Michael Silver (Yahoo): A Growing Disconnect Between Brady, Patriots

[condon84]

My guess is that there are maybe nine people who know or might know what's "really" going on: Tom Brady, his dad, Gisele Bündchen, Bob Kraft, Myra Kraft, Jonathan Kraft, Bill Belichick, Nick Caserio (maybe) and Don Yee (maybe).

Of them, only Brady, Bob Kraft and Belichick "really, really" know.

And, of all of them only Brady and Bob Kraft "really, really, really" know.

As far as I can tell none of the nine are talking to the press, let alone to anyone else or even to each other.

So, this is all an interesting June waste of time trading rumors ("people who know Tom Brady") and reading tea leaves that are unreadable.

How Brady views this "situation" might be different than the way Kraft and Belichick view it. It's a classic case of management vs employee. I'm sure they'll work something out and meet somewhere in the middle.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

...
This is Brady's franchise as much as it is Kraft's or Belichick's. All three are all about legacy. If you listen to the way Tom talks about Bill it's pretty clear he's not interested in playing for some HC who can only aspire to ever approach Bill's level any more than he's interested in screwing around with his own legacy.

...

The last time Tom signed an extension they agreed on the broad parameters (years and dollars) long before any of us had an inkling a deal was in the works. That deal hit a snag however over structure of the contract and as a result there was mass hysteria for about a month before they got it hammered out. They will get another deal done when the timing is right for both sides. ...

I think your whole analysis is spot on, particularly the final paragraph above. This is no doubt moving along at the pace it has to move along among the people who have to move it along; none of them are saying squat about it, nor should they.

I'm also glad you pointed out that the last haircut was (at least) partially attributable to doing the deal early, as Miguel and others have pointed out; it wasn't just or even primarily about cap space. The CBA timing confuses things this time, but I think everyone who matters in the negotiation understands that TB has to end up as one of the top three QB's comp wise.

 

[satz]

As most player`s hate the current franchise tags anyway how much you want to bet that the new franchise tag is going to be a bit different than the current one.

right now the owners want more money than players as the players give out more money they are going to change the rules they hate including the franchise tag.


Silver clearly says brady said "No Comment" on certain questions , he could have easily said no issues and shot the whole thing down.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

How Brady views this "situation" might be different than the way Kraft and Belichick view it. It's a classic case of management vs employee. I'm sure they'll work something out and meet somewhere in the middle.

That's what I mean by speculation. We don't know what this dynamic is, though I think Mo has it nailed. I don't think this is a "classic case" in any way, like Moss' or Wilfork's probably are/were/might be. I think, as Mo observes this is three parties with a common legacy at stake.

I think it's just as appropriate, for example following Mo, to speculate that all parties agree on the broad outlines, rather than this being a two sides trying to find a middle, other than on the details of timing.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

While this is just a "speculation" article, it is written by Silver who has a personal relationship with Brady and his family. The last article I can remember that Silver wrote where he used his personal relationship with Brady and his family as an underlying reason of how he obtained information was his 2007 article about how and why the Pats acquired Moss, Stallworth and Welker. From what I can remember, Silver wrote about Brady's expressed frustration (not publicly) with not having the weapons Manning had at his disposal.

According to MoLewisRocks, Silver and Brady had a falling out after Spygate (I don't know if it is true). If it is true, Silver might not have any access to Brady anymore.

I wish I could find the literally bitter hatchet piece he wrote when the whole pregnancy/split/Gisele story was breaking. It was as if written by the Moynihan camp. I think it was either just before he left for Yahoo or one of his first pieces thereafter. Literally tore Tommy a new one on moral grounds...Then he went off on the whole why did you push for Moss - what's happening to you rant...again suggesting Tom was changing into someone disingenuous and questioning his compass...And that doesn't even count his sypgate vitriol.

Silver had always enjoyed access to Tom and his family because he worked for SI and was a SF native. He may still have contact with some of Tom's circle, but I seriously doubt he's as connected as he once was after penning more than one very bitter and personal Brady hatchet job...and becoming Mr. Yahoo...

