Steve Spurrier III has me a little confused, because he wrote:Samuels has re-negotiated twice for this team. When is he going to get all that money? He's bent over backwards for this team before and he deserves his payday. I don't fault Chris one bit. A "team player" is a guy who gives his all on the field, does what the coaches say without making a fuss and doesn't complaing about his contract status. As far as I can tell, that fits Chris...
Spurrier, I'll go along with a part of that statement, the part where you define a "team player". I have to disagree with the implication that Samuels, due to past concessions, should be paid what he signed for (even if we can move that money around to make it more a "bonus" than a protracted term of contract) because he simply has
not played well enough to earn that kind of money.
My feeling is that if he won't renegotiate, he's on the defensive. He's probably thinking exactly what you wrote. Something along the lines of, "Hey, that's what I signed for. I moved everything around twice to help the team. Why should
I do it again ? It's somebody else' turn."
I truly feel that if Samuels had had two stellar seasons, he'd be more confident in himself. He'd figure that the money would come
sometime because he just so beyond replacement, the team would have to pay him in a big way.
The truth is, he's been an average tackle. You can blame it on whatever feels good to you, if it makes you feel better. Injuries ? Okay. Too many schemes ? That's fine. Coaching changes ? True enough. The NFL today, though, is a
bottom line business, and you're only as good as your last game.
If that's true, and I feel it is, then Samuels is being paid for his "potential" rather than any tangible performance rating.
This is not good business, IMHO. He needs to renegotiate, or he needs to hit the road. Sorry, Jake.
Is there a better guy out there, right now, in FA ? I don't know. You'll probably find a few that can do what C-Sam did for the past two years after the June cuts come and go. Still, do you cripple your team keeping a guy who won't take what he's actually
earned or do you try to get better ?
That's the big question, SOS. After twelve years of futility, can we finally
just get better ?
"Sit back and watch the Redskins.
SOMETHING MAGICAL IS ABOUT TO BEGIN!"
JPFair- A fan's fan. RIP, brother