slothrop Posted June 7, 2005 Share Posted June 7, 2005 i agree......i don't think willis has any loyalty to the bills what-so-ever.....big year this year, holdout next year, one more season under the original terms of his deal and then a trade in the '06 off-season.......i'm in the minority in that i don't want to see willis extended....... 352781[/snapback] Wake Up! Athletes with modern free-agency no longer have loyalty to teams. That is a dead concept. Those who do have loyalty are loyal because they are well paid combined with other circumstances (sick family in the area, don't want to move kids out of school, etc). Either way they are acting out of self-interest and not some concept of selfless sacrifice for a "team." And as AD said, this is how they SHOULD act! Not one of you would act differently if put in the same position. Why should they sacrfice getting paid more to stay with a team when their career could be over on the first play of the season? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1billsfan Posted June 7, 2005 Share Posted June 7, 2005 Now i'm not panic mode or pulling a rudy, but espn has had some great articles on agents this week (they are doing a special on sports agents), and today there are a few on rosenhaus...this guy is a real scumbag, but you can read the article... what scares me are some of McGahee's comments within the article, and i really elieve that with a halfway decent season, he will be holding out next year for a huge contract...heres a look... http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/stor...d=2072819&num=0 (discussing rosenhaus "stealing" other agents players) "Nine times out of 10, he didn't steal the client – the client wanted to come to him," said Buffalo running back Willis McGahee, in a curious vote of confidence. Players have approached McGahee – who was drafted No. 23 in the 2003 NFL draft after suffering a career-threatening knee injury in his final college game at Miami – about hiring Rosenhaus. What does he tell them? "Come on over to the dark side," McGahee said, smiling." One again, i'm not saying the sky is falling, i'm just looking at the reality of the situation involving rosenhaus and mcgahee, especially after this offseason with a lot of his clients holding out... 352779[/snapback] Why do you think we didn't pay Jennings and Williams? They know they will eventually have to pay McGahee down the road. My feeling is that if he becomes a top five runner in the NFL and helps turn around the Bill's fortunes then he deserves to be paid accordingly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill from NYC Posted June 7, 2005 Share Posted June 7, 2005 Why do you think we didn't pay Jennings and Williams? They know they will eventually have to pay McGahee down the road. My feeling is that if he becomes a top five runner in the NFL and helps turn around the Bill's fortunes then he deserves to be paid accordingly. 352896[/snapback] Very good point. It looks like you and I are in full agreement! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1billsfan Posted June 7, 2005 Share Posted June 7, 2005 Very good point. It looks like you and I are in full agreement! 352907[/snapback] That's a first! BTW, does anyone know McGahee's contract numbers? Maybe it's based on incentives that shows him the money anyways. If TD waits till the final year to extend Willis then he shouldn't plan on him being a Buffalo Bill beyond the current contract. That is a given! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scribo Posted June 7, 2005 Share Posted June 7, 2005 TD has already clearly indicated in the media that he is interested in reworking a nice long contract with McGahee. He's ours and will stay that way. No worries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d_wag Posted June 7, 2005 Share Posted June 7, 2005 Wake Up! Athletes with modern free-agency no longer have loyalty to teams. That is a dead concept. Those who do have loyalty are loyal because they are well paid combined with other circumstances (sick family in the area, don't want to move kids out of school, etc). Either way they are acting out of self-interest and not some concept of selfless sacrifice for a "team." And as AD said, this is how they SHOULD act! Not one of you would act differently if put in the same position. Why should they sacrfice getting paid more to stay with a team when their career could be over on the first play of the season? 352891[/snapback] bruschi, brown, and brady are all examples of players who have shown loyalty to their team and sacrificed dollars for the better of the team....... but when i mentioned loyalty, i was referring more to honoring a contract that is already signed......sure, once you reach free agency loyalty often goes out the window, but while under contract the MAJORITY of players will not go back on their word for the sake of making a few extra dollars because they are loyal to the team overall......willis doesn't strike me as one of those guys....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d_wag Posted June 7, 2005 Share Posted June 7, 2005 TD has already clearly indicated in the media that he is interested in reworking a nice long contract with McGahee. He's ours and will stay that way. No worries. 352916[/snapback] i haven't heard TD say or even hint that.......do you have a link? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scribo Posted June 7, 2005 Share Posted June 7, 2005 i haven't heard TD say or even hint that.......do you have a link? 352922[/snapback] I heard Clayton say it several times, too. Under May 24th: "McGahee Long Term: John Clayton of ESPN reports that the Bills are reluctant to trade Travis Henry until they lock up Willis McGahee to a long term deal. McGahee has three years left on his contract that is heavily incentive laden. If he continues at his pace, he would hit many of them and then would want to be paid like a top back. Clayton confirms reports that the Titans are the main team interested in Henry's services." