Schefter: Public appology broke down Mankins deal

[Urgent]

SO you take a guy who has said it's not about the money, it's about pride, and you offer him a ton of money if he publicly humbles himself?

Pretty poor negotiating capabilities, and a bad outcome.

Especially if that was a last-minute demand, as reported.
Poor management. Poor priorities. Poor planning.

 

[Brarrell]

What does it tell you about Mankins?

About Mankins it tells you how petty the Kraft's are this is a business, Mankins is not a little 10 year old child. A good organization comes out and says the player and organization have reached an agreement period. Whats this crap about an apology to Mr. Kraft, Robert Kraft i don't think so his name is Bob Kraft these chumps have been getting away with this stuff for awhile but every dog has his day and their day is coming. My beef with these guys is the way they handle business with the players if you know a guy is a player who thrives in your system Givens, Branch, Graham, Samuel, you go to them a year before their contract is up and you try to work out a deal but no every rookie contract they have to get every last dollar out of it. So what happens you get a pissed off player who can't wait to get out of here and then you spend draft picks and trades trying to replace these guys instead of drafting for your true needs, which is why they just started drafting linebackers and players who can rush the passer. IMO other than the Giants superbowl loss which was just bad luck they cost themselves atleast one other superbowl. Givens and Branch and to certain extent Graham i believe they would have beaten Indy in 2006. So I will wait for the attack but if Schefter is right and he usually is The Krafts Look Pretty Petty throughout the league.

 

[cmasspatsfan]

Mankins said some pretty nasty things, to the public, about Kraft and the organization. I don't think you let stuff like that go. Its about respect......Mankins and his agent are punks to me.

Apology expected, without it, what does that say to the younger players on the team...go ahead and crap all over the organization??

Yes there's a bigger issue here and some just want the all pro back on the field and don't see it or don't want to see it.

Just the fact that kraft will still pay him and wants him on the team says he willing to let bygones be bygones/

 

[alvinnf]

If this story is true... This is a classless move by the organization. Arrogance.... They owe Logan an apology.. I am sure he does'nt require it be made publicly.....
This is a crappy story.

 

[Brarrell]

Yes there's a bigger issue here and some just want the all pro back on the field and don't see it or don't want to see it.

Just the fact that kraft will still pay him and wants him on the team says he willing to let bygones be bygones/

But it's ok to crap all over the players at contract time with your cronies in the media? WTF is Kraft demanding apologies for anyway?

 

[Fixit]

About Mankins it tells you how petty the Kraft's are this is a business, Mankins is not a little 10 year old child. A good organization comes out and says the player and organization have reached an agreement period. Whats this crap about an apology to Mr. Kraft, Robert Kraft i don't think so his name is Bob Kraft these chumps have been getting away with this stuff for awhile but every dog has his day and their day is coming. My beef with these guys is the way they handle business with the players if you know a guy is a player who thrives in your system Givens, Branch, Graham, Samuel, you go to them a year before their contract is up and you try to work out a deal but no every rookie contract they have to get every last dollar out of it. So what happens you get a pissed off player who can't wait to get out of here and then you spend draft picks and trades trying to replace these guys instead of drafting for your true needs, which is why they just started drafting linebackers and players who can rush the passer. IMO other than the Giants superbowl loss which was just bad luck they cost themselves atleast one other superbowl. Givens and Branch and to certain extent Graham i believe they would have beaten Indy in 2006. So I will wait for the attack but if Schefter is right and he usually is The Krafts Look Pretty Petty throughout the league.

1) Pats offer Mankins fat contract to make him 3rd highest paid guard in the league.
2) Mankins turns it down and intentionally and publicly trashes Kraft's integrity.
3) Another bigger contract is offered, contingent upon an apology that is already long overdue. Mankins gets his $$ and the knowledge that the team respects him enough to give him his payday, Kraft gets to reassert that he owns the GD team and commands respect, especially since he was on the up-and-up from the beginning.

Pettiness has nothing to do with it; setting expectations does. Mankins should humble himself, because he's acted irresponsibly.

 

[mgteich]

No one on this board has a clue with regard to the details of the contract that was offered to Mankins a few weeks ago or recently. We also don't know what the additional terms were with regard to public apologies. What we know is the biased part of the truth that the parties have leaked to the press.

In particular, no one knows how much guaranteed monies were offered.

