It's Complicated

Talented Rams' safety O.J. Atogwe is faced with a not -so-difficult decision. He can either take the restricted free agent offer from the Rams for roughly about $4.5 million less than he made last season, or he could wait until the first of June and force the Rams to give him a one million dollar pay increase from his pay last season (sounds like a tough decision). The Rams, if they don't want to pay him, could let him become an unrestricted free agent.

Is it just me or did all of that information sound really complicated? That's because Atogwe is a victim of the NFL's "restricted" free agent system. It was designed to allow teams to keep young players from entering unrestricted free agency for one more season (cheaply of course) or give their former teams compensation in the form of draft picks if they decided to sign somewhere else.

The fact is the NFL needs to improve this situation. No team has traded for a restricted player in the three previous off-seasons, and the owners were the only party reaping the reward. I'm hoping that in the new CBA, between the owners and players, makes it easier on both parties.

Until then, the talented Atogwe is faced with sitting around and watching Boomerang all day like the rest of us. Okay, maybe that's just me.




Every Morning Quarterback by Aharon Williams is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at www.everymorningqb.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at www.everymorningqb.com.

Pay Agency

 Former Chicago Bears' defensive end Alex Brown is visiting the Saints today. That isn't huge news. The huge news is the Saints are actually having a free agent visit. Can anyone say "Mardi Gras party"?


The "Final Eight Plan" has left a quarter of the League inactive in free agency. If you're impatient and don't want to click on the link, here is the short version:  all the teams that made it to the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs (the final eight) have to lose a free agent before they are able to sign another free agent in his place.  Additionally, the "Final Four" have financial restrictions on top of that.


This has led the "Final Eight" (Jets, Colts, Vikings, Saints, Cardinals, Cowboys, Chargers, Ravens) to sign a grand total of 6 unrestricted free agents and sign about eight more players that had been cut (which doesn't count against the "Final Eight Plan").


The list of free agents reads like the police blotter in a town with a population of only 150 people - unimpressive and without real action. In this fictional scenario, where the town drunk is the most exciting person to hit the papers, LaDainian Tomlinson would play the "Otis" (by virtue of almost signing with the Vikings and actually inking a contract with the Jets), and the rest of the players who have signed would just be speeders going through town.


So in my first offseason as a football writer, I want to thank you, NFL, for making 25% of my potential readers bored out of their minds. I can't wait until the draft. Cue The Andy Griffith Show theme........



 





Every Morning Quarterback by Aharon Williams is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at www.everymorningqb.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at www.everymorningqb.com.

No Dough, No Show

The old NFL contract system was flawed. There've been stories of players being accused of faking injuries to get out of "below market" contracts. Then there were players playing hard for a long-term contract with big guaranteed money followed by a mysterious dip in production after getting paid. This type of story has plagued this sport too long.

The problem was that the guaranteed money (most of the money in NFL contracts is not guaranteed) was prorated against the salary cap over the life of the contract, even if all that money was paid to the player upfront. So if a player signed a contract for five years, got paid $15 million dollars guaranteed, and received every cent of that guaranteed money upfront, it counted as $3 million dollars a year for five years against the salary cap for the team. To make it worse, it counted against the salary cap even if the player was released before the contract expired. 


An example of what can happen when a player is shrouded in doubt because of a underpaying contract is Shawn Andrews. After being a first round pick in 2004, Andrews signed a contract extension in 2005 that would make him an Eagle through 2015. The guaranteed money were two $5 million dollar bonuses to be paid in 2005 and 2006. Shawn pocketed $10 million in two years. Not bad. 

He was probably the best guard in the NFL in 2006 and 2007, making the Pro Bowl both years.  His contemporaries like Derrick Dockery were cashing in on free agency:  before the 2007 season, he signed a seven year, $49 million dollar contract, including $23 million guaranteed in the first three seasons.  However, Andrews was to make a comparitively small base salary of $750,000 until 2010. 


Then he didn't show up for 2008 training camp. He claimed he was suffering from depression. When he did show up, he began giving long interviews in front of his locker. He then injured his back the second game of the season and was place on Injured Reserve. He re-injured his back in the 2009 training camp and missed the rest of the season, only to be cut prior to this season.


The perception is Shawn Andrews wasn't as hurt as advertised but the injury was a result of not liking his contract and probably never being able to cash in through free agency. The reality is the contract didn't work. It left the Eagles and Andrews with a bad taste in their respective mouths, and reputations ruined, fair or not.


With the recent lifting of the salary cap, and its restrictions, perhaps the NFL can change this system. Football isn't a career, and the earning window is much smaller than a normal job.  Getting rid of the prorated system and moving to two or three year guaranteed contracts will help minimize players who are under-compensated or overcompensated from under performing because of having a long term contract.

 


Every Morning Quarterback by Aharon Williams is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at www.everymorningqb.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at www.everymorningqb.com.