Will Manning hold out?

[Deadskins]

http://www.profootballweekly.com/PFW/Co ... 070504.htm



Know when to hold 'em


Timely deals no priority for rookies
By Jeff Reynolds (jreynolds@pfwmedia.com)
July 5, 2004





It’s that time of year again.

Fans, get your calculators ready and grab a copy of the Collective Bargaining Agreement to polish up on the proper use of “voidable years” and “prorated signing bonus” and other off-the-gridiron nomenclature.

Now only 25 days from the start of many NFL training camps, we are treading closer to “Holdout 2004,” when we find out which top picks will start NFL life on the wrong foot. Vikings OT Bryant McKinnie and Jaguars QB Byron Leftwich did it; so did Bears CB Charles Tillman.

“I was a little aggravated,” Tillman would say. “I was looking at practices and people being interviewed and all of the rookies were there, and I thought, ‘Dang, I want to be there.’

“I was just at home. I’d go work out in the morning at Bally’s, come home and sit there and watch TV. My agent would call me and let me know what was going on. The only thing I could really do was wait.”

Why not push for a timely contract agreement? Well, from a rookie's standpoint, nothing is guaranteed in this league, and your rookie contract represents what may be the only chance at any sort of guarantee in the NFL. (At this writing, Texans OLB Jason Babin was the lone first-round pick to sign a contract.) About one of every four first-round picks won’t be with the same team at the end of their rookie contract, some of them could be out of the league all together (we’ll call on Akili Smith as a holdout-turned-handout seeker for visual reference).

“Every year, it’s amazing, but also expected,” one AFC general manager said. “You know that if you have business in late July, when it comes to rookies, you can expect that Polish standoff. It is just a fact: there will be holdouts.

“The thing is, nobody wants to force the issue and be the first to blink. The (team), as much as the player, wants to see how the dominoes fall.”

How a holdout is allowed to happen, though, at least from a league viewpoint, is baffling. Even the most petty agents — Brothers Poston and Rosenhaus are readily fingered — do work for their clients. For example, Charles Rogers, the second overall pick in 2003, is a Poston Brothers client. Rogers guaranteed, on Draft Day, he wouldn’t miss training camp and the Lions and Poston family made it work. Last week, Bears second-round pick Tank Johnson, picked in the middle of the second round as the 47th overall choice, received a five-year deal — instead of the four-year deal 2003 No. 47 pick Kawika Mitchell inked with Kansas City — rather than face a potential holdout.

The NFL adapted a “slotting system” for rookie contracts, kept in line by the league-calculated and team-specific rookie allocation pool. Agents, players and team contract negotiators know the basic parameters of rookie contracts before they get to the table. But agents claim that, at least for top-10 picks, the notion that the worth of player contracts are slotted based on last year’s signings is misleading.

“The reason there are holdouts, is they are certainly not slotted (values) and they are very complicated, and getting more complicated,” said one agent for a player in the top-10. “The first-round contracts have become more and more intricate with the option bonus. Making sure there are proper protections of the option bonus — both on guarantees and skill and injury. It’s become important because the intention of the option bonus is that it be a signing bonus; there should be no negotiation regarding a full guarantee of it. The contracts are less complicated after the top-10, but they still take a lot of time.”

The inclusion of the guaranteed option bonus is based, mostly, on the fact that rookies are sacrificing their right to unrestricted free agency. Players collectively bargained to reach unrestricted free agency after four years, but no player drafted in the first round of the 2003 draft signed for less than five years. Free agency being a valuable right, players are adamant that they are rewarded for sacrificing that right with attainable “escalators” beyond their fourth season.

One recent contract that has come into question is the deal Carolina and OT Jordan Gross agreed upon last year. Gross, the eighth overall pick in the ’03 draft, signed a five-year contract worth up to $38.5 million with $11.5 million in total bonuses. If Gross earns the maximum possible sum of the contract, he will have outearned 2002 top OL pick, Mike Williams (six years, $36 million).

“There are some roster bonuses and escalators, but is it going to turn into a Shawn Springs?” one personnel man asked.

Agents view Springs’ contract, which spanned eight seasons, as a fine of example of what not to do with a top-five pick. Long-term deals simply don’t hold their value, especially at premium positions, as the market tends to stretch more quickly for quarterbacks, offensive tackles, cornerbacks and defensive ends.