Tom's reps are not above poking a stick to spur negotiations. However the last time they did it they used a local to send the message locally, Curran, and there was no speculation included, he merely delivered a message that an amicably done deal appeared to have hit a frustrating snag... Curran never expanded on that piece seemingly as part of the deal for getting the story. The snag turned out to be the bonus money split - Brady was willing to take one but not in 4 segments (which was frankly insulting...given the reasonable parameters he'd already agreed to). The FO got the message pdq and the deal was finalized on Brady's terms within a couple of weeks.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

As most player`s hate the current franchise tags anyway how much you want to bet that the new franchise tag is going to be a bit different than the current one.

right now the owners want more money than players as the players give out more money they are going to change the rules they hate including the franchise tag.


Silver clearly says brady said "No Comment" on certain questions , he could have easily said no issues and shot the whole thing down.

I'll take that bet. Most players would give their eye teeth to be tagged. Sadly, the dozen or so who tend to get tagged aren't among the rank and file of this union who aspire to just hang on to 7 figure salaries for a couple of seasons... It's kind of like the rookie wage scale, don't hear many players willing to go to the wall to insure the top ten still get overpaid... The rank and file aren't going to trade anything to further feather the nests of the already top ten paid players in a 2000+ member union...

And Brady didn't say no comment on certain questions. He said he is uncomfortable commenting on contract status which is standard operating procedure for the organization he is the face of... He said when he spoke to the media earlier this spring that like all players he'd like to have a long term deal done BUT he understands the dynamic at work here with the CBA situation. He also said they are all overpaid. Even Silver admits they will probably get a deal done and he likely won't ever leave here. The rest is just his attempt to hold out hope there might be something worth his while penning this but what if (howlever unlikely) piece in the slow season, making his Yahoo hits quota for the month...

 

[condon84]

That's what I mean by speculation. We don't know what this dynamic is, though I think Mo has it nailed. I don't think this is a "classic case" in any way, like Moss' or Wilfork's probably are/were/might be. I think, as Mo observes this is three parties with a common legacy at stake.

I think it's just as appropriate, for example following Mo, to speculate that all parties agree on the broad outlines, rather than this being a two sides trying to find a middle, other than on the details of timing.

Brady's and Bill's legacy have already been cemented and what happens between now and when their Patriot careers ends will not change what they've done. Kraft runs this organization first and foremost as a business. He'll say all the right things but IMO when it comes down to it, he'll do what is best for the organization. I think his decision is going to be based on Bill's analysis on Brady's effectiveness on the field. If Bill thinks Brady is worth for example 35% of the salary cap and Brady thinks he's worth 40% of the cap, then for it to be done, it's gotta be somewhere in the middle. I think Kraft is a reasonable and smart guy and will want to work it out so he's keeping his most valuable commodity but also signing a contract that makes sense for him business wise. I think the main issue is going to be if Bill thinks Brady is only worth for example 20% of the cap and Brady feels he is worth the equivalent of 40% of the cap in salary. That's when this is going to get tougher, and the last thing on their minds will be about their "legacy".

So while it's romantic to think about how these guys might include their "legacy" to the Patriots as a factor to getting a deal done, I just don't see it that way.

 

[BelizePats]

Silver has done many hatchet jobs on the Pats over the years and he specifically wrote his latest piece to hopefully stir up some controversy. He and and that fat ba$tard Tomasse are the only two writers I have ever sent an email to about how shoddy and biased their reporting is.
The bottom of the bird cage is too good for Silvers work!

 

[Rob0729]

All we have to remember is about 7 months ago, everyone on this board were predicting doomsday scenarios for Wilfork including him doing something a player hasn't done in 15 years (sit out the season rather than play for the franchise tag) because Wilfork publically expressed disatisfaction on how his contract was shaping up. About 4-5 months ago, he became the highest paid 3-4 NT in league history (at least until Haynesworth was unable to shoot his way out of town in Washington) with the Patriots.

Now a writer is speculating that Brady is unhappy, but predicts he will be a Patriot for the foreseeable future and some people are predicting this is the last year for Brady in New England and even going as far as predicting he will play for the franchise in Los Angeles in 2011 (eventhough there is about a zero percent chance any NFL team will be playing in Los Angeles in 2011).

When everything is said and done, the most likely scenario is Brady gets a 3-5 year contract extension with the Pats and probably finishes out his career with the Patriots.

 

[Rob0729]

As most player`s hate the current franchise tags anyway how much you want to bet that the new franchise tag is going to be a bit different than the current one.

right now the owners want more money than players as the players give out more money they are going to change the rules they hate including the franchise tag.


