NFL - NEWS & NOTES

the turnaround in Cleveland is very IMPRESSIVE

 

Tyrann Mathieu on Le’Veon Bell: “These fellas will blame everybody for their lack of success”



Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu is taking issue with former Chiefs running back Le'Veon Bell‘s criticism of Chiefs coach Andy Reid.

After former NFL cornerback Charles James posted PFT’s tweet about Bell saying he would never play for Reid again, Mathieu responded to James by indicating that Bell was the kind of player who blamed others when he didn’t succeed.

“These fellas will blame everybody for their lack of success. That’s how I know I’m built different,” Mathieu tweeted.

Bell was one of the most productive running backs in the NFL during his five seasons with the Steelers, but signing him proved to be a disaster with the Jets, and he didn’t do much for the Chiefs. He clearly didn’t impress Mathieu.

PFT
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I might add that Bell said that Andy said something to him that rubbed him the wrong way, but Bell didnt elaborate on exactly what that was.

Some players are just flat-out bored and air things out on Twitter that they really shouldnt. Some things are better, left unsaid. Some folks just dont get it either.

 

Dolphins, Jerome Baker agree to three-year contract extension



Dolphins linebacker Jerome Baker said this week that he and the franchise “haven’t really talked about anything” in regards to a new contract.

It was apparently a different story for his representation.

Baker has agreed to terms with Miami on a three-year extension worth $39 million, with $28.4 million guaranteed, according to agent Drew Rosenhaus.

Baker was a third-round pick out of Ohio State in 2018 and has been a key piece of the Miami defense in each of his first three seasons. He’s led the Dolphins in tackles in each of the last two years, recording 126 in 2019 and 112 in 2020. He also had 7.0 sacks, seven tackles for loss, 11 quarterback hits, three passes defensed, and a pair of forced fumbles in 2020.

The linebacker had said this week that he wanted to be a member of the Dolphins for a long time. With his new deal, Baker is now slated to continue making plays for Miami through the 2024 season.

PFT

 

Report: Stephon Gilmore not at Patriots minicamp



The Patriots are holding their mandatory minicamp this week and a big question heading into it was whether cornerback Stephon Gilmore will be in attendance.

Gilmore has not been at voluntary phases of the offseason program and Jim McBride of the Boston Globe reports that he is not there on Monday. Head coach Bill Belichick said in a Monday morning press conference that he expects to see some players who have not been at voluntary phases of the offseason program, but did not say whether Gilmore is one of them.

Belichick said that the team was “scrambling to get things going” on Monday and that some players had their travel plans impacted by bad weather, so he was “not sure exactly how all of it worked out.”

“We’ll find out who’s here and who isn’t soon enough,” Belichick said.

It’s unclear if Gilmore has plans to be there for the rest of the week. He would be subject to $93,085 in fines if he misses all three days.

That may be a price Gilmore is willing to pay as part of a push for a new contract. His minicamp plans have been a question because he’s heading into the final year of his contract with a salary of $7 million after the team moved $4.5 million of his base salary into his 2020 compensation and missing all of this week’s work would signal he wants a new deal in New England.

PFT

 

Ha Ha Clinton-Dix gets a minicamp tryout with the Panthers



Last month, former first-round safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix got a tryout at the Texans’ rookie minicamp. This week, he’ll get a look-see from a different team.

Per a league source, the 2014 draft pick of the Packers will participate in the Panthers’ minicamp on a tryout basis.

Clinton-Dix, a 2016 Pro Bowler, started every game during his six NFL seasons. He played for the Packers for more than four seasons; the Packers traded him to Washington during the 2018 season. In 2019, Clinton-Dix played for the Bears in 2019. He didn’t play in 2020, making $2.5 million in fully-guaranteed salary after being released by the Bears.

Still only 28, Clinton-Dix is determined to get back in the league.

PFT

 

I was wondering do the players that holdouts etc. how come they don't honor their contracts? that they signed

 

Good question. I really dont know what they are thinking or the reasoning behind these hold-outs, but some may be legit and some not so much.

Owners and GM's are not always perfect or generous also, but as you stated, the said player signed a contract. For example; Crowder of the Jets is scheduled to be an FA next season and the Jets higher-ups wanted him to take a more than 50% pay cut... thats pretty steep, so my point is this, sometimes it takes two to tangle and some are just greedy, but I suspect the Bargaining Agreement allows for such things to take place.

