Month: August 2009

Before getting to my opinion and similar experiences regarding the Brandon Marshall imbroglio, it’s worth noting that we are down to one unsigned rookie in football.

Andre Smith has agreed to terms with the Bengals, leaving Michael Crabtree as the last pick standing from the 2009 NFL Draft. I’ll have complete numbers on Smith soon, but it appears the Bengals have successfully disregarded the Raiders’ contract with Darrius Heyward-Bey immediately below Smith, the No. 6 pick, and used the Jaguars’ deal with another offensive lineman, Eugene Monroe, picked No. 8, as the most relevant comparable. As to reports that Smith’s deal is for four years, do not believe it for a minute. No team in the first round is going to pay the type of guaranteed money required and not tie up the player for at least one year of potential free agency. The option on Smith will be exercised in March. The Bengals would not commit $21 million in guaranteed money for a four-year contract.

As for Crabtree, my strong sense is that he and his agent, Eugene Parker, have a date in mind when they will close this deal and finally report. That date is in the next two weeks, probably Sept. 6, 7 or 8. Do not fret. Crabtree will sign. They all do. More on him later this week.

Baby Brandon

Brandon Marshall has become the latest test case in the NFL for players who engage in insubordinate and team-destructive behavior in their ongoing attempts to get out of their current situations. Marshall is the latest in a line of players who resort to conduct that’s detrimental to the team and their teammates, all orchestrated to become such a pain in the you-know-what that the team just wants to rid itself of the player/problem.

The most celebrated of these distractions were Keyshawn Johnson with the Buccaneers and Terrell Owens with the Eagles. In those cases, the coaches and front office literally paid the players to stay away, lest they infect the locker room any more than they already had with their petulance.

Packer Petulance

In Green Bay, I dealt with these situations a couple of different times with Mike McKenzie and Javon Walker. For reasons I still don’t completely understand, both players wanted out of Green Bay. Their initial problems were with their contracts, but there was much more to it than that – they felt disrespected by coaches, they felt uncomfortable with the social scene in Green Bay, they felt some animosity from teammates, etc. Simply, they wanted out.

As I said, both players claimed it was not about the money (which translates to “It’s all about the money”). In the case of McKenzie, he perceived racist comments about his dreadlocks. In the case of Walker, he felt that Brett Favre had betrayed him in criticizing his contract stance and had an ongoing rivalry/jealousy/competition on and off the field with Donald Driver. In both cases, these players were not the same people who came to Green Bay as high draft choices. Success had clearly changed them. Ultimately, they were dealt for second-round draft choices (who turned into Pro Bowlers Nick Collins and Greg Jennings).

The Marshall Plan

The game plan for players such as Marshall has been laid out repeatedly. Step One is a request to have the contract renegotiated to reflect the new marketplace, pointing to recent deals of players who the player thinks are inferior in talent. When rebuffed in those efforts, the player usually moves to Step Two: the trade demand. When the team expresses no interest in trading the player, it’s on to Step Three: express a rumble of discontent throughout the offseason and training camp, followed by a repeated request for the agent to be granted permission to seek a trade.

The goal of this behavior, usually orchestrated by the agent, is to try and create enough angst and worry among the front office and coaching staff that they feel like the best option is to try and get value for the player and move on. Marshall has taken the syllabus to another level – used by McKenzie in Green Bay and Owens in Philadelphia – in Step Four: not trying in practice, showing no respect for the game or his team and infecting young players in the locker room with negativity.

The Portis Principle

It’s ironic that the team involved is the Broncos. For those out there who do not like the tactics of one Drew Rosenhaus in his efforts to get players out of their current situations, this whole game plan began with a Bronco, Clinton Portis. Portis, who switched to Rosenhaus from his previous agent in hopes of getting out of Denver, hit the trifecta: he got out of Denver, got his wish with a trade to Washington and landed the biggest running back contract in the NFL — all in the same transaction. Rosenhaus has traded on that experience in attracting many new clients, including McKenzie, Walker, Owens, Anquan Boldin, Lito Sheppard, Plaxico Burress and many others.