Silver clearly says brady said "No Comment" on certain questions , he could have easily said no issues and shot the whole thing down.

The franchise tag will not be removed from the new CBA. Never going to happen. The more likely scenario is that the owners will toss the players a bone and make the franchise tag the average of the top 3 players at their position or something like that (currently the top 5 players average) so the franchise tag is more money and makes it more attractive. I see the owners going as far as guaranteed the franchise player will equal the salary of the top player at their position rather than giving up the tag all together.

If you look at the trend in recent years, the franchise tag is being used by more and more teams each year. Why would they give it up. They can do things to make it more attractive for players to be franchised rather than give it up all together. There is a lot of wiggle room in between the current franchise tag system and doing away with it all together.

I would bet money as long as there is a new CBA in 2011, the franchise tag will exist.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Brady's and Bill's legacy have already been cemented and what happens between now and when their Patriot careers ends will not change what they've done. Kraft runs this organization first and foremost as a business. He'll say all the right things but IMO when it comes down to it, he'll do what is best for the organization. I think his decision is going to be based on Bill's analysis on Brady's effectiveness on the field. If Bill thinks Brady is worth for example 35% of the salary cap and Brady thinks he's worth 40% of the cap, then for it to be done, it's gotta be somewhere in the middle. I think Kraft is a reasonable and smart guy and will want to work it out so he's keeping his most valuable commodity but also signing a contract that makes sense for him business wise. I think the main issue is going to be if Bill thinks Brady is only worth for example 20% of the cap and Brady feels he is worth the equivalent of 40% of the cap in salary. That's when this is going to get tougher, and the last thing on their minds will be about their "legacy".

So while it's romantic to think about how these guys might include their "legacy" to the Patriots as a factor to getting a deal done, I just don't see it that way.

Re your first paragraph: neither of us can know as we are both expressing opinions without knowing what is going on. So I won't try to refute your view because mine has no more validity than your's and vice versa; each is based on observation and extrapolation. Maybe we'll find out which of us is right or wrong when somebody writes a book ten years from now.

Re your second: In this case, I think that context is important and not just romanticizing the situation. Belichick and Brady, in trying to win a SB together more than ten years after they won their first together, are trying to do something that no other HC/QB combo has done in the history of the NFL. Once again, we can't know what role it will play; I think it will play some role and you disagree. Neither of us will know until someone writes that damn book. :singing:

 

[jmt57]

I'm not sure what it would be like.

The public outcry of NE bending the rules and somehow mustering two first rounders out of a franchise tag would probably rain loudly upon the already faltering structure of NE sports.

By the way, anyone know how the Pats are going to sign 30 players with a new CBA looming.

I have no idea how to respond to the middle paragraph, because I don't know what you're trying to say. Maybe my sarcasm detector isn't working today.


In regards to the last sentence, that's another example of a writer taking a statistic and twisting it out of context. Yes, the Pats have 30 players whose contracts expire in 2010 - but that's out of all the players on their 80 man roster. Most articles you see on other teams and the number of players with expiring contracts only include players on the 53 man roster, or who were on the roster the previous year. In other words about 1/3, maybe 1/2 of those 30 won't even be on the roster week one. My guess is if you counted how many players on all 31 other team's current 80 man roster also had expiring contracts, then the Pats' number would not be out of line.

Another thing to consider is that because of this being an uncapped year, my guess is that a lot of NFL teams have a higher than usual number of players in the last year of their contract right now. This off season there was a change in the amount of time before becoming an unrestricted free agent; that resulted in over 200 players becoming unrestricted free agents - and many, if not most are not signed past 2010 right now. In addition because nobody knows what the new CBA will entail, some GM's are probably hesitant to sign a lot of longterm deals without knowing what the 2011 cap might be. And lastly some owners might be preparing for a possible lockout; if so then it doesn't make sense for them to spend a lot of money on signing bonuses right now.


Bottom line is that the writer was speculating, and found a number that would help to make his theory more plausible. Not exactly panic time because Chris Taylor, Darnell Jenkins, Mike Teel and Amon Gordon could become free agents next March.

 

[patfanken]

I don't have time to read the 10 pages that have come before my post, but I did want to chime in on this, so pardon ;me if I am redundant.

