Honoring a contract?

[atlpatsfan]

I have been reading all the posts about Branch and hear a lot of people talking about how he should do the right thing and live up to his contract. How "in the real world" people sign contracts and then honor them.

Well, news flash people THIS ISN'T THE REAL WORLD. This is the NFL.

I was raised on a small New Hampshire town by working class parents and they taught me that a man lives by his word. They also taught me that if the people you sign a contract with don't have to honor it then neither do you. Let be fair to the players, they are million dollar crybabies but they do have a point. Any player can be cut from any team at any time for any reason, whether they are under contract or not. Teams cut players who are honoring thier contracts all the time, just to save money. Is that fair to someone under contract?

If the teams don't have to honor a contract why do the players?

Just my two cents.

 

[Digger44]

I have been reading all the posts about Branch and hear a lot of people talking about how he should do the right thing and live up to his contract. How "in the real world" people sign contracts and then honor them.

Well, news flash people THIS ISN'T THE REAL WORLD. This is the NFL.

I was raised on a small New Hampshire town by working class parents and they taught me that a man lives by his word. They also taught me that if the people you sign a contract with don't have to honor it then neither do you. Let be fair to the players, they are million dollar crybabies but they do have a point. Any player can be cut from any team at any time for any reason, whether they are under contract or not. Teams cut players who are honoring thier contracts all the time, just to save money. Is that fair to someone under contract?

If the teams don't have to honor a contract why do the players?

Just my two cents.

you can have your 2 cents back

 

[BelichickFan]

As has been said many times, teams do honor the contract. However the contracts consist of bonuses + a series of one year contracts with a team option. The players know this, that's why guaranteed money, usually in the form of a signing bonus, is a frequent sticking point.

 

[mdhprime]

I have been reading all the posts about Branch and hear a lot of people talking about how he should do the right thing and live up to his contract. How "in the real world" people sign contracts and then honor them.

Well, news flash people THIS ISN'T THE REAL WORLD. This is the NFL.

I was raised on a small New Hampshire town by working class parents and they taught me that a man lives by his word. They also taught me that if the people you sign a contract with don't have to honor it then neither do you. Let be fair to the players, they are million dollar crybabies but they do have a point. Any player can be cut from any team at any time for any reason, whether they are under contract or not. Teams cut players who are honoring thier contracts all the time, just to save money. Is that fair to someone under contract?

If the teams don't have to honor a contract why do the players?

Just my two cents.

Your argument is flawed. The NFLPA agrees to the language and rules regarding NFL contracts. There is a CBA in place and players know the situation they are getting into when they sign contracts. Contracts should be honored.

 

[Digger44]

Your argument is flawed. The NFLPA agrees to the language and rules regarding NFL contracts. There is a CBA in place and players know the situation they are getting into when they sign contracts. Contracts should be honored.

he also assumes that the employer has no right to fire the employee. plain and simple---a cut is the ruslt of the team not thinkng the player is worth (playing up to) the money he is being paid. it is the real world. you get fired if your employer sees it the same way.

 

[scout]

I don't fault Branch. Its part of the bargaining process. The part which turns me off, is when fans start in with the name calling and then diminish what he has done for the team, much the same way Ty Law "wasn't that valuable to any of the championships", or the attacks on Richard Seymour last year. My hope is that both sides can come together and agree on a fair contract.

 

[DaBruinz]

I have been reading all the posts about Branch and hear a lot of people talking about how he should do the right thing and live up to his contract. How "in the real world" people sign contracts and then honor them.

Well, news flash people THIS ISN'T THE REAL WORLD. This is the NFL.

I was raised on a small New Hampshire town by working class parents and they taught me that a man lives by his word. They also taught me that if the people you sign a contract with don't have to honor it then neither do you. Let be fair to the players, they are million dollar crybabies but they do have a point. Any player can be cut from any team at any time for any reason, whether they are under contract or not. Teams cut players who are honoring thier contracts all the time, just to save money. Is that fair to someone under contract?

If the teams don't have to honor a contract why do the players?

Just my two cents.

Good post. However, you are forgetting a key and very critical point. The players are given a guaranteed signing bonus that they don't have to return if they are cut. I think that Jeff George made close to 10 million over 3 seasons just in signing bonuses and only played like 2 or 3 games.

This guaranteed signing bonus is in lieu of having a guaranteed contract. Also, its actually very few players who are cut for money saving purposes. More are cut because they aren't performing up to the level that the team is paying them for. And that case could be argued in the point of Willie McGinest. The team was scheduled to pay him over 8 million this year and chose not to because they felt the level of performance wasn't there.

Also, please remember that the non-guaranteed contracts were negotiated and agreed to by the NFLPA. So they are all bound to it.

And the CBA also gives Branch the right to hold out until week 10, though his salary isn't guaranteed because of it.