Tough Precedent

The Broncos were also the unfortunate losers in an arbitration involving former player Ashley Lelie, another player who wanted out and eventually got his wish. When the Broncos pursued arbitration to recover bonus money paid to Lelie after he refused to report to camp, they lost a landmark case that allows NFL players to keep option bonuses previously paid, a ruling that deemed those monies “earned,” unlike signing bonus money that has forfeiture provisions. The Lelie case has had dramatic ramifications in structuring contracts of top picks in the draft, including the deal for one of the Broncos’ two top picks this year, Robert Ayers.

And, of course, the Broncos dealt with a similar situation earlier this year with their quarterback, Jay Cutler. Cutler had an unpleasant introductory meeting with new coach Josh McDaniels and that relationship never recovered, leading to the trade of the year in the NFL.

Now the Broncos are dealing with this issue again. They have suspended Marshall and issued a warning of “escalating discipline” to come. Marshall will likely continue his bad behavior with the goal of a Portis/Cutler type of result. Meanwhile, the NFL Management Council is advising the Broncos’ front office to document, document and document some more, advising copious notes on every action or non-action by Marshall toward whatever discipline they want to impose.

The option of renegotiating Marshall’s contract has to be off the table now. It would not only set a terrible precedent in the Broncos’ locker room but also continue to enable Marshall and his questionable conduct. If Marshall – who barely has escaped a league suspension after two domestic violence incidents – has been a problem making lower wages, he will certainly not become a better citizen with money in the bank. Throwing money at this problem will not solve it.

A Common Problem

In talking to many people in NFL management, there’s a common theme that this is a problem that needs fixing — soon. Agents and players are realizing there is little downside to this strategy. Marshall probably feels he can act out for a while during training camp and the per diem of less than $2,000 per week and eventually shape up to collect his $2.2-million s
alary when the season starts. Or he can continue this formula and see if he actually gets traded and perhaps even a sparkling new contract. At this point, there are very limited financial consequences to Marshall for his childish behavior.

There will be a lot of focus on the economics of the coming collective bargaining negotiations between the NFL Players Association and the NFL in the coming months, specifically the percentage of football revenues shared with players, rookie salaries, etc. Beyond these matters, however, this Marshall issue of bad behavior to force a trade is something that will draw a lot of attention from the league.

Every team in the league has dealt with or is dealing with some form of this. If a team says otherwise, it is lying. This is a problem that’s getting worse, not better, and Marshall’s behavior is cause for concern for every team and league official. Something needs to be done here as it represents another important issue teed up for bargaining.

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The Real Importance of Thursday for Vick

Thursday was an extremely important day for the future of Michael Vick, although not for the reasons that many football fans think. Much of the focus has been on his on-field debut with the Eagles, his first action in the NFL in two years. While that was intriguing, the real importance of Thursday was that a bankruptcy court approved a plan for Vick to repay creditors and move on with his financial life.

Thanks to the Eagles and the new contract given to Vick and a renewed sense of reality in repaying more than $20 million to creditors, Vick displayed a much more favorable plan to satisfy his creditors, a far cry from an unworkable arrangement he and his team presented months ago.

As I always say to players until I’m blue in the face, it’s what they keep rather than what they make that is truly important. Vick was the highest-paid player in the game a few years ago, rewarded with a $120-million contract in 2004 at a surprisingly early stage of his career and still a delicate age of 24. Five years later, he is working out a bankruptcy plan.

Judge Frank Santoro approved the plan only on the condition that Vick retain a personal financial planner to manage his future earnings with the Eagles, saying that Vick has proven himself unable to manage his finances in the past. You think?

It’s fascinating to me that Judge Santoro ordered Vick to retain a financial planner. Has Vick not had a financial planner before, in years where he was earning upwards of $10M a year? Or perhaps that was the problem, that he had a planner who failed.

