3x Super Bowl Champ Curtis Martin coasts to HoF

[Patsrock]

I remember seeing a presentation a couple of years that Curtis Martin was part of and during the interview with him he was asked why he did so well against the Pats, or did so well in general and his response was terrific. He said that he wanted to show the Pats what they could have had.

So then I waited in vain for the obvious follow up question to that which never came.

"What could YOU have had if you had stayed with the Pats? You could have had three Suerbowl rings."

But how do you know, history would have stayed on the same path? I would be willing to bet that the Pats do not go into a decline in 98 and 99 and Carroll being fired after a 8-8 season in 99. Also the Jets in 98 probably do not go 12-4 without Martin.

 

[Ron Sellers]

Martin said earlier this week that he didn't want to go to the Jets; he hated them at that point in team. Because of his status as a RFA he had no choice.

 

[DarrylStingley]

See, I loved Curtis as a Patriot but I don't have any love for him now.

Bill Parcells screwed Pats fans. Yes, he made them respectable and very good. Thanks for that. But by not waiting until after the SB to deal with the Jets, he made winning that game more difficult.

Curtis Martin followed Bill Parcells. When Curtis did that, it was as if he was saying that what what Bill did to the Pats and their fans wasn't so bad, and going to the Jets and following Parcells was acceptable.

It wasn't. If Curtis was the classy guy everyone says he is, he would have said I want nothing to do with a guy who let his team, his fans and his owner down by letting the two weeks before the SB be all about him.

Screw you, Curtis Martin.

 

[seven]

Great headline!
True, too.

After reading it, I sadly thought the total might have been 4 or 5.


No hard feelings for him (or Vinatieri).
Parcels? I still blame him for Martin, Tupa,
others going along with him to NY.
Martin was conned by a pro. He never complained
about it, that I recall.

I might feel differently about Adam if it was his foot that enabled the Colts to beat the Pats, but thankfully that horrid development never occurred.
Scared the crap out of me when he went to Indy.

 

[Armchair Quarterback]

I totally blame Bobby Grier for Martin's departure. Not only would he not renegotiate a deal with Martin in the last year of his rookie deal, he even bragged in public that the Pats were only paying him something like $300k to tout his cap management skills which only rubbed it in Martin's face.

As for Vinatieri, I hold no ill will. Word was the Pats didn't want to give him any guaranteed money in the offer they gave him, I don't blame a player for getting the best deal he can. The Tedy Bruschi's of the world who will take deep hometown discounts to stay with the team that drafted him are really few and far between.

I recall it being all on Grier also. Locking up Bledsoe's pals Rucci and Lane while letting Martin twist in the wind, bragging about it then completely lowballing Martin for something like 6 years $20 million. He ended up signing with the Jets for 6 years $36 million with the contract with the poison pill.
It was pure incompetence on the Patriots (Grier) part.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I recall it being all on Grier also. Locking up Bledsoe's pals Rucci and Lane while letting Martin twist in the wind, bragging about it then completely lowballing Martin for something like 6 years $20 million. He ended up signing with the Jets for 6 years $36 million with the contract with the poison pill.
It was pure incompetence on the Patriots (Grier) part.

...and Notorious BG has been Assistant Director of Pro Personnel for the Houston Texans since 2000. The man clearly is a difference-maker.

 

[convertedpatsfan]

About the poison pill in the RFA tender the Jets made to Martin.



There is no question that we all wanted CM to stay in New England, but in looking at how history played out...

-The Pats drafted Robert Edwards who was a 1100k rusher his rookie year. He suffers a major injury and his career as a starting RB was over but you can't say that that Pats did a bad job of replacing CM in 1998.

-Terry Allen was the fill-in RB in 1999 but since the team was coached by Pete Carroll and was horrendous at taking advantage of the picks the team received for CM and Tuna (thanks to Notorious BG), CM's departure is irrelevant since they went 9-7 (Bledsoe hurt w/ the finger) with the same level of production at RB and were 8-8 the following season and not a SB contender.

-The Jets never won a Super Bowl. The loaded up for 1998 and 1999 and it didn't happen. Sounds familiar??