Personally, I trust that the Front Office of the patriots know how to successfully run an nfl football team. They have demonstrated this many, many times in the past 15 years. Apparently an offer has recently been amde to Mankins which reflects what the patriots are willing to pay for the services of Mankins. The requirement of an apology is all but irrelevant. As I ahve stated many times, I would offerred a take it or leave it one-year deal to Mankins for $8M and moved on (planning to discuss trades if that didn't work). Others have rightly pointed out that any such trade should happen in October to allow Mankins to stew for awhile.

1) Pats offer Mankins fat contract to make him 3rd highest paid guard in the league.
2) Mankins turns it down and intentionally and publicly trashes Kraft's integrity.
3) Another bigger contract is offered, contingent upon an apology that is already long overdue. Mankins gets his $$ and the knowledge that the team respects him enough to give him his payday, Kraft gets to reassert that he owns the GD team and commands respect, especially since he was on the up-and-up from the beginning.

Pettiness has nothing to do with it; setting expectations does. Mankins should humble himself, because he's acted irresponsibly.

 

[shmessy]

hey zipster, when you go into work tomorrow grab the loudspeaker and question the owner of your companies integrity, get back to use tomorrow with the results.

b-i-n-g-o.

 

[DropKickFlutie]

1) Pats offer Mankins fat contract to make him 3rd highest paid guard in the league.

Not actually close to reality, more like PR spin from Pats management similar to how Vince Wilfork was pre-emptively made to look greedy during his contract talks last season.

35M over 5 years, after the RFA year, comes out to a bit over 6M per year over 6 years, which is about top-10 guard money, not top 3 guard money.

I just don't understand the penny pinching on your star players, when the bargain buying model hasn't worked for the team since 2004. The management needs to realize that over the past 10 years salary cap growth has far outpaced avg salary growth. Many teams were in cap trouble in the early 2000's leading to some good bargain opportunities for the Pats, but nowadays there are much fewer players in the FA markets that are quality.

 

[NYCPatsFan]

SO you take a guy who has said it's not about the money, it's about pride, and you offer him a ton of money if he publicly humbles himself?

Pretty poor negotiating capabilities, and a bad outcome.

Especially if that was a last-minute demand, as reported.
Poor management. Poor priorities. Poor planning.

And this 'guy', whose stance you believe in, with all his glorious pride slanders the team and the owner in public but is so proud that he will not apologize in public?

"pretty poor negotiating capabilities"? Oh yeah, allow every other contracted employee to slur the organization in public and then "bury the hatchet" by allowing them to rejoin without them showing any sign of remorse in public.

I think there is no more 'negotiation' with such disgruntled employees out to publicly humilate the organization and the owners.

 

[Fixit]

Not actually close to reality, more like PR spin from Pats management similar to how Vince Wilfork was pre-emptively made to look greedy during his contract talks last season.

35M over 5 years, after the RFA year, comes out to a bit over 6M per year over 6 years, which is about top-10 guard money, not top 3 guard money.

I just don't understand the penny pinching on your star players, when the bargain buying model hasn't worked for the team since 2004. The management needs to realize that over the past 10 years salary cap growth has far outpaced avg salary growth. Many teams were in cap trouble in the early 2000's leading to some good bargain opportunities for the Pats, but nowadays there are much fewer players in the FA markets that are quality.

I'm not a contract guy. All I know is that Mankins said that the Pats promised to address his situation and Kraft was a liar, then it turns out they did offer a nice contract. If you don't like it, fine; make a counter offer. Don't trash your owner in public, because you look like a child.

Big Vince managed to avoid anything like this, because he acted like an adult. He's pretty happy now. Mankins, on the other hand, deserves to get taken down a peg or two.

Also, they were two minutes away from a perfect season in 2007.

 

[shmessy]

And this 'guy', whom you respect so much, with all his glorious pride slander the team and the owner in public but is so proud that he will not apologize in public?

"pretty poor negotiating capabilities"? Oh yeah, allow every other contracted employee to slur the organization in public and then "bury the hatchet" by allowing them to rejoin without them showing any sign of remorse in public.

I think there is no more 'negotiation' with such disgruntled employees out to publicly humilate the organization and the owners.

Precisely.

Incredible how some folks here think it's ok to 1) slander the owner in public 2) apologize to the owner in private 3) run to the media complaining that the owner won't dish out $40 million to you because you refuse to right the wrong in the original arena.

 

[Fixit]

"At one point during contract negotiations, I grew frustrated with the lack of progress and I said some things that I regret. Mr. Kraft is a great owner, employer, and friend, and I look forward to continuing the culture of winning that is New England Patriots football together."

