Former Patriot Chad Eaton Talks About Belichick's Methods To Stir Things Up

[DarrylS]

Re: Former player says Belichick paid him to start fights in practice

Considering that nobody cared when it was revealed that actual bounties were being placed on players in actual games, I don't foresee anyone caring too much about this.

Neither do I, but Florio is having a slow controversy day.. so he pulls up some crap about Belichick to get 'em salivating.

 

[naF staP]

Re: Former player says Belichick paid him to start fights in practice

Thats old school! I'm sure it has happened a lot, especially back in the day. As already mentioned Rex Ryan recently did this old school tactic on hard knocks. Nothing wrong with it, imo.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Re: Former player says Belichick paid him to start fights in practice

One thing brought up in the comments on PFT that I didn't think of is that if Eaton was a practice squad player, Belichick did absolutely nothing wrong. There are no rules about how much you can pay a practice squad player other than a minimum. His salary didn't count against the cap either. It might have violated the spirit of the rules in some way, but the actually rules pretty much doesn't prohibit it as far as I can tell.

PS salaries do count against the cap. But that's for what the team pays you do on the playing field, not something non football related on the practice field. And probably not for something coaches do with personal funds. Not to mention the salary cap didn't commence until 1994, Bill's second to last season in Cleveland. And I believe the folks in Denver would attest that there was some confusion at the outset of the cap as to just what it covered...

 

[Wolfpack]

Re: Former player says Belichick paid him to start fights in practice

These guys are such morons. The salary cap only counts the top 45. And certainly not to a PS player.

maybe there is a tax evasion charge but that would be on the receiver of the cash not the payer.

That was the exact same thing I was thinking. I hate to say this but the fact that salary cap ramifications were mentioned in the article shows me that Florio is not ready for primetime. Anyone who thinks that this could affect the salary cap just does not know how the salary-cap operates so unless Belichick slipped Eatin an extra hundred grand, it's just not a salary-cap problem.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Re: Former player says Belichick paid him to start fights in practice

That was the exact same thing I was thinking. I hate to say this but the fact that salary cap ramifications were mentioned in the article shows me that Florio is not ready for primetime. Anyone who thinks that this could affect the salary cap just does not know how the salary-cap operates so unless Belichick slipped Eatin an extra hundred grand, it's just not a salary-cap problem.

You were thinking wrong and apparently don't know how the salary cap operates.

Everything counts in season including PS. Only top 51 count in pre season.

That said, the only time this could have happened is in 1995, the year Eaton was drafted and was apparently on the Cleveland PS. It was the second year of the NFL salary cap and I doubt many people in the league were entirely sure what counted back then.

 

[Wolfpack]

Re: Former player says Belichick paid him to start fights in practice

PS salaries do count against the cap. But that's for what the team pays you do on the playing field, not something non football related on the practice field. And probably not for something coaches do with personal funds. Not to mention the salary cap didn't commence until 1994, Bill's second to last season in Cleveland. And I believe the folks in Denver would attest that there was some confusion at the outset of the cap as to just what it covered...

Well I stand corrected but I have to say here that I don't think that coaches can pay players with their personal funds because what would stop a coach from getting a huge salary from a team and then paying a player a little extra from his "personal" money?

Now I highly doubt an extra c-note would push Cleveland over the cap so I'm not sure this is really a controversy.

 

[Mainefan]

Re: Former player says Belichick paid him to start fights in practice

I tried my very best to give a damn about this. Failed. Oh well.

 

[Delicate Genius]

Re: Former player says Belichick paid him to start fights in practice

Giving extra cash to players raises the specter of potential salary-cap violations.

Classic Mike Florio.

Biggest douchebag in media history. **** him.

 

[signbabybrady]

Re: Former player says Belichick paid him to start fights in practice

But any hint of a potential rules violation by the Patriots and/or Belichick is sure to get PFT Planet’s juices flowing on a fairly slow Friday morning, regardless of whether any, some, or all of the other 31 coaches were doing the same thing.