In 2000, BB comes in and cleans up the cap and continues to do it in 2001. Keep in mind that Martin received almost $16m in the first 3 years so that means CM would have received roughly $20m more from 2001-2003. Gotta ask the question. Would BB have paid almost $7m a year for a RB when the team had so many other needs? OR if CM stays, do they go 10-6 in 1999 and does that save Carroll's job?

ROOKIES LEARN DIFFICULT LESSON

So while it was a dark moment in Pats history as they didn't take care of a potential HoF RB like CM, in retrospect I'm not sure it was that bad of a decison. If they had any draft acumen and good luck (injuries) it would have been a wash IMO.

Excellent points. It is what it is, and we really can't complain with how it all turned out.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Martin said earlier this week that he didn't want to go to the Jets; he hated them at that point in team. Because of his status as a RFA he had no choice.

No choice in what sense?

If he "had to" sign with the JEST, then how was he a free agent in any sense of the word?

 

[Armchair Quarterback]

...and Notorious BG has been Assistant Director of Pro Personnel for the Houston Texans since 2000. The man clearly is a difference-maker.

He sure is, 55-89 W-L record .382 winning percentage.

 

[upstater1]

I recall it being all on Grier also. Locking up Bledsoe's pals Rucci and Lane while letting Martin twist in the wind, bragging about it then completely lowballing Martin for something like 6 years $20 million. He ended up signing with the Jets for 6 years $36 million with the contract with the poison pill.
It was pure incompetence on the Patriots (Grier) part.

You honestly think Belichick would have done differently? We're talking about a RFA.

All the RFA's that Belichick has had over the years have been signed for much less than the top rate. Including Brady and Ty Warren. Only the players who were entering free agency received around market value (Seymour and Wilfork).

The difference at the time with the Martin contract was not more than $6 million (or a few hundred thousand a year). You have to remember that the Patriots offered Curtis the contract PRIOR to his 3rd year, when he earned $300k, so essentially, the Jets contract needs to account for that.

Remember too that the original Jets contract had a balloon payment at the end of $10 million that would be guaranteed if the Patriots signed him.

In the end, the difference between the Jets offer and the Patriots offer was less than $500k.

 

[upstater1]

He sure is, 55-89 W-L record .382 winning percentage.

He's not the coach. He wasn't good with the Patriots, but I'm sure Houston's problem isn't talented players.

You know, that team has a little bit of talent, right?

The player personnel side brought them Cushing, Foster, Schaub, Johnson, Ryans, Williams, Slaton, etc.

 

[RobertWeathers]

He's not the coach. He wasn't good with the Patriots, but I'm sure Houston's problem isn't talented players.

You know, that team has a little bit of talent, right?

The player personnel side brought them Cushing, Foster, Schaub, Johnson, Ryans, Williams, Slaton, etc.

Houston's problem isn't top-level talent. It's talent 23-45 and coaching.

BG is not making the final call but he certainly isn't proving the leadership in directing the organization to making sound decisions on pro-personnel.

 

[Armchair Quarterback]

You honestly think Belichick would have done differently? We're talking about a RFA.

All the RFA's that Belichick has had over the years have been signed for much less than the top rate. Including Brady and Ty Warren. Only the players who were entering free agency received around market value (Seymour and Wilfork).

The difference at the time with the Martin contract was not more than $6 million (or a few hundred thousand a year). You have to remember that the Patriots offered Curtis the contract PRIOR to his 3rd year, when he earned $300k, so essentially, the Jets contract needs to account for that.

Remember too that the original Jets contract had a balloon payment at the end of $10 million that would be guaranteed if the Patriots signed him.

In the end, the difference between the Jets offer and the Patriots offer was less than $500k.

??????????????????????????????????????????
Belichick? Why are you mentioning Belichick in your response to me? Are you already drunk? He was not mentioned by me and had nothing to do with Martin leaving as a FA (for the Patriots).

Seeing that you fabricated the Belichick part, why not continue to fabricate and say the difference in the two contracts was less than $500,000.