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Darin Posted June 7, 2005 Share Posted June 7, 2005 but while under contract the MAJORITY of players will not go back on their word for the sake of making a few extra dollars because they are loyal to the team overall......willis doesn't strike me as one of those guys....... 352918[/snapback] Mostly because most players are VERY replaceable - and they know it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John in VA Beach Posted June 7, 2005 Share Posted June 7, 2005 I agree with what some others have stated. If he has a great year and holds out, it is not a bad thing to give him more money if it locks him up for a few more seasons. If his contract ends, we will not be able to keep him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d_wag Posted June 7, 2005 Share Posted June 7, 2005 I heard Clayton say it several times, too.Under May 24th: "McGahee Long Term: John Clayton of ESPN reports that the Bills are reluctant to trade Travis Henry until they lock up Willis McGahee to a long term deal. McGahee has three years left on his contract that is heavily incentive laden. If he continues at his pace, he would hit many of them and then would want to be paid like a top back. Clayton confirms reports that the Titans are the main team interested in Henry's services." 352925[/snapback] clayton is your source? sorry, that doesn't carry much weight seeing his is wrong as much as he is right....... when has TD "clearly indicated in the media" he wants willis signed long-term? i honestly can't recall having seen or heard that from TD....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scribo Posted June 7, 2005 Share Posted June 7, 2005 clayton is your source? sorry, that doesn't carry much weight seeing his is wrong as much as he is right....... when has TD "clearly indicated in the media" he wants willis signed long-term? i honestly can't recall having seen or heard that from TD....... 352969[/snapback] Good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
/dev/null Posted June 7, 2005 Share Posted June 7, 2005 bruschi, brown, and brady are all examples of players who have shown loyalty to their team and sacrificed dollars for the better of the team....... 352918[/snapback] i don't recall seeing the names of bruschi, brown, or brady on rosenhaus' client list brady for example is grateful to the patriots for drafting him, taking a chance with him, and giving him a chance to succeed mcgahee in his mind should have been a top 5 pick, not the 23rd. so i don't think he's as grateful to us for taking a bigger chance on him than the patriots took on brady Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuklz2594 Posted June 7, 2005 Share Posted June 7, 2005 if he kicks ass in the upcoming season. lock him into a long term contract. a healthy willis is going to be a top 5 back in the league.what's the problem? bruce smith sniveled about his contract every season. rashard lee is happy being the back-up. looks like a remake of thomas and davis with a hard nosed qb under center. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plenzmd1 Posted June 7, 2005 Share Posted June 7, 2005 All I can say is that all those fans who turned on Hnery making him out to be a subpar player ONCE Mcgahee had a SO-SO season will turn on McGahee after he holds out if he "outperforms" his contract by him and his agents definition. It is like what do you want to be your wife: a girl who is a 8.0-8.5 on a scale of 10 in looks but gives her all to help the cause and all they ask is to be treated with respect for they had been checking you out and been a fan of yours since they were young and would or a 9 who thinks they are a 10 and wants to be showered by gifts, even if it means breaking your bank? Can you guess which one is Henry and which is McGahee? When McGahee asks for $7 million a year so that he can buy another expensive ride while Henry is on another team putting up respectable numbers while not breaking the bank some will reminis; I GUARANTEE IT! But after reading the article I can see Rosenhaus side in that there are no guaranteed contracts for NFL player and in a sport where injuries are paramount this is BS. In TO's case however he is full of BS for he currently the 3rd highest paid WR going onto the 2nd year of a 7 year contract. Now any reasons he has is absurd. But take aplayer such as Antonio Gates from the Chargers; he came out of nowhere and is probably the best TE in the game but is paid chump change as a walk-on. I'll bet the Charger organization loves that as they are betting Pro Bowl pay out of journeyman salary and have him under contract. But if he gets hurt then they could cut him with no remorse. They could get even lucky if he gets hurt in a contract year (like Andre Reed did) and sign him to another undervalue contract until he proves himself and by then he maybe consider too old and might lose a step so we will not give you top dollar. The way the system is setup the only ones taking advantage are the top draft picks who haven't proved anything but because of their pick will command top dollar. If he meets expectation then he will be paid for life. Overall there is no easy answer as players deserved to get paid and have their security but at the same time we don't want a league full of high paid under achievers. 352827[/snapback] I just do not agree with this argument. Football players have guaranteed contracts, only their guarantee is in the signing bonus.Signing bonuses are not part of any other sport. The club guarantees the signing bonus, the player agrees for that he will work so many years at X dollars. It is called negotiation. Just for the fun of it, ever seen a player give back his signing bonus after a chit year or two. Look at Price in Atlanta. Boy got 10 mil to sign his name. This BS about no guaranteed contracts is driving me nuts In terms of rooks, its just like the kid who graduates cum laude from Harvard gets a better job with a better salary than a punk from Niagara Falls who barely graduated from Slippery Rock.Players with a better pedigree get paid more in their rookie contract. Dems da breaks. But if the boy has better talent, he will get paid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San-O Posted June 7, 2005 Share Posted June 