|
Back in 1993, when the NFL and NFL Players Association were close to
consummating what would eventually become a landmark collective bargaining
agreement between the two sides, one that would end years of labor strife
and permit the league to become the preeminent sports entity of all-time,
Raiders owner Al Davis typically tossed a monkey wrench into the
proceedings.
|  | | Kicker Adam Vinatieri was "tagged" by the Patriots. |
Davis balked at the notion that each team would have just one "franchise"
designation to use in keeping key veterans off the unrestricted free agent
market, feeling the number should instead be five, and his intransigence
prolonged settlement talks for a few weeks.
Nearly a decade later, it turns out that one "franchise" label is one too
many for most clubs. The designation, while all but assuring that
"franchise" players return to their original team, has come to be a source
of acrimony and bitterness.
Teams don't like using it, because a "franchise" tag forces them to carry an
exorbitant qualifying offer, a number far higher than on a long-term
contract. Players despise a "franchise" label since it severely blunts their
mobility and all but keeps them from soliciting offers from other teams, a
reality that restricts their earning power. Most contract agreements with
"franchise" players are not reached until early in training camp, because
there is a four-month negotiating moratorium after March 15, and that
doesn't make coaches very happy.
"It's become an obsolete system," said agent Gary Wichard. "What it's turned
into is hardly what the intent was when the system was developed. Basically
it's become a negotiating tool, kind of a threat held out by a team when it
wants to squeeze a player into a contract. It's like, 'Well, if you don't do
this deal, we'll slap the tag on you.' At the outset, getting the
'franchise' tag was meant to be an honor for a player. Now it's become a
curse."
The events of Thursday, as well, demonstrated how the "franchise"
designation has evolved. And the occurrences were a sign, too, of how the
game has changed in the past decade.
There was not a single quarterback among the nine "franchise" players
designated on Thursday. Part of the reason for that is because teams have
become smart enough to lock in players at the game's most critical position
with long-term deals. Rarely do you see a quality quarterback ever get to
the final year of his contract. But the composition of the 2002 "franchise"
free agent class also speaks to how other positions have risen in prominence
in the past several years.
The group included three offensive left tackles -- Flozell Adams (Dallas),
Walter Jones (Seattle) and Tarik Glenn (Indianapolis) -- and that number
further validates the newfound significance of that position. In the last
four years, with salaries mounting on the offensive line, offensive left
tackle has come to be regarded as almost a skill-position category. "You
can't play without solid tackles," said Colts coach Tony Dungy, explaining
the move to retain Glenn.
There were also two kickers, Super Bowl hero Adam Vinatieri of New England
and Jason Elam of Denver, tagged with "franchise" designations. Even a few
years ago, that would have been deemed a preposterous move. But with about
25 percent of the games now decided by three points or fewer, teams have
come to realize the importance of having a proven kicker, one who is
accustomed to last-minute pressure.
|
“ |
I think you have a case where two teams didn't really have any other player
to 'franchise' and they weren't about to allow these kickers to get onto the
open market. It really is a unique situation. ” |
|
|
— Jack Reale,
agent for Jason Elam |
The market value for kickers has skyrocketed the last few years, with
megadeals for guys like Olindo Mare (Miami), Ryan Longwell (Green Bay), Mike
Vanderjagt (Indianapolis) and others, and the $1.241 million "franchise" tag
value is suddenly more palatable.
"I think you have a case where two teams didn't really have any other player
to 'franchise' and they weren't about to allow these kickers to get onto the
open market," said Jack Reale, agent for Elam. "It really is a unique
situation."
The other "franchise" players on Thursday were linebackers Jason Gildon
(Pittsburgh) and Jeremiah Trotter (Philadelphia), tight end Tony Gonzalez
(Kansas City) and free safety Kwamie Lassiter (Arizona). None play positions
that were considered crucial 10 years ago but all bring unique abilities to
their respective teams.
Around the league
Yeah, it's true that Baltimore head coach Brian Billick went on the road
last week to visit face-to-face with quarterback Elvis Grbac. After all, the
cap-strapped Ravens, who will be forced to jettison several high-profile
players just to get into compliance with the $71.101 million spending limit
on March 1, owe Grbac a $6 million bonus if he is on the roster March 2. So
it makes sense Baltimore will attempt to restructure the contract of its
quarterback, who drew decidedly mixed reviews from teammates for his
inconsistent 2001 performance. But what's also true about the Billick-Grbac
summit, sources tell ESPN.com, is that the coach noted there could be
competition with two-year veteran Chris Redman for the starting job.
Although he didn't progress as well as Ravens coaches had hoped in training
camp last summer, the Ravens still feel they got a steal by taking Redman in
the third round of the 2000 draft, and he is regarded as their quarterback
of the future. Based on what Billick apparently told Grbac, however, the
future could arrive a lot sooner than some people anticipated. With that
knowledge, the betting is that Grbac will agree to re-do his contract to
provide Baltimore some cap relief.
