“When Martin hit free agency for the first time following the 1997 season, New England offered him a
six-year, $12 million contract.”
“We had our statistical gurus tell us that we should be cautious because he was injured in college (and) he had some injuries playing for us,” Patriots owner Robert Kraft explained in “A Football Life: Curtis Martin,” which is set to premiere Friday night on NFL Network.
“I remember just a year before, Drew Bledsoe had signed a contract for six years, $42 million,” Martin said in the documentary. “And his signing bonus was $12 million. I just felt like I was worth more than Drew Bledsoe’s signing bonus.”
Boston Red Sox news, scores, schedule, standings, injuries and rumors. Follow game recaps, highlights and the latest MLB updates.
nesn.com
"It's funny, because of all the teams that I may have had the opportunity to go to,
the Jets were one in particular that I didn't want to go to."
Martin's loyalty changed when Parcells left for the Jets and the
Patriots didn't actively try to re-sign their star running back.
Reiss wrote of the Patriots losing Martin:
“It was one of the key decisions that doomed the "triangle of power" regime of [head coach Pete] Carroll, vice president of player personnel Bobby Grier and salary-cap man Andy Wasynczuk.”
In the days leading up to the Pro Football Hall of Fame election, Curtis Martin mostly has been recalled as one of the greatest ever to wear a New York Jets uniform.
www.espn.com
“I’ll spare you the painful rehash of his utterly unnecessary departure. Just allow me to note that if Pats owner
Bob Kraft hadn’t insinuated Martin would have a short shelf-life, if Kraft hadn’t spent much of the ’97 season gloating about what cheap labor Martin was, if Kraft hadn’t paid turnstiles Todd Rucci and Max Lane a combined $22 million before offering a single peso to Martin, if Kraft had remembered Parcells often called Martin one of his three favorite players he’d ever coached, well, then maybe the Pats wouldn’t have had to spend three high draft picks in failed attempts to replace him.”
“Yeah, I’ll spare you the painful rehash. Just let me note that Kraft bungled the situation with such complete and total incompetence, you have to believe Dan Duquette was giving him management tips.”
Originally wrote this in 2001, just as the Patriots were emerging but old friend Curtis Martin was habitually haunting them with those smooth cutback moves. Seems appropriate to repost today given all that’s happening this weekend. Congrats, No. 28. It’s all worked out beautifully for the...
www.boston.com
“While Martin's departure from New England is old news, the sting never left Carroll, who in March of 2010
cited his departure as the reason he wouldn't return to the NFL unless he had final control of personnel decisions. Carroll said he had made "strong efforts" to let anyone who would listen know that
Martin was "not happy and ready to bolt."
"I'll regret that always, and how it fit into the fortunes of that team," Carroll said. "I was up against it because they really felt like we could play with other guys and still be successful."
Martin's mindset changed once former Patriots coach Bill Parcells, who he reveres and said will be his Hall of Fame presenter if he is elected, was hired.
Still, while he might have privately been irritated at the lack of aggressiveness from the Patriots on a new contract, he wasn't planning an immediate departure. That's why he was in Maui when he received a call from his agent that the Jets wanted to sign him.
Curtis Martin had a great run with New England -- it was just too short.
www.espn.com
Martin would have been content to spend the rest of his career with the Patriots, but his contract expired after the 1997 season and he rejected their six-year, $21 million offer.
Even so, they never thought he'd leave. They had the right to match any offer, and besides, who'd be crazy enough to surrender two premium picks?
"They didn't care at the time," Parker said of the Patriots. "My guess is they assumed he wasn't going anywhere. I don't think they were overly concerned."
"Martin never wanted to play for the Jets. To him, they were a joke."
"In my mind, they were the worst team ever," he said. "I looked at the Jets as the bottom of the barrel."
It was a five-year, $28 million contract with a club option for a sixth year that would bring the total to $36 million, but what made it unusual was Martin's ability to void the deal after one year. It also included a clause that prohibited the team from using the franchise tag, meaning he could be unrestricted after one year.
It was too risky for the Patriots to match because they faced the prospect of losing him after a year (perhaps to the Jets) and receiving nothing -- no draft picks. The Jets leveraged that insecurity. It was a classic poison pill.
Curtis Martin did what great players are supposed to -- make everyone better.
www.espn.com
