You keep making statements like this and acting as if they are true. Clearly, they are not. He's not screwed now, and he won't be screwed if he doesn't sign the tag. He's kept his money and has a nice big home. You keep acting as if this is some guy blowing through his cash and chasing the Travis Henry/Antonio Cromartie fatherhood title.
You know as well as I do he didn't keep his money. Uncle Sam took close to half of it off the top. Have you seen his home? How much did it cost (or is he living in his folks home on the 10000 acre ranch he doesn't own)? I do know he bought his mom and his fiancee and himself new wheels when he first signed. Where is his money being kept, under the mattress? If he invested it he's probably lost a chunk of it like everyone else...I'm sure he's better off than Cromartie, but he doesn't yet have double digit millions salted away, and he could have.
He doesn't need to bother signing anything until a trade is made that would include him going to an acceptable team for an acceptable salary.
Except for the fact that Bill is a hard ass when it comes to even discussing a trade for or with a player who isn't signed...
Except that, if Mankins 'sees' the same thing, he can just rush on down and sign that Franchise offer. At that point, he'll be making more than $10 million dollars to play guard.
Not necessarily because sometimes the tag goes down...and I think BB is in a position to assess Mankins market before Mankins can...legally. He can't talk to anyone for the first two weeks he's tagged. Bill on the other hand can...
How is it spiting himself? He'll be making more than $10 million dollars for one season. You can't have it both ways. If it's all about money, it's a huge win for him, since he'll be banking all that money at age 29 and ready for a megadeal the following year, or for another franchise tag at 120%. If it's all about principle, the tag is irrelevant.