Bet the mortgage that the Houston Texans were prepared to open the vault
for either of the two linebackers, Gildon or Trotter, who were designated as
"franchise" players. Coach Dom Capers in particular coveted Gildon and was
the Pittsburgh defensive coordinator when the Steelers chose the former
Oklahoma State standout in the 1994 draft. Gildon has 62½ career sacks, the
third most in franchise history, and that includes 25½ over the past two
years. He is the kind of pure upfield rusher, explosive off the "edge,"
Capers needs to make his 3-4 defensive scheme successful. The Texans are
telling people that, since the Capers defense creates plenty of sack
opportunities, free agent linebackers will be beating down their door to
come play in the 3-4 scheme. Problem is, minus Gildon and Trotter, the
linebacker pool in free agency is a weak one. Granted, the Capers scheme
will enhance the abilities of whoever lines up at the two linebacker spots.
That said, there's not much to work with, unless some pass rushers are
released as teams try to get their salary cap situations in order. The best
bet for Capers and the Texans looks to be St. Louis defensive end Leonard
Little, a former college linebacker who had 14½ sacks in '01. Whether it's
in Houston or somewhere else, Little will be one of the most coveted players
in the free agent pool. Look for Gildon to re-up with the Steelers on a
long-term deal in the next week or so, even possibly by this weekend.
You've got to wonder how much New Orleans owner Tom Benson really wants
coach Jim Haslett to stick around. The Saints recently offered Haslett a
new, four-year contract with salaries of $2 million, $2.5 million, $2.65
million and $3 million. But the final two years of the contract were at the
club's option and Haslett rejected the proposal. There also was a
stipulation Haslett could leave for another NFL job provided the Saints were
compensated with a third-round draft choice. Yep, that's right, just a
third-rounder. Hardly on a par with the compensation elicited by Oakland
owner Al Davis, a pair of first- and second-rounders, to allow Jon Gruden to
wiggle out of the final year of his deal. If some team really coveted
Haslett (like Buffalo in 2003, should Gregg Williams not show progress this
year), a third-round choice would be small price to pay for him. The bottom
line is, for now, it appears Haslett is a short-timer in The Big Easy.
The Gruden camp, by the way, is spinning that Davis reneged on a December
deal that would have resulted in a five-year extension for the coach. As the
story goes, late in the season, Gruden actually agreed to a five-year deal.
But a few days later, when the deal was committed to contract language and
presented in black-and-white to agent Bob LaMonte, the term was for three
years, not five. And the salaries were dramatically reduced from the deal to
which Gruden agreed. It was just a few days after that incident that LaMonte
went public with a diatribe in which he noted that Gruden would work the
final year of his existing contract in Oakland and never re-sign with the
team. Davis has publicly acknowledged he offered Gruden a three-year deal at
$3.5 million annually. No word as to whether that came after the alleged
handshake on a five-year contract. And if you're wondering how it was that
the Bucs and LaMonte reached an accord so quickly in the wee hours of Monday
morning, know this: During the period two weeks ago in which Bucs general
manager Rich McKay was attempting to extricate Gruden from the Raiders, he
and LaMonte reached an understanding on the same five-year, $17.5 million
contract that became the framework for the final deal cut between the agent
and the Glazer brothers.
The parade of pretenders for the Oakland Raiders head coach job is expected
to commence in the next few days, but offensive line coach Bill Callahan
remains to favorite to succeed Gruden. Watch for Davis to interview four or
five young assistants, guy who have no head coaching experience at all, and
then give Callahan the position. This is the way Davis operates when he has
a coaching vacancy: He characteristically brings in candidates who have no
viable chance to land the job and then picks their brains for 5-6 hours.
It's an old Davis ploy and why other teams have not yet caught onto it is
amazing. Davis used to make sure he interviewed an assistant from every team
in his division, even if he had no real interest in hiring them. That way,
he would get some insights into his rivals, and be able to gauge their
feelings about his club as well. It doesn't look like former Raiders coach
Art Shell will be a candidate for the job. Shell's people apparently were
informed Davis will "go in a different direction," but that Shell could get
a call if things fall through with other contenders.