As to his future earnings with the Eagles, in a relative sense they’re modest, earning him $100,000 per game this season for a salary of $1.6M, right at the average for an NFL player. Whoever that financial manager is, he or she would be best served to be cautious with that amount, as the future is still unclear. Even in the event Vick is on the Eagles’ roster on March 5 or so of next year, when he will earn $2.5M guaranteed and $5.2M total compensation, there isn’t much a financial planner can do with him except be as conservative as possible and pay off his considerable debt.

As I have noted often, players with issues rarely seem to be acting solo. A common problem with many professional athletes is that they are surrounded by the herd – friends, wanna-be friends, advisers, gurus, cousins, uncles, former coaches, competing agents, etc. Controlling and corralling the enabling herd is one of the most difficult jobs for the player and his representative.

And wait until Vick gets his bill from the people he praised after the plan was approved: his lawyers. That will be a big one.

Treasure to Trash

This week’s version of a team’s treasure to trash features Ernest Wilford. A year ago, Wilford signed a first-day free-agent deal with the Dolphins, a much-heralded signing designed to bring a big and (hopefully) productive receiver into their fold. Now Wilford and his free-agent contract – one of the worst deals of 2008 — are gone, sent to the trash bin one season after the treasure.

Wilford produced three catches for 25 yards for the Dolphins. With a $6-million bonus and $1 million in salary last year, his production equated to $2.33M per catch, perhaps the most money per reception in the history of the NFL.

Wilford now returns to the team where he was developed and earned his free-agent contract, the Jacksonville Jaguars. I guess you can go home again, especially for a minimum contract.

Rice, Rice Baby

Well, at least Wilford’s minimum salary – if he makes the Jaguars — will be about seven times that of Simeon Rice. Rice, the third overall pick in the 1996 draft and a three-time Pro Bowl player, is reportedly signing with the New York Sentinels of the UFL.

In 2003, Rice signed what was then the highest contract for a defensive lineman, joining the Buccaneers for a record $41 million over five years, with nearly half that amount guaranteed. Now he has agreed to play for the UFL-mandated salary of $35,000, the amount the new league said it would pay its players with the exception of one quarterback per team.

Without NFL Europe or the Arena Football League, the UFL currently is the only other option to the NFL for professional players. This option is for young players coming up short in their attempts to make NFL rosters, players who washed out of the NFL after some brief experience (J.P. Losman), and now a player or two with accomplished NFL backgrounds not ready to hang up their cleats. Rice, at 35, will certainly be an elder statesman for the Sentinels, provided he’s willing to take on that role.

When I was general manager of the Barcelona Dragons of the World League years ago, we had a player in a very similar situation to Rice. Bruce Clark was a Lombardi Award winner – the first junior to win the award — at Penn State. He was drafted as the fourth overall pick in 1980 by the Packers but chose the Canadian Football League over Green Bay. He eventually played eight seasons in the NFL for the Chiefs and Saints before ending his career with us in Barcelona.

Bruce bristled a bit at being so much older and more accomplished than most of our team (and league) but eventually became a person who took charge on and off the field, a true man among boys at that level and a natural leader for the team in many ways.

Brett Favre is certainly not the only player who has a hard time giving up the game. For the vast majority, however, the NFL retires them before they can retire themselves. Now Rice, like Bruce Clark in Barcelona, has an option to keep playing and is willing to do so.

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Why was it expected that Philip Rivers would sign a mega-contract extension prior to the start of the season?

Rivers was the other shoe to drop after the Eli Manning extension in New York. With the market set the past year and quarterbacks such as David Garrard, Tony Romo, Aaron Rodgers and Matt Cassel receiving guaranteed money in the $20-million range, with APY(average per year) in the $10-million range, the stage was set for these two to do their deals. As the Chargers and Giants noted, there was not going to be much in the way of new comparables over the season to influence where the market might go.

The complicating factor in all negotiations now, of course, is the expiration of the Collective Bargaining Agreement after next season, a season that presently does not include a salary cap. Were the Giants or the Chargers to allow these contracts to expire, they would face the prospect of (1) losing the player in free agency to a team with deep pockets to spend on the rarest of assets – a franchise quarterback not under contract; or (2) placing the franchise tag on the players in an uncertain environment in 2010 and – even more so – beyond.

