Organizations can't just rip up a contract, for starters. What they can do, cutting the player, is written into the contract - so they would just be exercising the terms of the contract. Second, the organization gets a penalty for cutting the player as well. For one, they've already paid the signing bonus, which means they would have paid him a whole lot of money for just one year of play. Second, they have to eat the salary cap hit of that signing bonus as well. The player, in his negotiations, agreed to all these terms that he can be cut, etc, etc. So in the Eagles' case, they are not violating the terms of their agreement; in T.O.'s case, he was threatening to, and in fact did violate some terms by skipping part of the pre-season. And I believe he was already one of the two or three highest paid receivers in the NFL once you include the signing bonus of everyone's contracts, so it's not like he wasn't getting paid properly.
Oh, and what he did is also different from what other players do. Most players who sign a 7-year contract demand a renegotiation after 3 or 4 or 5 years of performing above expectations or if the market has changed. Not 1 year later, when the market hasn't changed one bit.
They gave TO a contract, that TO himself agreed to and held him to that. So they should be blamed for that? Please tell me where the Eagles put a gun to TO's head and made him sign that deal..........
Those rules are part of a collective bargaining agreement that both the owners and players agreed to. TO has a right to ask for a new contact, but he has no right to poison his team and act like a jerk to everyone in the organization.
Dan Patrick made a good point today (for a changd). No one for the Eagles is taking up for McNabb except for Douglas and that probably was more about the team. But you actually had players come out and give a little support to T.O. Makes you wonder how that team feels about its qb. Remember, McNabb has one of the biggest contracts in the league and that's bound to cause a little friction in the lockeroom.
I would think its safe to say that the vast majority of the team is with McNabb on this one. If so, it would say very little, no?
Major, I'm not sure that you're correct. I thought the unguaranateed contracts thing was agreed upon by the players and owners (and how many years ago was that). I don't think there's a player in the league that can be cut and his contract will still be paid regardless (I'm not talking about signing bonuses). I noted in a previous post that they were obligated for the signing bonus and any salary cap considerations. But, per the agreement between the players and the owners, they can basically say, "hey, remember that 10 year, $100 million dollar contract we all signed. Yeah, we don't want to pay it, see ya", and only be responsible for the signing bonus and cap hits. codell, Once again, you're putting words in my mouth. I never said he had the right to poison his team or act like a jerk to everyone in the organization. In fact, I even called him an *******. And I understand that it's part of the agreement signed between the players and the owners. I just think it's a ****ty one. And T.O. or any other player has the right to hold out knowing full well they won't get paid while they do.
Must have misunderstood you. You said earlier that we should quit acting like hes an ******* for wanting more money.
He's not. I agreed two posts later with someone who called him an ******* for the way he went about everything.
Oh yeah - you're right, the Eagles could cut him and wouldn't pay the rest of the contract. My point was that the players know this and agree to that fact in their contract because their contract is subject to the terms of the collective bargaining agreement. That's why there are signing bonuses in the first place - to get players some guaranteed money. So the $49M contract w/ a $10M signing bonus was negotiated knowing that the player could be cut at any point in the future. Both parties agreed to those terms, knowing that TO could be cut - and doing that would not be something unethical or unfair to the player. What TO did is completely different. Nowhere in the CBA does it say its OK to violate the terms of your contract or whatnot. And while it has become accepted practice to hold out or demand a contract renegotiation, it is almost always done after a player earns that price increase over a period of time of playing under market value - TO doesn't fit that in anyway. He had only played one year, and he wasn't under market value during that time. It would be like Kevin Garnett demanding more money when he was already the highest paid player in the league.
Probably the same place as McNabb - getting ready for their next game. Why *wouldn't* the players like McNabb as their QB? With no running game (due to the coach liking to pass every play) and virtually no receivers the last 4 years outside of TO, he led them to be one of the best offenses in the league. Never complained about a lack of receivers, never said bad things about the team, etc.
NFL players are quite aware of the cut provisions of their contracts. Hense the signing bonus. TO's contract made him one of the highest paid receivers in the NFL....and rescued him from Baltimore --- after he'd burned his bridges in SF. Threatening a holdout after one year is pretty tough to defend under those circumstances. Especially considering all his extra curricular activities.
but players have taken Owens' side to a certain extent. I totally agree with you about Donovan, but I think its strange that no one came out said what you just wrote. they didn't say anything when he took the first shot at McNabb after the SuperBowl, they didn't say anything during the preseason antics, and they didn't say anything about the Brett Farve statements.
Exactly what I was thinking. I'll be if a reporter asked anybody on the team if they agreed with Owens' comments they would say "No" or "No comment" and the no comment does not necessarily mean they agree with Owens either.
their best defensive player took time out from preparing to say he wants T.O. on the team. I'm telling you guys I bet there is a lot of people on that team who side with T.O.