It's not hard.

Any dude who cries "pride" this and "pride" that should have no problem righting a wrong that he was solely responsible for. Pride without humility to balance it means nothing.

 

[Kontradiction]

If Mankins was man enough to talk smack about his boss in public, he should be man enough to apologize in public, and it should have happened a long time ago and without prodding. That seems to me to be more like the Patriot Way. I think with all of the $$ involved, we lose sight that this is an employer/employee relationship, like any other.

In that case, I want to know when the Patriot Way became about airing your dirty laundry to the public. Again, it's one thing for Mankins to do it. But this organization, and Kraft in particular, are supposed to be better than that. A man to man apology should have sufficed. As a result, there's a deeper divide between the two. Connolly look solid today. As someone that's criticized him, I'll admit that. However, God help this team now if Connolly goes down and Kaczur isn't ready to go.

Mankins said some pretty nasty things, to the public, about Kraft and the organization. I don't think you let stuff like that go. Its about respect......Mankins and his agent are punks to me.

Apology expected, without it, what does that say to the younger players on the team...go ahead and crap all over the organization??

What is says to the team is that the owner can get butthurt over a simple expression of anger. What it says to the team is that, when it comes to specific instances concerning the upper brass of the team, the "Patriot Way" goes out the window. What it says to the team is that the owner hasn't shown a capacity to act like a bigger man than the petty, angry holdout. And if you think an apology is expected, then why are you still complaining about Mankins after he gave his apology to Kraft as a man?

 

[Mike in 333]

I'm not buying that this deal hinged on a public apology. It just makes no sense. But it sounds like the lines have been drawn and at this point Mankins' only option is to, at some point in the next few weeks, sign his tender offer and report to the team (now that might be interesting). If he doesn't then he won't be credited with having been on a roster this year. With next year being a big question mark and with a new CBA being negotiated he could end up missing 2 years of paychecks be in the same position he is today. The guy who should be apologizing is his agent who it seems has no idea of how to represent the best interests of his client.

Left guard isn't exactly a position that can't be adequately played by other players on the roster although Mankins is the guy I'd most like to see play it. In all likelihood, I think he has played his last game as a Patriot.

 

[shmessy]

What is says to the team is that the owner can get butthurt over a simple expression of anger.

OK, Kontra, give us 1 (one) example of an owner rewarding a player with $40 million weeks after being called a liar by him in the press.

He's signing the paycheck Just as another poster challenged earler, go to work tomorrow use a bullhorn to slander your boss, then ask for a raise if you apologize in private.

 

[Fixit]

In that case, I want to know when the Patriot Way became about airing your dirty laundry to the public. Again, it's one thing for Mankins to do it. But this organization, and Kraft in particular, are supposed to be better than that. A man to man apology should have sufficed.

The story says that Mankins became "offended" that he was even asked, so who do you think leaked it?

The conversation should have gone something like this:

"Logan, you trashed the boss in public. You've gotta fix it, you've gotta repair the damage, in public. Something simple, no big deal."

"Okay, I'm a grown man, and I'm strangely not offended by this, because I did, in fact, f#$% up."

"Sweet. Our little secret."

"Sure thing. Here's my direct deposit info."

Seriously, let's say someone accused you, in public, of doing something you didn't do. Would a private apology suffice, or would you demand that the apology be done in as public a manner as possible? It's about repairing the damage that was done.

 

[ahmed]

I just hope this whole mess does not come back to bite us in the ass in the future I want it sorted out one way or another soon. It does not do us any good having it dragged out for weeks. And believe it or not, other players do care about how their fellow players get treated because they can easily see themselves in those situations and this is not smelling like roses at the moment.

 

[Frezo]

Believe me, if one of my employees publicly called me a liar, one of the last things I would do is offer him a new employment contract and accept an apology that no one would ever hear. Some of you people are daffy.

 

[cmasspatsfan]

What is says to the team is that the owner can get butthurt over a simple expression of anger. What it says to the team is that, when it comes to specific instances concerning the upper brass of the team, the "Patriot Way" goes out the window. What it says to the team is that the owner hasn't shown a capacity to act like a bigger man than the petty, angry holdout. And if you think an apology is expected, then why are you still complaining about Mankins after he gave his apology to Kraft as a man?

The Patriot was is taking responsibilty for your actions. He should be able to wright the wrong and apologize publicly, its not that hard, take responsibility Logan.