Kansas City offensive tackle Victor Riley, who will become an unrestricted
free agent on March 1, should circle Feb. 21 on his calendar. That was
Thursday, when, as noted above, three teams used "franchise" tags to keep
left tackles off the unrestricted market. In addition, the New York Jets
re-signed left tackle Jason Fabini to a new five-year, $17.5 million
contract literally minutes before they would have designated him a
"transition" free agent. So in essence, the position was gutted, with four
premier left tackles taken out of the unrestricted pool in one day, severely
thinning the free agent depth. Translation: By doing little more than
sitting in front of the television most of the day, Riley might have earned
himself an addition million dollars or so, because he becomes the best
offensive tackle available. A four-year veteran, the former Auburn star has
experienced some injury problems, had one off-field incident and played
primarily at right tackle. But he seems to have things in order in his life
and several personnel directors to whom ESPN.com spoke feel Riley has good
enough feet to move to left tackle. Just a few weeks ago, it looked as if
the tackle position would be loaded in free agency. Now, if need a tackle
and don't get Riley, the pickings are slim. Unless you are one of the teams
that feels Green Bay left guard Mike Wahle can move outside to tackle, the
best player left after Riley is Anthony Clement of Arizona.
| |  | |
| Fabini |
Here's the skinny, according to documents obtained by ESPN.com, on the deal
to which Fabini agreed: He received a signing bonus of $6.5 million and
receives a roster bonus of $500,000 on March 1. His base salaries are
$525,000 (for 2002), $1 million (2003), $2.4 million (2004), $2.875 million
(2005) and $3.2 million (2006). There is a $500,000 roster bonus for the
2003 season as well, payable on March 1 of that year. Funny thing about the
deal is that New York was ready to put the "transition" tag on Fabini, at a
cost of $4.442 million for the qualifying offer, and then look for a
replacement for him. Sources said the $4.442 million for the "transition"
label would have blown the Jets salary cap out of proportion. The plan would
then have been to sign a replacement left tackle (perhaps Riley) at a
smaller cap price and then rescind the "transition" tag on Fabini, making
him a free agent. As it was, the Jets got Fabini for a $2.325 million salary
cap charge, or more than $2 million less than the "transition" label would
have cost them.
One player who didn't get a "franchise" or "transition" tag Thursday, but
came close, was Buffalo linebacker Sam Cowart. The team worked hard on
trying to cut a deal with agent Gene Burrough and thought seriously about
"tagging" Cowart, then backed off. Burrough is saying there is only a 50-50
chance that Cowart will return to the Bills in 2002. But he and his client
could be in for a rude awakening and an industrial-sized dose of reality.
The free agent market isn't going to be strong in general, and specifically
for a player like Cowart, who played in just one game in 2001 and is coming
off an Achilles injury. Buffalo wanted to sign Cowart to a two-tiered deal,
a contract in which he would receive a large signing bonus in 2003, provided
that he stayed healthy in 2002. If the Bills can't complete a deal with
Cowart, look for them to take a long look at Earl Holmes of Pittsburgh, a
pending unrestricted free agent. There are some people in the league who
think Holmes is in serious decline but Bills general manager Tom Donahoe,
who drafted Holmes in Pittsburgh, might not be one of them.
It can't bode well for the relationship between wide receiver Terrell Owens
and Steve Mariucci that the coach didn't even attend the supposed "let's
patch things up" session in San Francisco on Tuesday. Owens, agent Dave
Joseph, general manager Terry Donahue and director John York all attended
what was supposed to be an air-clearing confab. Niners officials contend the
meeting ran too long to include Mariucci. Whatever the reasoning, the bottom
line is that it's going to be a while before there's any rapprochement
between Owens and Mariuicci, and the two men might never get along.
Rumor has it that Seattle vice president Mike Reinfeldt, who is more an
administrator and cap expert than personnel man, is the new frontrunner for
the Atlanta general manager job now that Rich McKay has opted to stay in
Tampa Bay. If true, it indicates that new owner Arthur Blank is putting way
too much stock in what's being whispered in his ear by league officials. The
NFL is pushing Blank to hire a young general manager, one who looks good and
is articulate, one who could be a good front man for the moribund franchise.
Never mind that a guy like Tom Modrak built two winning organizations as one
of the league's best personnel evaluators. It looks like Modrak ranks well
down the Falcons wish list now. The only other candidate who interviewed is
New Orleans general manager Randy Mueller, another league favorite, and one
of the NFL's most overrated front office types. Blank might not be in a
hurry to fill the post and it seems the Falcons won't have a general manager
in place for the start of free agency and the combine on March 1. It's even
possible the Falcons could re-open interviews. The Manhattan-based company
Russell Reynolds Associates, the executive search firm aiding the Falcons,
is still calling around to gauge the interest of some front office types.
Joe Bailey, the former Cowboys administrator who works for Russell Reynolds,
recently phoned Miami vice president Rick Spielman.
