Donald Penn Sends A Message To Fans
June 14th, 2010
Bucs locker room funny man Donald Penn, the left tackle who has made 44 consecutive and pretty darn good starts for Tampa Bay, was in touch with Joe on Sunday.
Officially, Penn says he is “staying away from the media.” But Penn did ask that Joe relay a message to Penn’s many supporters. “Tell the fans thank you for all of their support. I really appreciate it. Go Bucs!” Penn requested of Joe.
Joe’s hardly surprised that Penn hears the loud rumblings among fans and some media who question why a Bucs team committed to a youth movement is not locking down a reliable, well above average and young left tackle. Penn has gotten it done for three seasons, and he’s 27 years old.
While Joe understands Team Glazer’s likely hesitation to sign anyone to a market-value contract given the NFL labor situation, it surely can’t be good business to risk losing Penn to free agency, or to risk having him miss all of training camp or more in 2010, before returning to the Bucs.
At the end of the day, Penn protects Josh Freeman. So if the Bucs truly are commited to Freeman, they won’t play risky games with their left tackle position.
Remember, Joel Glazer told the world that “money will never be an issue” when it comes to building the Bucs into a winner.
Every day Penn remains a restricted free agent angling for a new deal, that comment becomes harder and harder to believe.
June 14th, 2010 at 7:39 am
Joe,
While you say you understand Team Glazer’s hesitation, you obviously don’t. Take the next 8 hours or so and read all of JimBucs’s posts from the last several weeks for a refresher course on NFL RFA, CBA, URFA, and other similar acronyms. Its a good read and well worth your time.
June 14th, 2010 at 7:57 am
Personally I don’t understand what Penn doesn’t get!
Their offer of 3.168 million isn’t chicken feed.
Penn you either sign the contract by Tuesday or you only mae 3.068 million. Hold out and you’ll likely sit out the season while the Bucs put in a new OT.
This is about contracts – honor yours!
I hope you’ve squirred away a lot of peanuts.
Personally, if I were the Bucs I would attempt to sign Penn to a long term deal and in the contract I would stipulate, “if there are no NFL games played in 2011 the players receives no compensation.”
June 14th, 2010 at 7:59 am
Penn will be there when it’s mandatory.
If I’m an owner, there are two main reasons Penn will have to prove it this year (and IMO he will…) and If I’m spending $40 million (or whatever) due diligence IS required (that is not chump change.)
1. CBA resolution – what if there isn’t a season in 2011?
2. Penn’s weight fluctation and mediocre performance. He’s got to ‘prove it’
for the big pay day.
Everyone is saying the right things… Dominik, Morris and Penn. I suspect this is primarily agent driven ‘statement making time.’
Anything else is premature.
June 14th, 2010 at 8:06 am
Of course “money will never be an issue”, nor will it ever materialize…
The only long-term contracts that interests the owners are the ones the season ticket holders signed…
June 14th, 2010 at 8:12 am
Mr. Donald Penn,
This isn’t about you. It’s about the new CBA and uncertainty of next year. Players much better than you are signing thier one year tenders. Holdouts never win. All this does is lower your stock with Tampa, as well as any yeam that might be interested in you in 2011. If your agent is instructing you that this is a good idea, you should fire him immediatly. Take your $3.2 million and get your ass to camp. Play your hardest and have a great year. That is the only thing you can do. The alnternative would be to sit out an entire year, which would kill your stock and lower your value, cause Tampa fans and FO to despise you, cause you to lose out on the $3.2 million you could make. Be smart. Get to camp. You’ll get what you deserve next year. Either from Tampa or a different team.
June 14th, 2010 at 8:45 am
@Mr Lucky – …stipulate, “if there are no NFL games played in 2011 the players receives no compensation.”..and also add…”and the contract is not extended another year.”
June 14th, 2010 at 8:58 am
After 3 seasons with play that is described as anything BUT mediocre, this is a no brainer for the Glazerhouses.
June 14th, 2010 at 9:01 am
Penn,
I’m sorry: any other year and you’d have your long-term contract.
Just not this year. Just like a hundred other NFL players.
Play the hand you’re dealt the best you can. Blame the collective owners, blame the NFLPA.
But for God sakes, don’t be an idiot and lower your value for when you actually will get a long-term contract (next year).
June 14th, 2010 at 9:51 am
Colts and Broncos have both recently signed important RFA players to long term deals.
There is no rule in place prohibiting the Glazers from doing the same thing with Penn.
That is, if they really want to field a good team.
June 14th, 2010 at 9:58 am
Since no one else has posted it yet, he’s Steve’s view:
http://passingonthegame.blogspot.com/2010/06/why-fans-should-support-donald-penn.html
June 14th, 2010 at 10:05 am
Penn has already proved he can do the job well. If I’m Penn, I’m pulling a Favre — wait until AFTER training camp to sign your contract. Why go through all the hassles of training camp if you don’t have to? If the Bucs want him sooner, then give him the long-term deal he wants. Hell, if he really wants to put the heat on the Bucs, don’t sign the tender until the week before the regular season.
Penn has two things going for him: 1) Bucs don’t have an adequate replacement. 2) Financial penalties to Penn are limited.
June 14th, 2010 at 11:34 am
I can see both sides of thi story. For a lot of fans making $10 to $15 a day, $3.1 millon seems more than generous. But here is a question you might be able to answer, Joe. What is the average salary for a starting left tackle in the NFL and how does it equate to Penn’s tendered offer. Penn isn’t the only player in this situation, either. There are a number of players in limbo like this around the NFL because of the collective bargaining agreement. The Bucs aren’t just picking on Penn because they are cheap. It wasn’t until recently teams started doing guaranteed contracts which is a big hangup in these negotiations. Do you want to guarantee the salary of a player who has a propensity to gain weight and become sluggish and get beat like John Aberham did to him during the final game of the season last year.
June 14th, 2010 at 12:33 pm
“Every day Penn remains a restricted free agent angling for a new deal, that comment becomes harder and harder to believe.”
A-Friggen-MEN Joe!!
June 14th, 2010 at 2:17 pm
“…Penn has already proved he can do the job well…”
No, Joe Thomas has already ‘proved’ he can do the job well…
Penn is slightly below average thus far, in his situational/scheme play to date.
June 14th, 2010 at 4:14 pm
@Not a Rocket Surgeon: The Bucs definitely disagree with you. They placed a 1st and 3rd round tender on Penn. That’s not something you do with a “slightly below average” player.
June 14th, 2010 at 4:46 pm
If they give in to Penn, then Trueboold and Ruud will holdout. Then TJax will refuse to play this year for the 900k he is going to make. It goes on and on. Teams can’t negotiate with holdouts. It’s not an option. If he wants a new deal he needs to get his ass to camp.