There are some brilliant contract peeps on this site... maybe one or two might chime in.

 

At least they set a rookie contract pay scale so we don’t see the ridiculous rookie holding out for the biggest contract in league history and then they turn into a bust without earning a dime of the contract

 

You can't run the league without the players, and they have such a phenomenally small window in which to make their money. I'll never begrudge a player leveraging their talent and position to make more money, especially when the team can cut them whenever they feel like it, voiding most of if not all payment the player was expected to make. I know people on this site feel differently - we've had discussions at length in the past. The argument ultimately comes down to some nonsense about morality and honor on the player's end, though none of that is expected to be reciprocated on the team's end. So... there we are.

 

it's a two way street honor but the team can say fu*ck it..as you say there we are Thank You

 

I don't see anything moral about contracts.

My argument is this, the team writes up the contract, the player either agrees to it or counters it. The contract is what it is. If they want to sign some huge contract with only half of if guaranteed, that is on them. The team should be allowed to void the contract any time they want and only pay the guarantee. The guarantee is in reality the players worth, but if the team decides to keep the player, it's because he has outplayed the guarantees.

On the other hand, if the player signs the contract, and decides later he wants to change the guarantees, well.. to me he signed the contract in front of him. If he decides he wants to retire, that is absolutely his choice, but to demand trades or a new contract? They players have the owners over the same barrel everyone else is screaming about. They could simply not have a competitive team if even a few of them decided they would rather sit at home rather than play football under their current contract.

Holding out is certainly their option to do, as is retiring, but I refuse to feel sorry for them if they don't want to play under the contract they signed. If you are that worried about making more money, play under a single year contract. Don't sign a 5-6 year contract so that you have more guaranteed money, in case you get hurt, then after you don't get hurt say.. you know what I changed my mind 3 years into this 6 year contract, let's re-write it.

 

I don’t see how you can possibly say it’s cool for the teams to terminate a deal any time they want but players should honor them no matter what.

Can’t have it both ways. Either both parties honor it or both can use their leverage to renegotiate as they see fit.

 

I feel that the league should have performance based salary structure. That way everyone would have to perform . The only thing to work out would be injury clauses

injuries could be handled at a rate of 70% of last season’s earnings with rookies would use the slot they were drafted in to determine what they get if injured

 

Got it. So, the owners can benefit if the player is more talented than what they're paying him, but the player doesn't get to benefit if they're more talented than what they're being paid.

We disagree, and if I recall the conversation, I disagree with a number of people on this board who bring the same points and nothing more. Bummer.

 

This is an awful idea. Imagine this Le'veon Bell drama if his actual pay was determined by how Andy Reid used him. Football is a team game, and finding measures of success that are INDEPENDENT of other players on the field or coaches in charge is just about impossible. And it definitely shouldn't be tied to the entirety of a player's salary.

 

The owners get screwed all the time, it isn’t like the players are the ones on the losing end all the time. Just look at all the dead money at the end of each teams salary cap summary. That’s all players who didn’t even live up to their guaranteed money, let alone the inflated contracts the players sign.

So, the player’s cut, he gets his guaranteed money accelerated to the time of being cut, and in many cases, they can move on to their next team signing another lucrative contract. There are more players that make out on inflated contracts than players that feel like they outplayed their contract.

Like you said though, we can agree to disagree. I see both sides of the argument.

 

$10 B a year in revenue. Yeah those poor owners sure are getting hosed.

 

How much do you understand about how business is run?

First off, it’s closer to between $12-16B

second, the players receive 48.8% and they never invested any if their own money, this is ONLY labor cost for the players, no other labor for employees of each team, stadium or marketing groups. They pay all other expenses out of the other 51.2%.

I’m not saying they aren’t making money, everyone involved in the NFL is making money. But the players aren’t underplayed either…

 

They are the labor AND the product.

They are absolutely underpaid. Significantly.

 

Billionaires out here buying sports teams intent on losing money.

if you really think those costs are a big dent in their 51.2% please don’t fucking try to lecture me about how businesses are run.

Siding with ownership is like rooting for Drago to beat Rocky