The Chargers still have a long shopping list of their own free agents in 2010, including Shawne Merriman, Darren Sproles, Vincent Jackson, Chris Chambers and Marcus McNeill. Bringing Rivers under contract is a key first step in what could be in an interesting year ahead for the team’s fortunes and finances.

The Rivers extension lasts through 2015 and is worth $98M, with $38M guaranteed. It’s eerily similar to the recent deal for Eli Manning in APY over the first three years: $16.95 million for Manning and $16.75 million for Rivers. The guarantee amount is larger than that given to Manning and is the largest guaranteed quarterback money in the history of football, not including a QB who has yet to take a real snap in the NFL, Matthew Stafford.

Rivers can’t complain about Stafford, however. For one, Stafford’s deal probably helped his negotiation. Also, Rivers was once one of those top-pick contracts that everyone complained about, a player making more than most veterans without having played a game.

The enormity of rookie contracts has helped Manning and Rivers, not only when they were the ones with those contracts but now that they can point to the more recent ones to help their leverage.

Why has there been no discussion of extensions for the league’s two true superstar quarterbacks, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning?

These two players, arguably the most important players in the game, have contracts that expire not at the end of this year but at the end of next year. As they watch other players with a fraction of their accomplishments get rewarded with extensions, they have to be wondering when their time will come.

Of course, these A-list players are making top-tier money even for deals signed in 2004 (Manning, $14M average) and 2005 (Brady, $10M average). However, we need not be na

While we all wonder when the two last picks standing – Andre Smith of the Bengals and Michael Crabtree of the 49ers – will put their signatures on documents that will provide them with long-term financial security, I thought I’d look at three other picks in the top 10 who have actually done so. Smith and Crabtree will eventually sign – believe me, they will.

Earlier in the offseason, when the first and fifth picks in the draft — quarterbacks Matthew Stafford and Mark Sanchez – inked their mega-contracts, a familiar outcry was heard about how rookie contracts are ruining the sport. At least one veteran quarterback was happy to see it, however. Stafford’s outrageous $41.7-million guarantee – still the largest guarantee in the history of the NFL – was Exhibit A for agent Tom Condon in his recent negotiation for Eli Manning, pointing out the same inequities that the league and management point out about the rookie system that Condon and others are exploiting.

Beyond the quarterbacks, there have been some interesting deals at the top.

Tyson Jackson, Kansas City Chiefs

The contract for the third pick in the 2009 draft has the fingerprints of Tyson Jackson’s agent, Eugene Parker, all over it.

Parker is all about getting the shortest deals possible (with, of course, the most money possible). While many picks at the top, such as Stafford, opt for the maximum allowable six-year term to secure the greatest possible bonus money, Parker is always insistent on a five-year deal. He really wants deals to be four years but can’t find any support among his agent peers to try to get to that length. I’m sure he’s trying in vain with the 49ers to procure a four-year deal for Crabtree.

Parker believes the true value in professional football is having not one, but two opportunities for a highly leveraged contract in a player’s career. His recent deals for Larry Fitzgerald and Greg Jennings, in my opinion, are masterpiece contracts for the players since they provide top-of-market wide receiver earnings with an opportunity to hit free agency again in four years, at age 29, thereby maximizing their high earning potential.

Jackson received a five-year deal from the Chiefs with a total value of $49 million, or an APY (average per year) of $9.8M. He has another $8 million of upside based on his performance on defense and sack production, giving the five-year contract a maximum value of $57M, of which $31M is guaranteed. The guarantee is $3M more than Sanchez two picks behind him, another contract done for five, rather than six, years.

It’s hard to compare Jackson’s deal to the pick last year, which was a “quarterback-premium” deal for Matt Ryan with the Falcons.

