With Dunta, I believe he's just being a whiner. He may have lost out on the chance to negotiate for a long term deal, but he'll still be getting paid among the top 5 CB's in the league. So he just needs to buck up and shut up. With Demeco, I understand his beef. Low draft picks outperforming their rookie contracts and wanting a renegotiation is very common. Part of that has to do with how much first rounders make and how little everyone after makes. Demeco is a DROY, pro-bowler and team leader who has clearly out-performed his contract. Eric Winston doesn't have any of those credentials and yet he already got his large contraction extension. Why wouldn't Demeco be a little peaved? I don't believe you can compare your job value to Demeco's. In the employee workplace, salary renegotiations are extremely uncommon whether or not you're being paid your perceived value. (This also means you could underperform your contract and they won't pay you less). In professional sports, especially the NFL, players overperforming contracts routinely get to renegotiate and get contract extensions. As I mentioned, Winston already got his. Also I completely disagree with your sentiments about them not complaining about their salaries. Everyone is entitled to be fairly compensated for their work. The NFL is a multi-billion dollar industry and there's no reason players shouldn't fight for the share of that money they rightly deserve. Because the alternative is just the owner's getting a little more money, not the overall size of the pie/industry shrinking.
i think his anger is simply misplaced. being forced to accept a one-year deal at the expense of a longer, more lucurative deal is indeed a reason to be upset. dunta, better than most i'm guessing, understands the inherent risk of playing football for a living. but as Jared said: the texans didn't act irresponsibly with the franchise tag. they (presumably) negotiated in good faith and wanted to make a deal. when that didn't happen, not using the franchise tag would have been foolish. they assure themselves of at least one more year at a major position of need while also extending their exclusivity to work on a new deal. it's a no-brainer, and for dunta not to see that as a sign of their commitment to him is pretty short-sighted, IMO.
I work for a billion dollar company, that doesn't mean I should expect to get paid millions of dollars. I get my salary and I'm happy with it. If my company makes a merger or scores a contract that will increase revenue, that does not mean I have the right to renoegotiate because the company is making more money. That being said I totally agree that Demeco should get a raise for the milestones he has acheived, but the media is not the forum to voice your displeasure with your employer and whine about your pay. The last time I checked a million dollars was still a lot of money (Demeco is supposed make a million + this season) to play a game. Furthermore his beef is negated by the fact that he was offered an extension and turned it down. With the economic hardships that everyone is facing, these guys need to count their blessings. I'm not mad at Demeco for not liking his situation, everyone wants to get paid more. I just don't like that he put his displeasure out there through the media. Let your agent and the team figure out the dollars and cents, thats what the agent is paid for. The Texans obviously want him here, he needs to see that and be a little patient with the situation. As for Dunta, you hit the nail on the head.
Again, the economics of your job situation are nothing like his. In the NFL, it is routine to renegotiate contracts where the player is over-performing (and underperforming: see LaDainian Tomlinson). If your value to your company is such that you have a very direct influence on your company's increased revenues/performance, maybe you should be asking for a raise. This is the difference between CEO compensation and normal salary compensation. The CEO has a direct influence on the company’s success, so he stands to make more if the company is doing well. If the company doesn’t take care of the CEO, then he can just resign or move on when his contract is over. Same thing with Demeco. He has a very strong influence on the Texans’ product. In contrast, the media guy for the Texans or the ticket taker doesn’t really have a strong, direct influence on the end product; so even if the team does better, they don’t deserve a raise. While I don’t like seeing Demeco voice his displeasure to the media, if public opinion puts added pressure on the team to get a deal done then more power to Demeco. Public opinion is a powerful bargaining tool for both sides. The Texans’ front office currently looks good in your eyes merely because they made an offer; you have no idea if that offer was even close to what Demeco’s worth. As stated before, the first offer of a contract extension is usually a lowball. Again, just because one million seems like a lot to you it doesn’t mean he should settle for that. That’s definitely below the average for NFL players and Demeco is certainly not average. Hell there are some punters and kickers (e.g. Kris Brown) that make more. I also don’t buy the count your blessings argument. Using economic terms, he isn’t some easily replaceable/substitutable entity that most people that randomly get laid off are. His demand is fairly inelastic. That’s just the way it is with top talent. You get to name your price. See Manny Ramirez/ CC Sabathia/ Mark Texeira. In the end, going through the media is what it is. If the Texans want him as much as you say they do then they should offer Demeco a fair contract. It may turn out that they don’t value him above what they’re willing to pay him. While I would be sad to see him go, I’d understand its business.
must be Cato June.. the only other LB names I've heard are Buster Davis (3rd yr) and Tyjuan Hagler (4th yr)
According to McClain, the simply had June in for a visit and haven't ruled out signing him at a later date. Hope Richard is right.
Hard to tell. I feel like our sports teams do the best jobs of keeping information in house. Reporters here just don't have the inside information they play off that they have. Anyway, Justice was asked out flatout by John if they were going to sign him and see said "Yes."
Or maybe our reporters just suck! yeah,I'm with you. The texans do a superb job in not allowing intel to leak out. It took 3 years and a deepthroat for the NFL to find out about our intense training program. I heard we will no longer be doing 2-a-days this season.
We re-signed Butler and signed Davis (official now) ... http://www.houstontexans.com/news/Story.asp?story_id=5213
prediction: i think the texans are going to shock the world when they draft a running back in first, or trade down in first to take the running back which one? either wells or moreno
RB is probably the most likely pick if we go offense in the first round, but even that is probably about a 2% chance. I think they'll draft one in the 3rd-5th ... then sign another back or two to compete in training camp (Denver is predicted to cut a lot of their RB's that fit the Zone-blocking scheme to go with backs McDaniels wants). Slaton Chris Brown Moats Draft pick (3rd-5th) Free Agent Free Agent/Undrafted FA I think out of those options they could find enough.
and what makes you think this? have the texans hinted that they like any of the RB prospects? have any of the texans brass expressed a propensity for drafting RBs or any offensive skill players in the first day?
If they go offense for some reason, at a skill position anyway, I'd rather take Percy Harvin. He's not a running back per say in the NFL but he could line up in the backfield, out wide, in the slot, and return kicks if need be. What does a defensive coordinator do with AJ, Daniels, Slaton, and Harvin on the field? He'll forget to account for Kevin Walter. Assuming he is clean, I'd only consider it if they traded down to get extra picks they could use on defensive players. They can still get a good back in the 4th or later.
