Urlacher reaches deal with Bears

[jackie hayes]

Bears and Urlacher reach a deal!

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?i...ce=NFLHeadlines

 

Thank God this story can go away.

[whitesoxbrian]

Thank the Lord. Hester- get ready my friend for yours.

[lostfan]

I can't believe that people were actually worried about this. It was never not going to happen.

[lostfan]

And yes, Hester's extension will probably come sooner rather than later. There's no doubt in my mind about that.

[Chisoxfn]

Good deal, glad this is done. Now sign Williams and than try and work something out with Hester (still think the Bears won't be able to come to terms with Hester until he shows more as a WR).

[rangercal]

not too happy with this. I'm worried that future bear players will try to get out of their deals and use this as an example. I love JA because he stood up to all this nonsense in the past. Urlacher should have played out his contract or get traded.

[lostfan]

not too happy with this. I'm worried that future bear players will try to get out of their deals and use this as an example. I love JA because he stood up to all this nonsense in the past. Urlacher should have played out his contract or get traded.

Not every Bear is the face of the franchise. Urlacher already barely had any leverage as it is.

 

I recall Vasher doing something like this at the beginning of '06 and he was politely told to sit down, shut up, and play out his rookie contract and wait for an extension like everyone else.

[southsider2k5]

Not every Bear is the face of the franchise. Urlacher already barely had any leverage as it is.

 

I recall Vasher doing something like this at the beginning of '06 and he was politely told to sit down, shut up, and play out his rookie contract and wait for an extension like everyone else.

 

Briggs too.

[lostfan]

Briggs too.

Briggs got owned. The funny thing about Briggs is that while he still got a decent contract, by not shutting his damn mouth and overplaying his hand (fits in beautifully in the Bears defense, but otherwise has no special skills) he actually ended up with less guaranteed $$ than the original offer(s) he got. He listened to Rosenhaus too much.

[kapkomet]

"I can’t go out and play this year making $445,000. Come on, man,” Hester said.

 

That's just f***ed up. f***ED UP.

 

I mean, he's worth more then that, but YOU signed the contract, you f***ing moron. I have no sympathy for dumbass athletes who make millions over the course of a contract whining about money. Instead of $10 million, he's getting $2.5 million over this deal (or so, you get the point, don't needle me with exact numbers). You're still incredibly rich playing a f***ing GAME. Go out and play it, then get paid.

 

/rant

[SoxFanForever]

That's just f***ed up. f***ED UP.

 

I mean, he's worth more then that, but YOU signed the contract, you f***ing moron. I have no sympathy for dumbass athletes who make millions over the course of a contract whining about money. Instead of $10 million, he's getting $2.5 million over this deal (or so, you get the point, don't needle me with exact numbers). You're still incredibly rich playing a f***ing GAME. Go out and play it, then get paid.

 

/rant

I just posted this quote in the Chris Williams thread a little while ago Kap. I have to agree. I wish I could walk in to work tomorrow and tell them my salary isn't cutting it anymore and I want some more. What a f***ing joke. Athletes these days are so out of touch.

[rangercal]

I just posted this quote in the Chris Williams thread a little while ago Kap. I have to agree. I wish I could walk in to work tomorrow and tell them my salary isn't cutting it anymore and I want some more. What a f***ing joke. Athletes these days are so out of touch.

 

what makes the situation more comical is all the players he was in touch with today agreed with him!

[southsider2k5]

The NFL is the ONLY league where I can understand players trying to negotiate new contracts, because the contracts aren't guarenteed. once you get outside of the upfront money, you can tear up the deal at will if you are the team, and have no committment to the rest of the deal. Places like MLB, NBA, and NHL where the guys get all of the money they sign for are different.

[Brian]

The NFL is the ONLY league where I can understand players trying to negotiate new contracts, because the contracts aren't guarenteed. once you get outside of the upfront money, you can tear up the deal at will if you are the team, and have no committment to the rest of the deal. Places like MLB, NBA, and NHL where the guys get all of the money they sign for are different.

 

This is how I feel, even though I hate all the hold outs.

 

Hester's situation makes it seem he is greedy, but look what he brings to the Bears. Look at the jersey's he sells. He is the most dangerous player in the NFL. Market wise, he is severely under paid. And the NFL market is all you have to compare him to.

[kapkomet]

The NFL is the ONLY league where I can understand players trying to negotiate new contracts, because the contracts aren't guarenteed. once you get outside of the upfront money, you can tear up the deal at will if you are the team, and have no committment to the rest of the deal. Places like MLB, NBA, and NHL where the guys get all of the money they sign for are different.

You're right about that... good point. But I still think that contracts should be honored, period... by both sides.

