiry by the NFL Players Association, an investigation McCombs said was designed to stall negotiations. Steiner said the Vikings have ignored the NFL slotting system -- in which a draft pick gets a higher bonus than the player picked after him -- for the top 10 picks in the draft. "There is a stairstep progression year after year after year, and everybody does it," Steiner said. "The fact is, we operate under that system and they don't want to bring the player in within that slot. It's what every other team in the league does, except the Vikings here." His mothers comments had me rolling.
Translation: Hurry up and give him what he wants, because the first month's mortgage payment on this new house my son bought me is due!! Do you want me to be homeless?!?!
The McKinnie's neglect to mention how the signing bonus for the guy picked after Williams was only around 6.5 million. (I can't believe I just wrote only). That is a huge decline between 9.3 and 6.5 so it is obvious that Williams bonus is an abberation. Rather than whine about the 8.1 million, they should be happy for Williams.
I'm of two minds on this one. My "damn greedy bastards" mind says he should just take it and thank God in heaven he has anything for doing what he loves. My "this is a free market enterprise" says he has every right to hold out and demand more. Just because the numbers are inflated beyond most of our comprehension doesn't mean it isn't like going to one company and having them offer you $50,000 while the guy who just got hired for the same position got $65,000. Chances are, you'd either get them to bump it up or look elsewhere. No question the numbers are huge and it seems pretty stupid overall, but everyone is always preaching about the free market and all that. This is just an extension of that.
But this is not the same as two people going to the same job with the same credentials and being given two salarys that dont match. Its more like two engineer's going to apply for a job at two diffrent companys. One is an electrical engineer while the other is a Chemical Eng. One Company is well known to pay more than the other. The Electrical Eng gets a salary of 90,000 at the well paying firm while the Chemical Eng, gets 80,000. Both are getting a "fair" deal one just gets more because of who they work for. I still think its dumb that McKinnie thinks 8+ million sigining bonous is a slap in the face. Try telling that to any average joe on the street.
What's the name of that player from the Cardinals who declined a big signing bonus to join the Army? Makes McKinnie's whining look pathetic.
For 8 million dollars you can slap me or call me betty or do whatever you want to me. This guy is stupid. He probably won't amount to anything above average and 8 million is more than he will ever see again. Wake up...
This is another example of a young athlete's parent getting in their ear and ruining their public image (see Venus Williams, Steffi Graf, etc etc etc).
I believe it was Pat Tillman - he is a real man. http://espn.go.com/nfl/columns/pasquarelli_len/1387154.html http://www.sportingnews.com/voices/voice_of_the_fan/20020528.html http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/or...tandard.xsl?/base/sports/1031745380134602.xml
$8.1 million? That's an outrage! The man blocks for Daunte Culpepper. He should be making at least $20 million in signing bonuses! Give the man whatever he wants! I'm sorry, I just can't sympathesize with overpaid athletes when starting EE's from UT only get $55K.
For once, I actually agree with an athlete when it comes to money issues. The NFL has a pseudo-salary slotted structure for NFL rookies. There has been an understanding amongst the teams that salaries and signing bonuses would decrease from pick to pick for all NFL rookies. Unlike the NBA, where there is an actual scale of pay for rookies, the NFL owners, players, and commissioner have a "handshake agreement." Therefore I agree with McKinnie and his belief that he should get a signing bonus that falls between the man chosen ahead of him and the man chosen behind him in the draft. If Williams' bonus is a true aberration, well than the blame should go to Jerry Jones for throwing the scale out of whack (like Tom Hicks did with A-Rod and MLB salaries) rather than towards the player, McKinnie.
I know the players are greedy, but he has a point. The 7th pick shouldn't make less than the 8th pick. That's what the market dictates. Reminds me of the Jammer/SD situation.
Of course, Roy Williams signing bonus alone wasn't $9.3 million. That figure is an aggregate that includes a second-level option bonus payable in the Spring. Of course, Roy Williams' overall deal is worth more than even Sims if you go by per year average. As it stands, the whole package offered to McKinnie is only $400K per year smaller than Sims' deal. Of course, since NFL contracts are not guaranteed, that's really neither here nor there. Personally, I'd just make an additional $1,200,001 part of the signing bonus without increasing the overall deal.
Since he's a top 10 pick, he should get more, not less than the guy picked after him, but this is a crazy situation for both. If the Vikings don't sign him and he walks, they lose a talented player but save some cash. If he doesn't sign for what they offered him and enters next years draft, he could be picked lower and not get the same kind of money he was being offered. I guess I'd take the money, but he should wait as long as he can incase the Vikings give in.
David Carr should start his hold-out for more money and a better contract since Julius Peppers' bonus and Joey Harrington's bonus is larger than the one he got. The first pick shouldn't get less money than guys behind him. And truthfully, since Carr signed first, all these guys should've insisted on smaller contracts and held out until they got them... Or does the slotting thing only work when asking for more money?
It was David Carr's prerogative to sign a contract before the commencement of the NFL draft. He chose to take the chance that he wouldn't be paid as well as those picked after him. Because there is no defined rookie pay scale (like the NBA), Carr thought it was more important to have the contract in hand an join the team in practices and training camp, rather than possibly holdout and suffer the fate of other highly touted QB holdouts like Akili Smith and Ryan Leaf. As for "all those guys should've insisted on smaller contracts" that's a joke, right? If not, I'm just reading idiotic post after idiotic post on this BBS today!
