Will The Bucs Have Any Holdouts?
June 23rd, 2010Last year heralded first round pick Josh Freeman signed early, never coming close to a holdout.
This year the Bucs went heavy with defensive tackles early in their draft, and then dumped veteran tackle Chris Hovan. In short, the Bucs painted themselves into a corner as far as needing to avoid holdouts to have any prayer of a winning season.
Mike Florio, the creator, curator and overall guru of ProFootballTalk.com discusses in this video the innerworkings of how contract negotiations work out.
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June 23rd, 2010 at 3:40 pm
Any player would be a fool to not accept a deal at equivalent to 115% of the deal received by the player drafted in the same slot last year. In general, this year the rookies have absolutely no leverage. They usually have a little leverage with the threat of re-entering the draft the next year, but if everyone feels there will be a rookie wage scale starting next year, then that threat rings especially hollow, as not only are they not likely to get drafted as high, they’ll make significantly less based on a new wage scale.
If I were a team GM/Owner, I’d be throwing out deals that would be a little better (in the 10 – 15% higher range) than what the same draft position got last year, and if the player doesn’t have it signed by the start of training camp, I start making the offer a little smaller, day-by-day. If not signed by the start of the regular season, it gets a lot smaller each game that passes and he’s not signed.
June 23rd, 2010 at 4:47 pm
T in Orlando
I agree. The players don’t seem to have much leverage here. Kind of ironic since so many underclassmen declared because the scare of a rookie wage scale next year.
The thing is, everything is basically on a wage scale anyway. After the first round (really the first 20 picks unless it is a QB between 20-30), signing the players is pretty simple.
What I don’t understand is how the scale was 10-15% higher year after year. WHO CAME UP WITH THAT? My salary should jump so much!
June 24th, 2010 at 10:10 am
I disagree with both of you. I think the leverage McCoy and Price have are pretty good. The Buc DL is AWFUL and these guys are suppose to be the saviors. The Bucs also dumped Hovan, so they got rid of last year’s starter. Even if a normal year, nobody re-enters the draft. Even Crabtree last year eventually signed, so that scenario isn’t an issue. However, if the Bucs don’t get these guys signed before camp, then it is going to risk the DL development.
Having said that, the Bucs have historically gotten their guys signed before camp — even last year’s 1st round QB. So, if there are holdouts, it could be a further indication the Bucs are doing things on the cheap.