Aaron Curry, Seattle Seahawks

At No. 4, Curry went for the biggest possible bonus and guarantee in taking the six-year deal. And he and his agents at Octagon also did quite well.

Curry’s six-year deal with the Seahawks is worth a total value of $48.1M, or an APY of $8M. Curry also has $12M of potential upside based on performance and sack production, giving him a six-year contract with a maximum value of $60M.

Curry’s guaranteed amount is $34 million. That’s $3M more than the pick above him, Tyson Jackson, albeit with another year on the deal.

Curry’s deal is eerily similar to the contract given recently to Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel. That’s where we’ve come: Top picks in the draft are paid similarly to the going rate for franchise quarterbacks.

Last year’s fourth pick, Darren McFadden, received $26M in guaranteed money, meaning that Curry was able to garner an increase of more than 30 percent over last year. This also means that next year’s fourth pick in the NFL Draft can reasonably expect to receive guaranteed money on a six-year contract in the range of a 30-percent increase over $34M, or about $44M, which would eclipse Matthew Stafford as the highest guaranteed contract in the NFL! And that, of course, would be for the fourth pick, which would be bettered by the top three.

These geometric annual increases that teams are agreeing to with the top picks in the draft appear to be a vicious spiral with no end in sight — unless and until collective bargaining negotiations do something about it.

As I’ve written, the vast majority of rookie contracts represent a fixed and reasonable cost for NFL teams, but the disproportionate pay at the top is mind-boggling.

B.J. Raji, Green Bay Packers

A bit further down, the Packers came to terms with the ninth pick in the draft, B.J. Raji.

Although written as a six-year deal, it’s really a five-year deal since the sixth year is just there to contain proration for the second-year option. The sixth-year voids with minimum playing time.

Raji will receive a total value of $22.5M, with $17.7M of that amount, or 79 percent, guaranteed. While Raji’s increase over Keith Rivers’ deal last year is a relatively reasonable 14 percent, the fact that nearly 80 percent of the contract is guaranteed is cause for concern among management. As the picks go further down in the round, this trend continues, with many of the picks receiving around 75 percent of their contracts guaranteed.

This has become a rallying cry for the union and the players as much as the eye-popping numbers at the top. First-round picks are becoming a new class of players in the NFL, with virtually guaranteed contracts, and are moving toward the model set in the NBA and Major League Baseball.

Whether it’s the amounts or the percentage of guarantees, rookie contracts at the top of the draft are setting off alarms throughout the league. Theoretically, teams have the leverage – the players are not going to go back to school or play another sport – but year after year, teams have a hard time saying no to these prized possessions.

Coming soon: More analysis of contracts for first-round picks as well as a deeper look inside the Eli Manning deal.

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Broadcast Deals Extended

In the midst of this economic downturn, the NFL has extended important broadcast deals with its partners for two more years. Set to expire following the 2011 season — if there is a 2011 season — the league’s deals with the following partners will run through the 2013 season: Fox, CBS, DirectTV and now NBC, as the NFL announced it has extended its six-year agreement with the network for two more seasons of Sunday Night Football. Reports indicate the extension has an increase of two percent over current levels.

Although the exact payment terms of these deals have not been released, the most important point in these extensions is the answer to the following question: Do payments to the NFL continue in the event there’s no football in 2011 because of a lockout of the players by ownership?

Although the answer to that question is unclear regarding the network deals, a source with knowledge of them confirms that, at the least, the DirecTV deal does include payments as scheduled in 2011, with or without football.

Thus, if the lockout scenario were to take place and there were no football revenues to be shared with the players in 2011, ownership would still have a revenue source coming in even without the games. Of course, we’re a long way from that time, but the discussion will continue to ramp up over the coming months.

Just the Facts, Plax

Plaxico Burress finally faced reality, perhaps for the first time in his life. An enormous talent that was rewarded at this time a year ago with a large contract extension with the Giants, Burress has been around yes-men and enablers his entire life. As it usually is with people who have no reality in their lives, his crew has always told him what he wanted to hear rather than what he needed to hear.