Sanchez signing: win-win

Freeing the Inner Fan

Let me confess that I’m a member of that long-suffering caste known as Jets fans. And while I think I’ve been justifiably unbiased and free with criticism toward the Jets, who were my boyhood team, I am always reminded that my dad bought Jets tickets the same year both Joe Namath and I arrived, him in New York and me into the world. I have pictures of me attending my first game wearing a suit in September of about 1967 or ‘68. It had on short pants, but people dressed up for games then and so did I.

Working in a sport takes away some of one’s enthusiasm toward any team and gives you a litany of clients and friends who work for other places and whose success makes you happy, but I will always have a soft spot in my heart for the Jets. And while I still have real doubts I’ve shared with readers of the Post about some things the Jets do, my inner fan is doing cartwheels with last week’s quick signing of Mark Sanchez.

APThe new face of the Jets franchise: Mark Sanchez

The hope of a new young QB isn’t one Jets fans have had too often. Not since the arrival of Ken O’Brien has a talented young player been such an upgrade at the position. After all, even Chad Pennington wasn’t supposed to supplant Vinnie Testaverde so quickly. Oh sure, there were moments with Brett, Boomer and Vinnie, but they were used. Sanchez has that wonderful “new car smell” about him.

A Brighter New Day

My outer critic (and lawyer and agent) is also giving high fives because the Sanchez deal was done on both sides so quickly and easily. A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing because it can magnify the shortcomings of any organization, particularly the one you most want to like emotionally. For that reason, most of my rooting passion these days goes to the Jets’ old Shea co-tenants, the Mets. But the Jets and GM Mike Tannenbaum have gone two-for-two with Sanchez, as the NFP’s Matt Bowen and Michael Lombardi have pointed out. Tannenbaum was bold enough to move up and draft him, and he was deft enough to get him signed, sealed and delivered way before training camp.

Sanchez’s agent, David Dunn, also gets a share of the credit for getting this deal done and letting Sanchez have his chance. Dunn was smart enough to recognize that the Jets want to give Sanchez the starting job, and aside from injury, a holdout was the only thing that could have prevented this from happening. Dunn deserves credit for not using every ounce of his leverage against Tannenbaum to give the Jets what they wanted, his client. In return, his client got something close to generational wealth and a chance to make far more off the field as a charismatic starting quarterback in the Big Apple.

Because of his Hispanic heritage, Sanchez also stands to be the face of the league in its efforts to reach the country’s growing number of Spanish-speaking households. But to cash in on that, he needs to be on the field. Whatever Sanchez may have left on the table -- his contract is big, but it isn’t as close to Matthew Stafford’s as it might have -- what little bit more Dunn might have squeezed from the Jets is insignificant compared to the potential upside if Sanchez emerges as a star. It’s a bright new day for the Jets. It’s also a good day for football – and a great one for Sanchez.

A Textbook Negotiation

AP

I sometimes give presentations on negotiation theory. I have represented clients for nearly 15 years and people in sports for a decade. Also, as a professor, I get to study the theory behind things, and the art or science of negotiation is no exception. Since the NFL contracts I have negotiated aren’t among the biggest in history, I may prove that old saying, “Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach.” But people honestly pay me to teach them negotiation strategy, and my basic premise is that both sides want to get a deal done in any negotiation. They just have to stretch the fabric of the deal over three tent poles: duration, obligation and compensation. In other words, how long do I have to do something, what do I have to do to do it and how much do I get paid for doing it.

What I also talk about is a theory called “principled negotiations,” which simply put is win-win negotiating. Contracts where one side takes advantage of the other usually end up in court or, in sports, in a holdout. There are any number of reasons, some valid, some not, why things don’t work out in a negotiation, but in a player’s contract there are really only two moveable pieces that matter: How much and how long? They have taken out the obligation part since showing up to play healthy, off drugs and out of jail are pretty much understood, although the last two do prove troublesome. The only two remaining questions or tent poles to be adjusted are: How long does each side want the contract to be and how much is it going to pay?

In the Sanchez contract, Dunn knew the Jets were going to pay. Tannebaum and the Jets knew they were going to pay. What’s extraordinary is that both sides understood the more important synergy of coming together and not fighting over millions of dollars when tens of millions are possible in endorsements and future deals if Sanchez plays well, as Andrew Brandt pointed out so eloquently on June 12.

Lombardi has said that agents often aren’t working as much for their current client when doing first-round deals as they are marketing for next year’s potential client. Teams also take inconsistent positions and play hardball for a year or two after being burned and overpaying for a bust. But Dunn and Tannenbaum didn’t play any games. Each got their win. The Jets got their QB. Dunn got a significant slot upgrade over last year’s No. 5 pick, DT Glenn Dorsey, and that’s good for everybody, especially Sanchez and Jets fans.

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