The six-year deal that McKay signed Thursday to remain Bucs general manager
certainly raised the ante for GMs leaguewide. It averages $2.3 million, a
number every general manager or team president will use now when it's time
for a new contract.
| |  | |
| Williams |
While on the subject of the Dolphins, their interest in Ricky Williams is
legitimate, but until the Saints lower the asking price there won't be a
deal. New Orleans is said to be seeking a pair of No. 1 draft choices or a
first-rounder and a starter. The Saints need help at cornerback and end, but
Spielman isn't about to trade any of his cover men (Sam Madison, Patrick
Surtain or Jamar Fletcher) or sackman Jason Taylor. The more likely scenario
for the Dolphins, who need a back for Norv Turner's offense, is that they
will continue researching the health of Jaguars tailback Fred Taylor.Although he is oft-injured, and coming off a severe groin tear in 2001,
Taylor is a stud when healthy. The caveat is that he's not generally
healthy. But he would cost considerably less than Williams, with the Jags
reportedly willing to trade him for a third-round choice. His contract isn't
as cheap as the Williams deal but it is palatable.
Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre still has plenty of productive seasons
remaining, but he might have a difficult time in 2002, given the Packers'
potential wide receiver situation. It looks like the Packers will allow
starter Bill Schroeder to escape as an unrestricted free agent. The club
will attempt to restructure the bloated contract of overpaid Antonio
Freeman, and will release him if an accommodation isn't consummated. That
doesn't leave much. The team is trying hard to keep Corey Bradford, a
pending unrestricted free agent, but the two sides aren't close. Youngster
Donald Driver hasn't done much his first three years in the league and 2001
second-round pick Robert Ferguson barely played as a rookie. Coach Mike
Sherman is touting Ferguson as a future star, in part because the former
Texas A&M standout was his pick last year, but he showed next to nothing in
2001.
The star of Indianapolis president and general manager Bill Polian
continues to plummet. On Thursday, the Colts created more than $10 million
of cap room by releasing four veterans: tight end Ken Dilger, free safety
Chad Cota, cornerback Jeff Burriss and defensive tackle Mike Wells. All but
Wells were starters. Roster purging has become a spring ritual in the NFL,
and there will plenty more cuts leaguewide next week, but Polian has a
Teflon veneer when it comes to taking the rap for poor cap management. It
was only two years ago that he signed Dilger to a five-year, $15 million
contract. Now he's cutting him loose. Pretty bad investment, right, but
Polian seems to catch no flak and it's hard to figure why.
Maybe coach Marty Mornhinweg is serious about the Detroit Lions' alleged
interest in Oregon quarterback Joey Harrington. But the consensus around the
league is that the Lions are shopping the third overall pick in the April 20
draft and actually want to move down a few spots. The club likes Mike
McMahon, the 2001 rookie who finished the year as the starter after Charlie Batch was benched, and drafting Harrington would only muddy the message
being sent to him. Time will tell if some team that is desperate for a
quarterback prospect like Harrington takes the bait being laid by Mornhinweg
over the past week. Word is that the Lions would prefer to select a running
back, wide receiver or defensive back.
Because the start of free agency and the predraft combine workouts in
Indianapolis both fall on the same day, March 1, personnel departments
around the league are being stretched thin as the clubs try to prepare for
both. Some teams simply won't make any early free agency moves. But don't
count the Dolphins among them. Miami will set up an office for scouts and
personnel officials in its Indianapolis hotel, hoping they can conduct free
agency business as usual and have faxes and computer equipment at their
disposal.
Punts: Look for Carolina to release tailback and former first-round pick
Tshimanga Biakabutuka in coming days. He suffered a severe foot injury in
October, and barely avoided amputation, and might not play again. ...
Miami agent Drew Rosenhaus has corralled a keeper in Hurricanes tight end
Jeremy Schockey, who has moved ahead of Colorado counterpart Daniel Graham
on the early draft boards of most teams. Rosenhaus will also represent
former Florida wide receiver Jabar Gaffney. ... If the Dolphins can't
restructure the contract of defensive tackle Tim Bowens by the start of free
agency, he will probably be released. The smart money, though, says he isn't
going anywhere, since he loves the Miami area and has invested wisely. ...
Safety Craig Miller, a solid athlete who started three games for
Jacksonville in 2000 and then was placed on the NFL reserve/retired list in
2001, is back in business. Miller has been reinstated and is available now
as a free agent. He is worth bringing to camp for a look. Ditto former
Giants running back Lloyd Clemons, a former Michigan State standout on
injured reserve in 2001. ...The six-year contract awarded Kansas City
linebacker Marvus Patton early this week included upfront money of about
$750,000. ... Tight end Shannon Sharpe, soon to be released by Baltimore,
is rattling off a number of teams with whom he will be interested in
continuing his Hall of Fame career. But every personnel guy in the league
will be stunned if Sharpe winds up someplace other than Denver. ... The
Bengals plan to be serious contenders if the Drew Bledsoe sweepstakes, but
only if the price tag doesn't include a first-round draft choice.
Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.
| |
|
