No offense FBN but there is nothing in that article that even hints of mid season tampering. Guys began to hear AFTER the Denver playoff game, which was our last game of the season, that Willie might be moving on. That could just have easily been based on the fact that there had been little or no contact between he and the FO all season regarding his remaining with the team. Or the team could have told him they felt it was better if he tested the market (implying he wouldn't be blown away by what he heard). Both sides understood a new deal notwithstanding, there would be no dummy $8M season.
If you think guys don't talk amongst themselves and GM's don't through back channels (other players, agents they are working with, acquaintances, media) establish who might be available and what they might be looking for well in advance of March 1st each year, you are naive.
We often make assumpions hereabouts based on logic. We all assumed Willie would be back one way or another because he was still playing at a fairly high level (comparatively speaking - none of them were in the first half), he was a playmaker - and we had few of those to spare, he had restructured so many times we lost count, he was the senior presence in the locker room, and we remain a little understaffed in a LB reliant defense. We should not be surprised that BB's thought process appears at times to defy logic. But we continue to be. So we should be able to accept it doesn't just throw us a curve, it throws players a curve if they assumed anything.
We hear about miscommunication from most players who leave here. I think in the absence of RAC and Charlie we will hear that more often. They had close relationships with the players under their wing that sometimes helped to smooth ruffeled feathers and bruised feelings or bridge communications gaps. Mangini and McDaniels had their hands full last season with their own jobs, and neither has had time to establish those kinds of fatherly relationships and there is no saying either will develop the personalities to. BB isn't a touchy feely kind of guy. Players respect his X's and O's genius, but he benefits from having a few quality buffers between him and his players on an emotional level. And that could well be the crux of the "things" going on that Willie alluded to.