Silver, IMHO, is just another example of the worst in what the media has become. He takes two simple facts (Brady is up for an extention & he spent most of this off season in CA), and then CREATES a myth of suppositions, based solely on his "instincts". Put a salacious headline on top, and we have just another example of the reporter who CREATES the story, rather than reporting on it, or even commenting on ACTUAL events.

Thus, even today, our local sports talk, in their half hour summaries, mention that "Yahoo sports" is reporting that there is a growing disconnect between Brady and the Pats. Making it seem that there actually IS a "growing disconnect". Houston we have a problem.

 

[condon84]

Re your first paragraph: neither of us can know as we are both expressing opinions without knowing what is going on. So I won't try to refute your view because mine has no more validity than your's and vice versa; each is based on observation and extrapolation. Maybe we'll find out which of us is right or wrong when somebody writes a book ten years from now.

Re your second: In this case, I think that context is important and not just romanticizing the situation. Belichick and Brady, in trying to win a SB together more than ten years after they won their first together, are trying to do something that no other HC/QB combo has done in the history of the NFL. Once again, we can't know what role it will play; I think it will play some role and you disagree. Neither of us will know until someone writes that damn book. :singing:

Good points. I hope Brady does retire a Patriot. It would be hard watching him win a SB with another team if the guy that replaces him here sucks.

 

[BradfordPatsFan]

Waiting for Yahoo to report on "disconnect" between Jets and Revis...oh, and Mangold too.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Waiting for Yahoo to report on "disconnect" between Jets and Revis...oh, and Mangold too.

...not to mention the disconnect between Wrecks' mouth and his brain...oops that's assuming too much...

 

[NYCPatsFan]

Can't believe that this is the first news item on yahoo main page.

Silver certainly knows how to generate hits...

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Brady's and Bill's legacy have already been cemented and what happens between now and when their Patriot careers ends will not change what they've done. Kraft runs this organization first and foremost as a business. He'll say all the right things but IMO when it comes down to it, he'll do what is best for the organization. I think his decision is going to be based on Bill's analysis on Brady's effectiveness on the field. If Bill thinks Brady is worth for example 35% of the salary cap and Brady thinks he's worth 40% of the cap, then for it to be done, it's gotta be somewhere in the middle. I think Kraft is a reasonable and smart guy and will want to work it out so he's keeping his most valuable commodity but also signing a contract that makes sense for him business wise. I think the main issue is going to be if Bill thinks Brady is only worth for example 20% of the cap and Brady feels he is worth the equivalent of 40% of the cap in salary. That's when this is going to get tougher, and the last thing on their minds will be about their "legacy".

So while it's romantic to think about how these guys might include their "legacy" to the Patriots as a factor to getting a deal done, I just don't see it that way.

FWIW Belichick believes the QB position should take up no more than 10-12% of cap (provided of course you have one even worth that). Brady's deal last time fell well within those parameters. 12% of a $140M cap which would be the low side of what it averages over the next 5-6 seasons would be almost $17M per as an AAV. That is a tad above where I'd actually expect Brady's next deal to fall. I know mediots are talking about $20M per for Manning, but they were spewing the same nonsense about his little brother before he signed his recent deal that averages less than $16M. The problem isn't with the parameters, it's with the timing and construction of the contract based on the uncentainty of the next CBA and the need to get Wilfork and hopefully Mankins locked up within acceptable ranges as well.

Tom and Bill are both more interested in growing their legacies here than proving they could succeed somewhere else or absent each other. They built a dynasty here with Kraft and underscoring it wasn't some fortunate fluke is what matters to them. They appreciate the working conditions here (working with each other) and know it's not always that way elsewhere. You can tarnish a legacy through no fault of your own. Just ask Joe Gibbs.
Or Scott Pioli...

 

[JMarr]

Can't believe that this is the first news item on yahoo main page.

Silver certainly knows how to generate hits...

I'm with you. This was an absolutely misleading article and it's unsubstantiated premise is now getting major play as a headline in all the national media outlets.

Pissed that I gave the link a hit and wish the OP would have pasted a relevant sentence or two (were there even any?) and said not to hit a link to this piece of utter garbage.

 

[BradyManny]

I'm with you. This was an absolutely misleading article and it's unsubstantiated premise is now getting major play as a headline in all the national media outlets.

That's the main thing. His claim that there have been "no substantial talks" is not sourced or attributed to anybody. It's an inference he is making from the things Brady and Kraft have said.