However, what gets me is that Branch said this past off-season that he was like you. A man who honors his contract. If he was truly a man, he'd have been in training camp practicing while his agent bargained in good faith with the Patriots. Branch proved that he was a liar and that he nor his agent understand what it means to bargain in good faith.

 

[DaBruinz]

I don't fault Branch. Its part of the bargaining process. The part which turns me off, is when fans start in with the name calling and then diminish what he has done for the team, much the same way Ty Law "wasn't that valuable to any of the championships", or the attacks on Richard Seymour last year. My hope is that both sides can come together and agree on a fair contract.

What has Branch truly DONE for this team? Yes, he is the receiver that has developed the best rapport with Brady. So what? That hasn't translated into production, has it? No 1000 yard seasons. No season with more than 5 TDs. No season where he's been healthy unless he's been coddled.


Also, I DO fault Branch because he's been around long enough to know that the Patriots don't take kindly to players who try to negotiate in the press. We saw that with Ty Law (who only helped the Pats win 2 of 3 SBs).

The ONLY way that there will be a fair contract is if Branch fires Chayut, reports to the Patriots, and is willing to accept a deal that pays him between 5 and 6 million. Not the almost 7 million Branch was looking for.

 

[PATSNUTme]

I have been reading all the posts about Branch and hear a lot of people talking about how he should do the right thing and live up to his contract. How "in the real world" people sign contracts and then honor them.

Well, news flash people THIS ISN'T THE REAL WORLD. This is the NFL.

I was raised on a small New Hampshire town by working class parents and they taught me that a man lives by his word. They also taught me that if the people you sign a contract with don't have to honor it then neither do you. Let be fair to the players, they are million dollar crybabies but they do have a point. Any player can be cut from any team at any time for any reason, whether they are under contract or not. Teams cut players who are honoring thier contracts all the time, just to save money. Is that fair to someone under contract?

If the teams don't have to honor a contract why do the players?

Just my two cents.

If you think that teams don't honor contracts, go to Miguels pages. Scroll down to the bottom of the Salary Cap page. You will see a section on "dead" money.

That is the money that still has to be chrged againts the cap that was paid to players that were released. This year there is $4.5 mil. I believe that is one of the smaller amounts in recent years.

 

[patsox23]

If the teams don't have to honor a contract why do the players?

Because this is how the system was COLLECTIVELY bargained.

 

[Crowpointer]

Although Luca Brazzi was present when he signed the contract.

 

[desi-patsfan]

I have been reading all the posts about Branch and hear a lot of people talking about how he should do the right thing and live up to his contract. How "in the real world" people sign contracts and then honor them.

Well, news flash people THIS ISN'T THE REAL WORLD. This is the NFL.

I was raised on a small New Hampshire town by working class parents and they taught me that a man lives by his word. They also taught me that if the people you sign a contract with don't have to honor it then neither do you. Let be fair to the players, they are million dollar crybabies but they do have a point. Any player can be cut from any team at any time for any reason, whether they are under contract or not. Teams cut players who are honoring thier contracts all the time, just to save money. Is that fair to someone under contract?

If the teams don't have to honor a contract why do the players?

Just my two cents.

NFL isnt the real world?? Really? You mean to tell me i wont make 6 million a year after working in my field for 2 years? Hey thanx alot for letting us all in on the secret.

 

[Kdo5]

I have been reading all the posts about Branch and hear a lot of people talking about how he should do the right thing and live up to his contract. How "in the real world" people sign contracts and then honor them.

Well, news flash people THIS ISN'T THE REAL WORLD. This is the NFL.

I was raised on a small New Hampshire town by working class parents and they taught me that a man lives by his word. They also taught me that if the people you sign a contract with don't have to honor it then neither do you. Let be fair to the players, they are million dollar crybabies but they do have a point. Any player can be cut from any team at any time for any reason, whether they are under contract or not. Teams cut players who are honoring thier contracts all the time, just to save money. Is that fair to someone under contract?

If the teams don't have to honor a contract why do the players?

Just my two cents.

You forgot to mention that Deion said no matter what he'd play out his contract. So in that case he is also a liar.

 

[Bertil]

Am I the only one tiring of this sanctimonious tact?

Equating your personal situation to one in which millions of dollars are at stake is self-serving and phony. If this was your one opportunity to set yourself and your family up for life (even if you don't have one yet), you wouldn't want to sqander it. The truth is, you have NO idea what you would do in a similar situation, despite what you might think. You know what you COULD do. You know what you MIGHT do. But, what would you actually do? You don't know...

The NFL sword cuts BOTH ways. All parties involved know this. As it pertains to this particuilar case, I'm reserving judgement because, as of right now, Deion has played as many games during this preseason (0) as he did last year. Additionally, he hasn't missed any regular season games.

Maybe this is just a BB/SP created ruse to bypass the haranguing they withstood from the NFL last year (remember) after holding fragile SB MVP Deion out for the preseason. This would be similar to what they do with the injury list. Until the season starts, who cares?