 

[WhiteSoxfan1986]

You're right about that... good point. But I still think that contracts should be honored, period... by both sides.

 

Agreed. Whether they are fair or not, the players association agreed to all this.

[whitesoxbrian]

Chicago Bears wide receiver and kick returner Devin Hester surprised coaches and team executives when he didn't show up for the first day of training camp, and now he says he's prepared to hold out all season, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

 

''It's time for me to take a stand," Hester told the newspaper. We're going to stand by our decision to do this, and we feel like this can go down to whenever in the season or the end of the season. No matter what.''

sportingnews.com

[rangercal]

sportingnews.com

welcome to wednesday!

[lostfan]

[Middle Buffalo]

The NFL is the ONLY league where I can understand players trying to negotiate new contracts, because the contracts aren't guarenteed. once you get outside of the upfront money, you can tear up the deal at will if you are the team, and have no committment to the rest of the deal. Places like MLB, NBA, and NHL where the guys get all of the money they sign for are different.

I used to hate all the holdouts, but now I agree with this. If a player uderperforms, the team can cut him and take the salary cap hit for one year (due to the signing bonus), but they don't have to pay any more money. If the player outperforms the contract, ahouldn't he be allowed to renegotiate to get market value for his services? In Hester's case, he wasn't picked in the first round. If that draft were held today, knowing what we know now, he would definitely be picked in the first round and get first round money that is slotted for the number that he was picked. So, Hester's only "crime" is that GMs weren't able to accurately predict his value.

 

Players know when they sign contracts that they may never see the money on the back end of the deal. If Peyton Manning signs a 12 year contract eight years into his career, he knows he won't play the last several years of that contract, and he'll never see that money. The length of the contract is made for salary cap purposes in order to spread the signing bonus out over the length of the contract.

 

FYI - I don't know the actual terms of Manning's contract. I just used that example to illustrate that GMs purposely make contracts long to make the signing bonus count less against the salary cap each year. Since the contracts aren't guaranteed, they can do this and not worry about having to pay the entire salary amount.

[lostfan]

You still have to pay the bonus money regardless, or whatever the guaranteed amount is. What you don't have to pay is the base salary and the incentive money.

[Middle Buffalo]

You still have to pay the bonus money regardless, or whatever the guaranteed amount is. What you don't have to pay is the base salary and the incentive money.

Right. And GMs purposely make the contract longer in order to spread out the salary cap hit over a number of years, though. So a $6M signing bonus on a six year contract only counts $1M (plus the base salary) against the cap each year. By the fifth or sixth year, however, there's a good chance that the market will have changed or a player like Hester will totally out perform the contract.

 

If players aren't able to holdout, management would basically win every contract because the lack of guaranteed contracts gives them the opportunity to get out of any bad situation risk free. It's the lack of guaranteed contracts makes it a necessity for players to holdout when they feel they are not being paid what they are worth. NFL players essentially have a one year contract. When we hear about a player signing a long term contract, we have to remember that it is basically just an accounting tool used to manage the salary cap. All that matters to the player in an NFL contract is the signing bonus.

[lostfan]

Right. And GMs purposely make the contract longer in order to spread out the salary cap hit over a number of years, though. So a $6M signing bonus on a six year contract only counts $1M (plus the base salary) against the cap each year. By the fifth or sixth year, however, there's a good chance that the market will have changed or a player like Hester will totally out perform the contract.

At the same time - and I'm just talking semantics at this point - some GMs like to front-load salaries and give as much of the guaranteed money up front as they can when they have a big chunk of salary cap space, especially when the bonus is massive. It gives more flexibility with the cap later in the contract. Angelo does this sometimes, I think Tommie Harris's contract is like that. Urlacher's was too, if I'm not mistaken. Freeney made something like 30 million in actual dollars last year (dollar amount is different from the cap value).

[Chisoxfn]

Hester's makes that strong quote, Angelo yesterday indicated they would take care of Devin, and now all of a sudden he's back in camp today.

[Middle Buffalo]

At the same time - and I'm just talking semantics at this point - some GMs like to front-load salaries and give as much of the guaranteed money up front as they can when they have a big chunk of salary cap space, especially when the bonus is massive. It gives more flexibility with the cap later in the contract. Angelo does this sometimes, I think Tommie Harris's contract is like that. Urlacher's was too, if I'm not mistaken. Freeney made something like 30 million in actual dollars last year (dollar amount is different from the cap value).

In cases like this, I think it's horrible for a player to holdout.

 

What has to be considered is the average salary (including bonuses) when compared to players of similar value. If a player is by all accounts a top five player at his position, but his average salary is 20th in the league at his position, I think he has a strong argument for renegotiating. If the player was being paid top five, but his performance was well below that, the team would be justified in cutting the player and saving on the salary.