For most agents to approve a rookie contract, option bonuses must be fully guaranteed. The basic concept of the option, also known as a two-tiered signing bonus, is to split the signing bonus into two equal payments. Half of the total is payable upon league approval of the contract, the other half in April of the following year. Teams have, in the past, not guaranteed the second half of the two-tier bonus. Agents demand the team to secure the option as if it is a guaranteed roster bonus. There are two ways they protect that option.

Using a hypothetical of a $10 million signing bonus, $5 million is payable today and another $5 million due April 1, 2005, at the club’s option to extend your contract by one year.

If there is an unprotected option, the club can choose not to trigger that clause if a player is injured or underperforms. How do you protect it? The first way is an “Injury-and-skill” protection, guaranteed even if a player is deemed not to be a skillful player or is hurt and unable to perform. The second way to protect the two-tiered signing bonus is a “Non-exercise clause,” which says the player earns $5 million if the employer fails to exercise the April 1 option bonus.

Huh? If an employer chooses not to exercise the second half of the signing bonus, the player is then rewarded the second half of the signing bonus. The NFL Management Council is challenging the “Non-exercise clause” on the basis that the clause itself is duplicitous, but thus far has been unable to diffuse the guaranteed bonus.

If you are looking for the top candidate to miss time in training camp, you might start with the top overall pick, Giants QB Eli Manning. For the first time in four years, the top pick was unsigned when his name was called. Manning, represented by Tom Condon, is likely to be the first No. 1 overall pick to sign a deal with a value greater than $50 million. Bengals QB Carson Palmer can make $49 million between now and 2008.

Which teams might be most likely to have a player hold out? A handful of prominent agents were asked which teams they least like to see on the opposite side of the negotiating table in contract talks. Unanimous mentions included Arizona, Cincinnati and Kansas City.

[1niksder]

Which teams might be most likely to have a player hold out? A handful of prominent agents were asked which teams they least like to see on the opposite side of the negotiating table in contract talks. Unanimous mentions included Arizona, Cincinnati and Kansas City.

The Browns has to be on that list

[REDEEMEDSKIN]

To answer your question in the subject line, I hope Manning holds out, so my older brother Kurt can light it up again. (only NOT against the Skins)

[surferskin]

To answer your question in the subject line, I hope Manning holds out, so my older brother Kurt can light it up again. (only NOT against the Skins)

Older Brother??????

[REDEEMEDSKIN]

To answer your question in the subject line, I hope Manning holds out, so my older brother Kurt can light it up again. (only NOT against the Skins)

Older Brother??????

In Christ.

My family also includes notables like Mark Brunnell, Patrick Ramsey, Joe Gibbs, James Thrash, Danny Wuerffel, Jon Kitna, Trent Dilfer, Corey Simon... and more added daily!!!

I really pull for these guys. More so in Madden than in real life, otherwise, my allegiance to the Skins could be compromised on some Sundays.

I would love to see Warner prove his naysayers wrong by winning a "Comeback Player of the Year" Award, if such exists in the NFL.

[Steve Spurrier III]

It does, but Garrison Hearst wins it every other year. Personally, I would wish Warner the best, but he's a Giant...

[REDEEMEDSKIN]

It does, but Garrison Hearst wins it every other year. Personally, I would wish Warner the best, but he's a Giant...

Funny. I know he's a Giant, which is making it difficult for me to shell out the bucks for a jersey. I may go for a Rams Warner jersey, but, then again, they're hideous.

Oh yeah, it's now okay to resume this thread. Hee hee.

[tsaler]

Manning makes me sick. Where does he get off getting drafted #1, demanding a trade and saying he will not sign with the team that drafted him #1, getting traded to the team he wanted to play for, demanding #1 pick money even though he was acquired for a #4, and THEN threatening to hold out?

I have despised Eli Manning since the second I heard about his refusal to play for the Chargers when the Chargers wanted to draft him first overall. That's cocky, ridiculous, immature behavior. How about some humility and being honored that you are one of a select few individuals to be drafted first overall in the NFL Rookie Draft? I will despise him forever.