Rumor: Shanahan offered 5 years/$50M and partial ownership

[San Jose Bills Fan]

From the Yahoo linked article:

 

"The point is that the '97 and '98 Shanahan magic might not be there anymore. In fact, in the ten years he coached since then, he's won in the playoffs just once. Now, I'm not one of those people who believe Shanahan only won because he had John Elway under center, but I do happen to believe that the ten years since then matter, too.

 

When we last left Mike Shanahan, he'd lost half of his last 48 games, and missed the playoffs three straight years. He had made some brutal personnel decisions, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. He had even lost his magical ability to make a 1,000-yard runner out of anyone with two legs."

 

Again, anyone would be an upgrade over what we had but I think this throwing money at big names thing is the wrong way to go about it.

 

There are top notch GMs available with experience building organizations. Hire a GM to hire the coach. I wouldn't invest that much money on a guy like Shanahan or Holmgren who has almost zero track record outside of just simply coaching.

[hb123]

there must be one "majority" owner for each nfl franchise, there can be more than one minority owner (see the Rooney family in Pit, 5 siblings ....or the celebrity minority owners in miami). in our case, if the bills gave Shanahan a minority stake, lets just say 1-5%. When ralph passes and his stake is sold, unless there is an additional agreement stating that Shanahan has the "right of first refusal" to buy ralphs shares......then ralph's estate proceeds to sell ralphs share without needing approval from shanahan. Shanahan may or may not want to sell his shares to the new majority owner.

 

 

Plus why would Ralph put himself into a situation with someone he hasnt ever worked with and give him ownership %. It could complicate or be problematic to a potential new owner wanting to buy the team having to have Shanahan on board with him/her. And Ralph would also be tying himself to Shanahan permanently. What if he is terrible and the bills are still terrible in 4 years. He is not going to want him around as minority owner still. He also would have to include Shanahan in on all decisions, not just football related. Doing something like this just opens a can of worms and I can't believe Ralph would give up any % of ownership, unless he actually does have a secret agreement in place to sell the team to someone in place and they would be ok with this transfer occuring. I think the chance he would do this are very very slim. Throwing a huge contract at him ok, but not ownership.

 

The only positive I can see is that Shanahan has been criticized for just throwing money at coaches, players etc and got Denver in cap trouble. Its easy to throw someone elses money at things like this. He might be less willing to go haywire like that if he has a stake in the team/bottom line. It might force him to be more conservative and diligent in assessing a player or additional staff and the benefit they would bring to the bills.

[Malazan]

Ralph is far less meddling owner than what Dallas or Washington have...he's involved..he makes some calls, but if Ralph is willing to pay, he'd probably be considered one of the better owners to play for if the checkbook is open.

 

Most contracts have various "out" clauses. It's likely this one would have quite a few.

[BEAST MODE BABY!]

How many of the $50 million would we pay if he accepted an offer like that? $36 million? $29 million? Denver still owes him 2 or 3 years at 7 million a year, right?

[RayFinkle]

How many of the $50 million would we pay if he accepted an offer like that? $36 million? $29 million? Denver still owes him 2 or 3 years at 7 million a year, right?

$50 million

[BillsZubaz]

How many of the $50 million would we pay if he accepted an offer like that? $36 million? $29 million? Denver still owes him 2 or 3 years at 7 million a year, right?

 

 

This is one of the reasons he will go for around 10 million a year. If he signs another contract I believe that Denver no longer owes him the remaining balance on the previous contract.

 

So offers for Shannahan would have to be in the 9+ million a year range.

 

It would make no sense for him to lose getting paid 7 million for the next two years for effectively sitting at home. To sign for anything less than 9-10 million.

[BEAST MODE BABY!]

I thought Denver was a guaranteed contract, so we'd only be liable for the difference? Or would we owe him the full amount and Denver is off the hook?

[seq004]

Holy crap! Not that crap is holy.

[Dan]

I thought Denver was a guaranteed contract, so we'd only be liable for the difference? Or would we owe him the full amount and Denver is off the hook?

Without knowing any of the details of his contract (probably means you should stop reading and I should stop typing), but I think it's somewhat standard fair for the Broncos to have to honor the agreement, unless he gets another job. So, I would guess, if he signs with a new team the Broncos are off the hook.

[ExiledInIllinois]

So you're saying Dustin Hoffmann will be the next GM?

 

Link???

 

 

Nope... Just talking about the BB* situation... No logical leap to the Bills.

 

But, hey... Dustin would be great. They can play The People's Court on the JumboTron.

[UBbulls626`]

I thought Denver was a guaranteed contract, so we'd only be liable for the difference? Or would we owe him the full amount and Denver is off the hook?

 

 

Hey guys, first post for me but I have been following for years.

 

 

I always see people get confused when it comes to contracts so I thought I would add my 2 cents.

 

Once the contract with Denver was terminated, Shanahan had a duty to mitigate his damages. This means he is required to find work at a comparable wage or the best wage he can get within a certain amount of time. When he does find work, Denver only owes him the difference. So for example in the NFL, you are typically given 1-2 years to mitigate your damages and when you do you are owed the difference in the old contract and the new contract (based on each year).