7, 2005 Now i'm not panic mode or pulling a rudy, but espn has had some great articles on agents this week (they are doing a special on sports agents), and today there are a few on rosenhaus...this guy is a real scumbag, but you can read the article... what scares me are some of McGahee's comments within the article, and i really elieve that with a halfway decent season, he will be holding out next year for a huge contract...heres a look... http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/stor...d=2072819&num=0 (discussing rosenhaus "stealing" other agents players) "Nine times out of 10, he didn't steal the client – the client wanted to come to him," said Buffalo running back Willis McGahee, in a curious vote of confidence. Players have approached McGahee – who was drafted No. 23 in the 2003 NFL draft after suffering a career-threatening knee injury in his final college game at Miami – about hiring Rosenhaus. What does he tell them? "Come on over to the dark side," McGahee said, smiling." One again, i'm not saying the sky is falling, i'm just looking at the reality of the situation involving rosenhaus and mcgahee, especially after this offseason with a lot of his clients holding out... 352779[/snapback] I say if anybody wants to hold out, let them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John from Riverside Posted June 7, 2005 Share Posted June 7, 2005 I could be wrong about this but lets face it....Willis Magehee, JP Losman, and Lee Evans are the new guys in a bills uni.... A winning season and some cohesion could go a long way about getting Willis to tell Rosanhaus to get a deal done with the bills...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsWatch Posted June 7, 2005 Share Posted June 7, 2005 This is a good reason for TD to play hard ball with Henry even putting him on the noin-playing/reserved list which would guarentee Henry be on Bills roster next year unless once again Bills trade him. If Willis and his agent pull that stunt then Bills will have proof they are willing to use the list to penalize non-performing players. It may not be nice but that is why teams pay out signing bonuses (that is your guarentee) to players who are in some cases (Willis) unable to even perform for a year or who mostly (Losman) sit on IR or bench for a year. Players do not give back signing bonuses when they are busts (Leaf) just when they violate a contract geting injured in non-football related injuries (Winslow) or just decide to (or pretend to) retire (Barry Sanders/Ricky Williams). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sen. John Blutarsky Posted June 7, 2005 Share Posted June 7, 2005 What I love is how we forget the Bruce Smith's of the world who got themselves renegotiated on an annual basis. We also forget how Andre Reed spurned a market value extension so he could break the bank but we remember that he destroyed his hamstring the same year and that we got him back cheaply. Willis McGahee owes this organization a little consideration, a little being the consideration of matching a contract offer from another team when he becomes a UFA. Maybe the consideration of not holding out because the Bills didn't stiff him on his rookie contract. That's about it. He isn't going to take far less than market value just because we were good enough to draft him and wait a year, someone in the league was going to do that, it just happened to be us. Not many rookie contracts get renegotiated, regardless of the player's performance, Willis doesn't have a ton of leverage in a holdout for the same reason Henry and Alexander don't, and Brian Westbrook and Edgerrin James didn't. Everyone has a running back and if they don't they draft one, or two. The truth is that Willis can probably make as much money here as he can somewhere else, teams really don't break the bank on RBs like they do for other positions like O-line and D-line. A rookie RB can come in and play, O and D linemen need a few years to get their games together and thus teams are looking to pay them when their rookie contract expires. At the end of a RBs rookie deal they have 3 or 4 years under their belts and that is already past the average shelf life of an NFL RB. It's cheaper and sometimes smarter to draft your own RB, even if you have to move up in round 1 to get it, than pay an UFA a ton of money. How else can you explain the Alexander situation, he's a pro-bowl RB who can be had for a 3rd rounder and a renegotiated contract. The 3rd rounder isn't a problem-the money is. I hope Willis has the best year a Bill has ever had, if he holds out he holds out, that's next year. Watch what happens with Terrell Owens to see what the Bills should and will do if he does. Jeff Lurie (the Eagles owner) has said publicly that he won't give Owens a new deal. TO can whine and complain as much as he wants, the Eagles are ready to let him sit. This is a great game of chicken and TO will blink. His MO for a new deal is his age, he wants as much money up front as possible before his skills erode, he can't and won't sit out a whole year, lose several million dollars and be stuck in the same position the following season with the Eagles holding his rights while he still doesn't get paid. TO will miss camp but play in week 1...for the Eagles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sen. John Blutarsky Posted June 7, 2005 Share Posted June 7, 2005 Players do not give back signing bonuses when they are busts (Leaf) just when they violate a contract geting injured in non-football related injuries (Winslow) or just decide to (or pretend to) retire (Barry Sanders/Ricky Williams). 353115[/snapback] Actually Ricky Williams owes the Dolphins several million dollars at this point, which I'm sure is a motivating factor in his return. Also, Kellen Winslow, Jr. has to repay the Browns somewhere between 2 and 3 million of his signing bonus because he violated the terms of his deal by riding a motorcycle. I get the jist of your comment though, Ryan Leaf gave back 0 dollars and neither Williams nor Winslow are doing it by choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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