Mitch
Crawled Through 5 FB Fields
These predatory agents are what makes the free agency period so exasperating. First of all, if anyone truly believes that agents want to do what purely in the best interest of their clients, you are kidding yourself. Agents are like 5 star restaurant waiters...they want you buy a couple of the best and most expensive bottles of wine, because they know their tips go up dramatically when you add $120 to a $140 tab.
Thus, whatever the agents can do to up the tab...they know their cut of the money is going to be more lucrative. With agents it is ALL ABOUT THE MONEY.
The more unctuous agents out there adopt a fairly typical strategy...it all starts with convincing the player that he is getting screwed by his current organization...and that he has been getting screwed all along. "They are taking you for a ride, man, can't you see it?"
Take Anquan Boldin who has not been recently compensated fairly enough for what his market value is. When Rosenhaus tells Q how great Q is and how screwed he's been getting by the Cardinals...even Q, who had been the captain and model citizen on the Cardinals, became so irate he publicly threw the head coach and the organization under the bus...and was still so irate after the NFC Championship that he slipped out the back door while his blood brothers such as Adrian Wilson were shedding tears while embracing the Halas Trophy.
Why has Q softened recently? The Cardinals---the team that's been screwing him---have the leverege. He can't be traded or paid what he deserves unless the Cardinals agree to.
Is Q still irate with the organization? You bet he is.
And what if the Cardinals do offer him a new contract...will the Cardinals include extra money for the money Q should have made the past two years? Q won't think the offer fair unless the Cardinals do.
The same holds true for Kurt Warner. The last thing Warner wants to be perceived as is greedy. That perception would rub terribly against the fabric of his persona. However, Warner wants to be rewarded for his stellar achievements the past year and a half. For pro football players, plaques and team MVP awards are not reward eoungh...it's the money the team commits to them that is the reward. Plain and simple.
Warner is a little at odds with his agents because he is very uncomfortable treading in these waters. His agents have insisted to him that he deserves top dollar and that if the Cardinals are not willing to reward him appropriately for his achievements and for underpaying him as a starter the past year and a half, then Warner should try to parlay his achievements into a lucrative contract elsewhere.
At some point, the Cardinals are going to have to wake up and smell the coffee. Even Adam Shefter on NFL Network said at the round table yesterday that the Cardinals should toss in a few extra million on their offer because of what Warner has done to bring the franchise to unprecedented heights. Shefter recognizes that "sometimes you should overpay a player who deserves it." The gesture is symbolic. And it boils down to just how appreciative the organization is and how willing the organization is to acknowledge the reality that they now have a top 5 QB to pay and, of course, he wants Top 5 money.
And what if Warner continues to play at his current level? Would he be overpaid at $12-14M a year?
If the Cardinals think they can continue to drive hard bargains with key free agents, they will wind up back where they came from: the cellar of the NFC.
Wouldn't it be refreshing for once if the Cardinals came to the bargaining table and said, "you know, Kurt, you were the #3 QB in the league this past year and you led us to the Super Bowl, so we would like to compensate you handsomely for that."
Sure, the Cardinals, as every team does, have to manage their cap space...but their recent success came at an advantageous time. Their revenue is at an all-time high, their cap space is fairly ample and next year is a capless year.
The Cardinals can easily sign four core players this off-season Warner, Boldin, Dansby and Wilson...and if they are creative in the way they structure the deals...they still will have more than enough left in the kitty to sign a handful of free agents.
For the Cardinals it's time to open the windows and let the Arizona sun shine in.
Thus, whatever the agents can do to up the tab...they know their cut of the money is going to be more lucrative. With agents it is ALL ABOUT THE MONEY.
The more unctuous agents out there adopt a fairly typical strategy...it all starts with convincing the player that he is getting screwed by his current organization...and that he has been getting screwed all along. "They are taking you for a ride, man, can't you see it?"
Take Anquan Boldin who has not been recently compensated fairly enough for what his market value is. When Rosenhaus tells Q how great Q is and how screwed he's been getting by the Cardinals...even Q, who had been the captain and model citizen on the Cardinals, became so irate he publicly threw the head coach and the organization under the bus...and was still so irate after the NFC Championship that he slipped out the back door while his blood brothers such as Adrian Wilson were shedding tears while embracing the Halas Trophy.
Why has Q softened recently? The Cardinals---the team that's been screwing him---have the leverege. He can't be traded or paid what he deserves unless the Cardinals agree to.
Is Q still irate with the organization? You bet he is.
And what if the Cardinals do offer him a new contract...will the Cardinals include extra money for the money Q should have made the past two years? Q won't think the offer fair unless the Cardinals do.
The same holds true for Kurt Warner. The last thing Warner wants to be perceived as is greedy. That perception would rub terribly against the fabric of his persona. However, Warner wants to be rewarded for his stellar achievements the past year and a half. For pro football players, plaques and team MVP awards are not reward eoungh...it's the money the team commits to them that is the reward. Plain and simple.
Warner is a little at odds with his agents because he is very uncomfortable treading in these waters. His agents have insisted to him that he deserves top dollar and that if the Cardinals are not willing to reward him appropriately for his achievements and for underpaying him as a starter the past year and a half, then Warner should try to parlay his achievements into a lucrative contract elsewhere.
At some point, the Cardinals are going to have to wake up and smell the coffee. Even Adam Shefter on NFL Network said at the round table yesterday that the Cardinals should toss in a few extra million on their offer because of what Warner has done to bring the franchise to unprecedented heights. Shefter recognizes that "sometimes you should overpay a player who deserves it." The gesture is symbolic. And it boils down to just how appreciative the organization is and how willing the organization is to acknowledge the reality that they now have a top 5 QB to pay and, of course, he wants Top 5 money.
And what if Warner continues to play at his current level? Would he be overpaid at $12-14M a year?
If the Cardinals think they can continue to drive hard bargains with key free agents, they will wind up back where they came from: the cellar of the NFC.
Wouldn't it be refreshing for once if the Cardinals came to the bargaining table and said, "you know, Kurt, you were the #3 QB in the league this past year and you led us to the Super Bowl, so we would like to compensate you handsomely for that."
Sure, the Cardinals, as every team does, have to manage their cap space...but their recent success came at an advantageous time. Their revenue is at an all-time high, their cap space is fairly ample and next year is a capless year.
The Cardinals can easily sign four core players this off-season Warner, Boldin, Dansby and Wilson...and if they are creative in the way they structure the deals...they still will have more than enough left in the kitty to sign a handful of free agents.
For the Cardinals it's time to open the windows and let the Arizona sun shine in.