Did he really just write this? He basically is saying yes I do have a vendetta against the Patriots. I know my revelation is no more newsworthy than his but he gets paid to do it I dont.



Oh and to the notion that this could be salary cap violation. I think that point would be made mute by the fact it was a Practice Squad player as I dont think they count against the cap.

 

[fnordcircle]

Re: Former player says Belichick paid him to start fights in practice

Isn't this a very old story?

Yes. Or it's another incident of the same type.

Either way I don't care.

 

[PATSNUTme]

Re: Former player says Belichick paid him to start fights in practice

Come on now, no point in letting facts get in the way of the village idiots across the nation gathering with their pitchforks and torches.

I fixed your post for you because I'm sure that is what you intended to write, and is more accurate.

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

Re: Former player says Belichick paid him to start fights in practice

 

[Ron Sellers]

Re: Former player says Belichick paid him to start fights in practice

I fixed your post for you because I'm sure that is what you intended to write, and is more accurate.

Thanks; yes, the brain works faster than the fingers do.


I do stand corrected regarding the Rule of 51 only applying in pre-season and not in-season; it stands to reason that all salaries count during the football year.


As for PFT, too many articles like this one is the reason I very rarely visit the site any longer. There are far too many 'hand over mouth, point finger, tsk, tsk' that have the look and feel of a Hollywood gossip magazine.

 

[JFaulkNYJ]

Re: Former player says Belichick paid him to start fights in practice

rex did the same thing on hard knocks, well documented. who cares?

he had rob turner pick a fight with vernon gholston. rex didnt pay rob tho

 

[Fencer]

Re: Former player says Belichick paid him to start fights in practice

Fortunately, the amounts of money involved are likely so small that a violation probably doesn't take the team over the cap. So the only technical violation would be in the area of salary disclosure. (I'm guessing that the fact that it happens during training camp doesn't keep it from technically being a cap issue.)

 

[Koma]

Re: Former player says Belichick paid him to start fights in practice

Belichick mentioned that it was done to him when he was starting out, a coach would "tip" him gas money for a ride. He in turn did this as he got higher up the coaching chain, helping young assistants and staff personnel.

It would be interesting to know if the league has a policy for giving "bonuses" to players during training camp/preseason. Maybe like a $100 limit or else is has to be counted against the salary cap. Or maybe it's just understood that teams do this, as long as the money involved isn't ridiculous.

The PFT article doesn't address this, probably because it would damage the premise of the article (Belichick is a bad man.)

 

[PatsFans.com Article]

Former Patriot Chad Eaton Talks About Belichick's Methods To Stir Things Up
By: Ian Logue

The idea of using a practice player to try and stir things up in practice isn't exactly revolutionary, but ProFootballTalk.com is spending this afternoon trying to make it seem that way after a story emerged on former Patriot Chad Eaton....

CLICK HERE TO READ THIS STORY​

 

[DefenseRules]

Re: Former player says Belichick paid him to start fights in practice

This is the week to pile on. Why not? What will they do when he is no longer in the league for them to pick on?

 

[shmessy]

Re: Former player says Belichick paid him to start fights in practice

The "spygate" idiots are all responding to the post.

-'ooh the cheater is busting the salary cap. once a cheater ... always'


These guys are such morons. The salary cap only counts the top 45. And certainly not to a PS player.

Florio himself specifically writes:

"..... Giving extra cash to players raises the specter of potential salary-cap violations...."

This is just sloppy and pathetic. You are 100% right that Eaton was a PS player for Belichick in Cleveland. The salary cap allegation is completely a fabrication by that incompetent lawyer.

 

[JFaulkNYJ]

Re: Former player says Belichick paid him to start fights in practice

This is the week to pile on. Why not? What will they do when he is no longer in the league for them to pick on?

that is also a trend with nfl writers.