 

[Armchair Quarterback]

He's not the coach. He wasn't good with the Patriots, but I'm sure Houston's problem isn't talented players.

You know, that team has a little bit of talent, right?

The player personnel side brought them Cushing, Foster, Schaub, Johnson, Ryans, Williams, Slaton, etc.

I wasn't even aware he still had a job, another poster said he works in their personnel dept. I looked up their won-loss record, you want to lecture someone, lecture the poster who I was responding to.

 

[Armchair Quarterback]

In the end, the difference between the Jets offer and the Patriots offer was less than $500k.

Jets Take Shot At Martin - Hartford Courant

"The Jets raised the pot by signing running back Curtis Martin to a reported six-year, $36 million offer sheet"

"The Patriots had reached an impasse in negotiations with Martin, who turned down a six-year, $20 million offer"

More than a $500,000 difference.

No mention of a balloon payment.

 

[Deus Irae]

Early nominee for worst thread of the year.

 

[Ron Sellers]

No choice in what sense?

If he "had to" sign with the JEST, then how was he a free agent in any sense of the word?

"No choice" was a poor choice of words. However, your choices as a restricted free agent are quite different than they are as an unrestricted free agent.

I have to laugh at some of the others (not you) in this thread that feel betrayed and think Martin should have stayed with the Patriots and left millions on the table over some sense of loyalty to the organization, his teammates, and the fans. Obviously it was very disappointing to see him leave but it would have shown poor judgement on his part if he had decided to stay.

As others have already pointed out, if you want to blame somebody for his leaving then blame Grier, not Martin. It's ridiculous to be angry at Martin for his decision.

 

[TrueBeliever]

He said that he wanted to show the Pats what they could have had.

WHAT?!

Parcells offered Martin an insane amount of money to jump to the Jerts, plus the deal allowed him to become a free agent faster than he would have. As I recall he never even gave the Pats a second thought once Tuna showed him the money. What a douche.

Anyway, I'm surprised he didn't get in to the HOF on the first ballot. I never forgave him for going to NYJ, but there's no denying he was a helluva running back.

 

[RobertWeathers]

WHAT?!

Parcells offered Martin an insane amount of money to jump to the Jerts, plus the deal allowed him to become a free agent faster than he would have. As I recall he never even gave the Pats a second thought once Tuna showed him the money. What a douche.

Anyway, I'm surprised he didn't get in to the HOF on the first ballot. I never forgave him for going to NYJ, but there's no denying he was a helluva running back.

The simple fact that CM received close to $16m from NYJ in the first 3 years of his deal states all that is needed to be known.

 

[upstater1]

??????????????????????????????????????????
Belichick? Why are you mentioning Belichick in your response to me? Are you already drunk? He was not mentioned by me and had nothing to do with Martin leaving as a FA (for the Patriots).

Seeing that you fabricated the Belichick part, why not continue to fabricate and say the difference in the two contracts was less than $500,000.

I'm pretty sure you're the drunk one.

I mentioned Belichick for obvious reasons. To show you that paying RFAs top dollar before their contract expires is NOT a good business practice. The Patriots tried to do to Curtis what Belichick accomplished with Brady, Warren and many others. ie. Ripped up their old contracts, and paid them an amount that was not top dollar, but in comparison to their old contracts, was really really good.

That's not a fabrication. That's a comparison. Nowhere did I claim you mentioned Belichick. Can you read?

The Patriots offered Martin prior to a year in which he earned $300k and when you ex-out the balloon payment of $9-10 million that the Jets never paid to Curtis, you realize that the Jets offer was 5 years for $26 million (which was close to the highest paid RB at the time, since Barry Sanders was at $5.25). Take the Patriots offer which was for $3.5 a year, add the last contract year with the Patriots at 300k to the Jets offer, and that average is $4.5k. A difference of a million. Left out of it of course is that the Patriots offered Martina year earlier. He could have gotten hurt in that year. Kudos to Martin for turning it down, but you don't renegotiate and offer top dollar to a guy under contract.

We'll never know what would have happened because of the poison pill contract.