 

The same goes for DJ, he will be required to find a new job and Ralph will only be on the hook for the difference.

 

If DJ is offered a job as Defensive Backs coach and its pays $500k a year, Ralph will be on the hook for 3 mil a yr (3.5M-500k) for 2 years

 

If we offer Shanahan $6.5 million a year Denver is on the hook for 500k a year for 2 years. If we offer more than $7 million a year then Denver will not owe him anything

 

 

This is assuming a non-guaranteed contract

 

If the contract is guarenteed then the money is always good.

 

 

Hope that helps

[DrFishfinder]

What...no "Exalted Ruler of the Known Universe" title and all the clones he wants of Penelope Cruz and Pamela Anderson?

 

Pffffft.

[spartacus]

Wow, so much for the Ralph is cheap talk.

 

the "talk" is misplaced

 

Ralph has a 50 year history proving his cheapness in hiring a head coach and GM. In 50 years, he has paid market rates to bring in a top coach (Knox) only once and a top GM (Donahoe) only once.

 

the only "cheap" talk is of Ralph actually spending big money on a new coach and GM.

For all the hype being generated about spending $50 mil and partial ownership, the total actual cost to Ralph was for the trip to Denver by Brandon to see Shanahan.

 

The rest of the hype doesn't cost Ralph a dime - but does get the fans all juiced up.

[spartacus]

Hey guys, first post for me but I have been following for years.

 

 

I always see people get confused when it comes to contracts so I thought I would add my 2 cents.

 

Once the contract with Denver was terminated, Shanahan had a duty to mitigate his damages. This means he is required to find work at a comparable wage or the best wage he can get within a certain amount of time. When he does find work, Denver only owes him the difference. So for example in the NFL, you are typically given 1-2 years to mitigate your damages and when you do you are owed the difference in the old contract and the new contract (based on each year).

 

The same goes for DJ, he will be required to find a new job and Ralph will only be on the hook for the difference.

 

If DJ is offered a job as Defensive Backs coach and its pays $500k a year, Ralph will be on the hook for 3 mil a yr (3.5M-500k) for 2 years

 

If we offer Shanahan $6.5 million a year Denver is on the hook for 500k a year for 2 years. If we offer more than $7 million a year then Denver will not owe him anything

 

 

This is assuming a non-guaranteed contract

 

If the contract is guarenteed then the money is always good.

 

 

Hope that helps

 

you must be a law student who has trouble with the contracts class.

 

if the contract was not guaranteed, his old team would not owe him anything past the year he was fired -

 

thus no need to mitigate damages

[Steely Dan]

Partial ownership really surprises me. Ralph would seriously consider giving up a portion of the team?

 

Also, interesting that the discussion is about a 5-year contract. We've been dealing with 3-year contracts for the "new" head coaches to give them a chance to show their stuff, but even though Shanny is a known commodity, being on the hook for 5 years for that kind of coin is impressive.

 

Partial ownership means, IMO, 1-5% of the team. IIRC teams that are successful at the time of sale are worth more than bottom dwellers. This gives Shanahan added incentive.

 

But also :

 

So apparently no head coach announcement today anyway.

 

Link

 

Timmy's always on top of things.

 

there must be one "majority" owner for each nfl franchise, there can be more than one minority owner (see the Rooney family in Pit, 5 siblings ....or the celebrity minority owners in miami). in our case, if the bills gave Shanahan a minority stake, lets just say 1-5%. When ralph passes and his stake is sold, unless there is an additional agreement stating that Shanahan has the "right of first refusal" to buy ralphs shares......then ralph's estate proceeds to sell ralphs share without needing approval from shanahan. Shanahan may or may not want to sell his shares to the new majority owner.

 

I don't think Shanahan would get the "right of first refusal" It would be a tall order for him to get enough to buy the team anyway.

[Bill from NYC]

If true, Ralph really put his money where his mouth is. Good for him. Now, if Shanahan doesn't take that deal, what more could he want?

 

My guess is that he must talk it over with his family, even if he strongly wants it. Trust me, 10 mil. is a LOT less when your wife takes half.

 

My PURE speculation is that he does want to come here or he would not have been interviewed on Thanksgiving week. Again, I am only speculating. I'm putting myself in his shoes.

This is a great job for him. He would be the king of WNY if he wins, and he really could win here. Levy is sainted to this day in WNY and with Bills fans across the nation and imo (sorry to anybody I offend), Shanahan is 10x the football man than was Marv Levy. It isn't close.

 

This could work.

[Big Turk]

It would make no sense for him to lose getting paid 7 million for the next two years for effectively sitting at home.

 

Maybe he doesn't have the welfare/unemployment/SSD mentality of this country right now who love government handouts and love staying at home doing nothing...

[ExiledInIllinois]

Maybe he doesn't have the welfare/unemployment/SSD mentality of this country right now who love government handouts and love staying at home doing nothing...

 

Hey they fired him. Think of it as 2 years vaction pay. Ya, maybe he wants to work... I don't blame him. But, this is far from the welfare/unemployment/SSD mentality you speak of.

 

I mean come on... Nice try.