 

[mdhprime]

Am I the only one tiring of this sanctimonious tact?

Equating your personal situation to one in which millions of dollars are at stake is self-serving and phony. If this was your one opportunity to set yourself and your family up for life (even if you don't have one yet), you wouldn't want to sqander it. The truth is, you have NO idea what you would do in a similar situation, despite what you might think. You know what you COULD do. You know what you MIGHT do. But, what would you actually do? You don't know...

The NFL sword cuts BOTH ways. All parties involved know this. As it pertains to this particuilar case, I'm reserving judgement because, as of right now, Deion has played as many games during this preseason (0) as he did last year. Additionally, he hasn't missed any regular season games.

Maybe this is just a BB/SP created ruse to bypass the haranguing they withstood from the NFL last year (remember) after holding fragile SB MVP Deion out for the preseason. This would be similar to what they do with the injury list. Until the season starts, who cares?

Having an opinion on the issue does not make one sanctimonious. Believing that someone should live up to something they agreed to is not "being phony."

In addition, you have got to be joking about a holdout being a ruse to save Branch from the rigors of the preseason. The Patriots would want him in camp and at practice honing his skills and getting better. The powers that be do not need a ruse to make a coaching decision on who should play a preseason game and who shouldn't.

 

[Bertil]

In addition, you have got to be joking about a holdout being a ruse to save Branch from the rigors of the preseason. The Patriots would want him in camp and at practice honing his skills and getting better. The powers that be do not need a ruse to make a coaching decision on who should play a preseason game and who shouldn't.

Yeah, that was just said in jest.

I'm just trying to say, lighten up on this situation. It'll resolve itself before too long.

 

[dhamz]

What has Branch truly DONE for this team?

Apparently you missed a couple Super Bowls and some playoff games where the guy was unstoppable. Unless of course, double digit catches in Super Bowls don't meet your criteria of having truly done something for the Patriots.

Holdouts are part of the business of the NFL. They are expected. The sides collective bargain rules governing them. Guys getting cut so the team doesn't have to pay their contract is also part of the business. Both sides know it.

 

[PlattsFan]

So teams cutting players is just part of the CBA and the way business is conducted, but players holding out (also allowed in the CBA) is a duplicitous rejection of the sanctity of the contract? This is the one and only form of leverage open to Branch; he's choosing to exercise it. It may be a good decision, it may be a bad decision, but it's not an immoral decision any more than cutting Willie McGinest to save some dollars on the salary cap was.

And, I'm with the other guy on this ... making moralistic judgements about Deion Branch is sanctimonious.

 

[RI Pats Fan]

Am I the only one tiring of this sanctimonious tact?

Equating your personal situation to one in which millions of dollars are at stake is self-serving and phony. If this was your one opportunity to set yourself and your family up for life (even if you don't have one yet), you wouldn't want to sqander it. The truth is, you have NO idea what you would do in a similar situation, despite what you might think. You know what you COULD do. You know what you MIGHT do. But, what would you actually do? You don't know...

The NFL sword cuts BOTH ways. All parties involved know this. As it pertains to this particuilar case, I'm reserving judgement because, as of right now, Deion has played as many games during this preseason (0) as he did last year. Additionally, he hasn't missed any regular season games.

Maybe this is just a BB/SP created ruse to bypass the haranguing they withstood from the NFL last year (remember) after holding fragile SB MVP Deion out for the preseason. This would be similar to what they do with the injury list. Until the season starts, who cares?

What the heck was that?....

I mean... that wasn't beligerent, ignorant, arrogant, or threatening. That's what I'm used to reading around here at least anyways.

How dare you pretend these noble men of the internet wouldn't bleed Patriot blue when it came to contract time if they were in these players shoes and go "Nay! Keep your millions, I want to be here just for the privelege of playing for these great fans!"


(P.S. If contracts were meant to be honored, why the heck would all these teams sign backloaded contracts so that a guy in his mid to late 30s would be scheduled to make $7+ million. I agree with the others, both sides know this and cap-saving cuts are just part of the business.)

 

[mdhprime]

So teams cutting players is just part of the CBA and the way business is conducted, but players holding out (also allowed in the CBA) is a duplicitous rejection of the sanctity of the contract? This is the one and only form of leverage open to Branch; he's choosing to exercise it. It may be a good decision, it may be a bad decision, but it's not an immoral decision any more than cutting Willie McGinest to save some dollars on the salary cap was.

And, I'm with the other guy on this ... making moralistic judgements about Deion Branch is sanctimonious.

No one is talking about morality. It is just one view that honoring a contract is the right thing to do. He signed a contract knowing its duration and how much he was going to get paid. He has stated before that he would honor it and now he is not. It is not "sanctimonious" to think that his stance is wrong and it is certainly not a "moralistic judgement."