SITE MENU
Registered Members experience this forum ad and noise-free.
CLICK HERE to Register for a free account and login for a smoother ad-free experience. It's easy, and only takes a few moments.Read again:It's not Welker's agent. It the players union, the NFL Agents Association, looking to accuse the owners of collusion for NOT using poison pill contracts. Their position is that the owners all agreed not to use poison pills -- collusion. The Welker deal is their best vehicle for stirring it up, because the media reported an offersheet that was never signed.
Welker's happy with the deal. The Pats are happy with the deal. The Fins are happy with the deal. This is just a sideshow that doesn't have much to do with the deal itself. It's political.
Sounds like Welker's agent is the one not happy.The source added that the NFLPA's interest in the matter stemmed from complaints made by Welker's agent, Vann McElroy, regarding the devaluation of his client because of possible violations.
NFLPA said:No Consideration Between Clubs. There may be no consideration of any kind given by one Club to another Club in exchange for a Club’s decision to exercise or not to exercise its Right of First Refusal, or in exchange for a Club’s decision to submit or not to submit an Offer Sheet to a Restricted Free Agent or to make or not to make an offer to enter into a Player Contract with a Restricted Free Agent. If a Club exercises its Right of First Refusal and matches an Offer Sheet, that Club may not trade that player to the Club that submitted the Offer Sheet for at least one calendar year, unless the player consents to such trade.
...
But if the Patriots made an offer it 'could' have included the "poison pill" which Miami cannot match anyway, which has been deemed legal.
....
What is the worse that could happen? Does the trade get reversed and the picks returned? Or do the Patriots keep Welker and Miami keeps the picks but they both get fined?
It's not Welker's agent. It the players union, the NFL Agents Association, looking to accuse the owners of collusion for NOT using poison pill contracts. Their position is that the owners all agreed not to use poison pills -- collusion. The Welker deal is their best vehicle for stirring it up, because the media reported an offersheet that was never signed.
Welker's happy with the deal. The Pats are happy with the deal. The Fins are happy with the deal. This is just a sideshow that doesn't have much to do with the deal itself. It's political.
Thus spake Harvey Fialkov South Florida Sun-Sentinel
The article says that Welker's agent has complained that Welker trade violates the CBA which prohibits the Patriots from bribing Miami not to match an offer sheet.
It seems pretty clear that this section was violated, but I don't see how it hurt Welker (who appears to have received the same five year deal as was originally rumored).
The CBA is supposed to protect the players, and the penalties in the anti-collusion section are focused on paying actual and punative damages to the affected players. But I'm not entirely sure that the penalties in the anti-collusion section are applicable to this type of violation.
Either way, the actual damages to Welker are negligible, so it makes sense that the penalty should also be negligible.
What should have been stated in that article, repeatedly, was that it was an 'alleged' offer sheet - not one that existed in reality.
Scott Pioli, in possibly an attempt to head this off at the pass, went on the record in his recent interview (in Reiss's blog) to say that no offer sheet had bene submitted - and that it was simply a case of media chinese whispers.
Much ado about nothing.
Actually in order for the that to be the case, wouldn't there have to actually been an offer sheet? According to SP, there was never an offer sheet signed, so there is not way that NE could have "bribed" Miami not to sign it.
So the provision below never comes into play and even if it's argued it does come into play the player consented to the trade.
The surprising thing about this article was that it named Welker's agent as the complaining party.
They'd be right. The Patriots did not extend an offer sheet BECAUSE the Phins agreed to a trade.
Even if an arbitrator or special master could be convinced to buy into your interpretation, (very doubtful IMNSHO) the NFLPA would just turn it around and say that the trade compensated the Patriots for deciding NOT to extend the poison pill offer sheet.
They'd be right. The Patriots did not extend an offer sheet BECAUSE the Phins agreed to a trade.