Question: Common man doesn’t understand huge contracts that eat up salary space

[BamaFlum]

Big said this and it got me thinking:
“They are talking $40 million per year. Not sure how you field a team with that much tied up at one position.”
I completely understand getting all the money you can BUT I also understand that these professional athletes want to compete. Maybe I’m just so far removed that I don’t understand. If I’m Mahommes, I sit down with the PTB and work out a smaller per year longer contract with the organization promising me to build a team around me. Why would I want to break the bank with a huge contract only to wallow down the road to mediocrity because they can’t sign a good team around me?
Just thinking out loud.

 

[PaulD]

I believe that Tom Brady and Drew Brees have done this in the past.

 

[DzynKingRTR]

There are owners and GMs that don't understand it either.

 

[teamplayer]

There are owners and GMs that don't understand it either.

Owners and GMs care more about the big name draw pulling in fans who buy crap. They care more about making money than winning, which is just another of the many reasons why I gave up on most pro sports. Now, don't get me wrong; I fully understand that it is a business designed to make money, and I would probably do the same thing in their position. I am not, however, in their position, so I like sports to be about team building and trying to win.

 

[TitleWave]

Or you could do the math the Green Bay way - pay your franchise QB $25-35M annually, shell out $250M in 2019 in FAS for your pass rush and back end defense - and then realize that for the 10th year in a row your 53-man roster still "features" the ignominiously unwinning position of invisible linebacker...usually wearing jersey No. 50, which must be code for "50-50 on the next play whether he - the invisible LB - will be grasping at air or be able to leave the field under his own power after having been run over making a tackle 10 yards downfield."

 

[AlexanderFan]

Or you could do the math the Green Bay way - pay your franchise QB $25-35M annually, shell out $250M in 2019 in FAS for your pass rush and back end defense - and then realize that for the 10th year in a row your 53-man roster still "features" the ignominiously unwinning position of invisible linebacker...usually wearing jersey No. 50, which must be code for "50-50 on the next play whether he - the invisible LB - will be grasping at air or be able to leave the field under his own power after having been run over making a tackle 10 yards downfield."

Salty after that “performance”, huh? Jimmy G looked like Brandon Avalos against Southern Miss that year he played. He just kept handing off

 

[B1GTide]

I believe that Tom Brady and Drew Brees have done this in the past.

The biggest reason that the Patriots have had this continued success - the two people most important to that success both got it early on. There is an NFL hard cap. The GOAT QB cannot take GOAT QB salary and expect to win, but he does want and expect that no one else get paid either. The result - Belichick lets anyone walk that wants to be paid over winning. He moves on, and the team is better for it.

How many great players have the Pats let go in contract years? Countless. They don't even try to keep these guys if they want a max contract.

 

[cuda.1973]

Owners and GMs care more about the big name draw pulling in fans who buy crap. They care more about making money than winning, which is just another of the many reasons why I gave up on most pro sports. Now, don't get me wrong; I fully understand that it is a business designed to make money, and I would probably do the same thing in their position. I am not, however, in their position, so I like sports to be about team building and trying to win.

Been trying to 'splain this to CowBag fans for years. Jerruh is in bidnis to make money. He makes money by putting a competitive product, on the field, and selling tons of crap. (PSLs, shirts, over-priced concessions, not to mention the outrageous parking fees.) It is not necessary to field a championship team. His ego sure wants one, but you notice how much his investment has increased in value, without doing crap for decades.

As long as the product is good enough to entice folks to come to the games and buy crap, he makes $$$$$$$. That is the reason to own a bidnis.

 

[B1GTide]

Been trying to 'splain this to CowBag fans for years. Jerruh is in bidnis to make money. He makes money by putting a competitive product, on the field, and selling tons of crap. (PSLs, shirts, over-priced concessions, not to mention the outrageous parking fees.) It is not necessary to field a championship team. His ego sure wants one, but you notice how much his investment has increased in value, without doing crap for decades.

As long as the product is good enough to entice folks to come to the games and buy crap, he makes $$$$$$$. That is the reason to own a bidnis.

Jerry Jones is not the standard owner. But the typical owner has 100% of his ego tied to the success of the team that he owns. This is very much a urinating contest for these guys. None would trade $$$ for wins. They would all be willing to lose untold millions of dollars for a shot at a Super Bowl.

 

[Probius]

My first thought was that Mahomes wants to get paid and Kansas City wants to sell tickets. However, maybe Kansas City is planning on finding value in other areas and Mahomes will carry the team for the most part. The salary cap next season will be nearly $200 million, so they will still have $160 million for the remaining 52 players on the roster. Mahomes will also make the players around him better, so that can help with finding value on the offensive side of the ball.

 

[BamaFlum]

I didn’t think about the owners caring more about $$$ than playoff victories. Pats seem to have found the right balance but it takes three massive personalities to make it work: Kraft, Belichek, and Brady.

 

[TitleWave]

Salty after that “performance”, huh? Jimmy G looked like Brandon Avalos against Southern Miss that year he played. He just kept handing off

Seven years ago Kaepernick v. the same lame and 'Backerless Packer defense (?), didn't even have to hand off, setting an NFL single-game QB rushing record for regular season or playoffs. With poor ol' A.J. "Great White Hoax" Hawk getting an "assist" on about 175 of Kaep's yards. This time the 'backerless Packer "defense" only yielded a single-game postseason record on the ground for a RB, so theoretically all that free agent defensive spending paid off handsomely in more notoriety for a storied franchise whose stories of actually playing defense - speaking of fat NFL paychecks - are now old enough to collect Social Security checks in the retelling...

