ARRINGTON, WOODSON, LAW GETTING RESTLESS
A league source tells us that the three biggest remaining names in free agency -- linebacker LaVar Arrington, cornerback Charles Woodson, and cornerback Ty Law -- are all getting restless regarding their protracted stays on the shopping market shelf.
And each player is represented by Carl and Kevin Poston.
The thinking in league circles, as we've previously explained, is that the Postons aimed too high with their contract demands in the weeks prior to the launch of free agency, when teams compile their list of early targets by, in part, figuring out which players' expectations are reasonable.
Regardless of how each of these three players got to where they are, the reality is that none of them have signed -- and the really big money has long since dried up.
The most disappointed of the three has to be Arrington, who gave up $4.4 million in deferred bonus money in become a free agent in March. He otherwise would have hit the market in July, prior to the trigger date for a $6.5 million roster bonus. But because Arrington didn't sign in the early days of free agency, he's not going to get much more now than he would have gotten if he'd become available in July.
And he surely won't get an extra $4.4 million now.
So why in the hell didn't the Postons know before letting Arrington give up the money whether and to what extent he'd replace the money? Absent clear evidence that Arrington would have made a lot more not long after letting $4.4 million get away, the Postons never should have allowed him to make that swap -- especially at a time when Carl Poston already is in hot water with the NFLPA for not reading the final draft of Arrington's December 2003 contract extension.
The reality here is that each of these guys would have gotten a lot more money than they now will, if only they'd been ready to get the best offer on the table in the first few days of free agency, and to pounce on it. Instead, they'll now have to choose between taking less money than they wanted, or to sign a phony long-term deal that looks good in the newspaper but that is, in essence, a one-year contract.
PFT
Carl Poston has been having a rough year and Kevin Poston seems to be caught in the undertow