 

[TideEngineer08]

Owners and GMs care more about the big name draw pulling in fans who buy crap. They care more about making money than winning, which is just another of the many reasons why I gave up on most pro sports. Now, don't get me wrong; I fully understand that it is a business designed to make money, and I would probably do the same thing in their position. I am not, however, in their position, so I like sports to be about team building and trying to win.

The problem is that in America, they have a built in customer base that is going to buy and attend whether the actual product stinks or not. Because we love football so much. So, win or lose, the Browns are going to sell tickets or merchandise. Certainly enough to continue enriching the owners. Same for the Jags, Bills, Bengals, Cardinals, and every other mediocre franchise. They don't just churn out more NFL teams every year. The product is incredibly scarce, so demand is always going to be high.

If fans truly stopped buying merch and attending games in huge numbers, there would be real incentive to change course and do something radical. Otherwise, you've just got to hope your franchise is being run and managed by dynamic leaders who are going to look for ways to improve even if they are already good.

I do think most owners want to win. And would trade almost anything to win a Super Bowl. But the status quo is so easy to live in for most of them. IMO, at least, which isn't worth that much admittedly.

 

[bamaga]

This is the problem in the NFL, and one that makes the Patriots dynasty all that more remarkable. You draft well, get a core of young players. Then in 4-5 years all of them want to get paid so teams have to make hard decisions. (Seattle Seahawks) . The Falcons have been struggling with this and making some wrong decisions the last couple of years. That’s also one reason the RB position has been devalued. Second contracts rarely work out for teams , it’s just easier to draft a young RB at a much less pay rate.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

The biggest reason that the Patriots have had this continued success - the two people most important to that success both got it early on. There is an NFL hard cap. The GOAT QB cannot take GOAT QB salary and expect to win, but he does want and expect that no one else get paid either. The result - Belichick lets anyone walk that wants to be paid over winning. He moves on, and the team is better for it.

How many great players have the Pats let go in contract years? Countless. They don't even try to keep these guys if they want a max contract.

He's let more than one guy go and then brought the guy back for less money.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

This is the problem in the NFL, and one that makes the Patriots dynasty all that more remarkable. You draft well, get a core of young players. Then in 4-5 years all of them want to get paid so teams have to make hard decisions. (Seattle Seahawks) . The Falcons have been struggling with this and making some wrong decisions the last couple of years. That’s also one reason the RB position has been devalued. Second contracts rarely work out for teams , it’s just easier to draft a young RB at a much less pay rate.

The Atlanta Falcons have been making lousy decisions since they picked a linebacker with the #1 overall pick in their first draft.

Their first 1,00 yard rusher (Dave Hampton) got tackled for a loss and fell below the 1,000 yard mark on his next play and didn't actually finish the year with 1,000 yards - because the Falcons are stupid.

In the very first game they kicked off, the Falcons kicker missed the ball on the tee.

The Falcons made the Super Bowl and their mouthy born again Christian defensive back solicited an undercover cop for a sex act less than 24 hours before getting burned over and over by Rod Smith. This is a guy who earlier that day had won an award for high moral character (I assume I can find it on Ebay).

The Falcons chose Aundray Bruce of the University of Auburn as the #1 overall pick, and he was auful.

THE FALCONS TRADED BRETT FAVRE!!!!!!!


The Falcons couldn't win the "find the ball under the shell" game if there was only one shell.

 

[cuda.1973]

The Falcons were destined for perpetual underachieving, the moment they decided to make the team colors the same as the Athens Ankle-biters.

And to think they did it on purpose!

 

[DzynKingRTR]

THE FALCONS TRADED BRETT FAVRE!!!!!!!

To be fair, Jerry Glanville thought Favre was a terrible QB and it was his idea to trade /cut him. Then again, the Falcons did hire an idiot that leaves tickets for Elvis.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

To be fair, Jerry Glanville thought Favre was a terrible QB and it was his idea to trade /cut him. Then again, the Falcons did hire an idiot that leaves tickets for Elvis.

Not to dispute you but the story as related by Glanville (yeah, I know) is that he wanted his GM (or whoever it was) to trade his OTHER QB, Chris Miller, and make Favre the starter. The GM comes back and says the Packers didn't want Miller but would take Favre off their hands.

Again, I don't know if it's true - and Jerry, I felt, taught dirty play, too.

 

[bamaga]

I only used the Falcons as An example of drafting well and then having to pay those contracts in 4-5 years. The bad decisions were those relating to a modern Salary cap and the big contracts that making a competitive squad difficult. Like exercising the 5th year on Beasley, renegotiating the contract of Freeman instead letting him walk and using Coleman for a few years. Instead they signed Freeman to a big contract and let Coleman walk. Or making Jake Mathews the 4th highest paid offensive lineman in football. Overpaying Desmond Trufant. The top 6 players on the Falcons account for almost 50% of the teams salary cap. That means they have 54% of their cap to pay the other 47 players.
The Seahawks had the same Dilemma a few years ago and have navigated it rather well . I’m sorry, I’m trying to have a continuous thought but my wife keeps trying to talk to me. I mean, I just sat through three hours binge watching , feigning interest in a TV series about underage drinking, cheerleaders and their coach. What more does she expect of me?