If you were Graham & Samuel?

[Gumby]

Would you be talking to each other?

What I mean is: if Graham signed a long term deal today; Samuel would know that the Patriots are going to use the Franchise tag on him or not at all. So he would be more motivated to make a deal if he really wanted to avoid franchising. Right now he doesnt know for sure if they would use it on him or Graham or not at all so he and Graham kind of have the Patriots by the nads.

Would you have an arrangement where if one of the two of you receives an offer from the Patriots that you are happy with; would you wait until the last minute before the Franchise deadline to sign to help the other player out?


Anybody know if they are friends? They play on opposite sides of ball but ??

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Friends or not rest assured, it's every man for himself. I don't think anyone has anyone by the nads just yet, but as long as the tag is in play the edge goes to the team.

 

[DarrylS]

Anybody know if they are friends? They play on opposite sides of ball but ??

Not sure how the friends thing plays into any of this, look at Brady/Branch or Brady/Givens.. imo it is about getting the biggest bang for your buck in a very short window.

 

[Jimke]

No dialogue. Show me the money.

 

[Strange Brew]

I don't know about you, but if I had a multimillion dollar contract in front of me I wouldn't screw around and wait or risk pissing off management by playing games. Both of these guys will get a very nice payday. As mentioned above, every man for themself

 

[everlong]

Teams have until 3/1/2007 (if I remember right but it's about that date) to franchise players. The only way Samuel/Graham could collude is to agree to not sign a contract on 3/1 or before and thus force the Patriots to commit the tag to one or the other.

Even if they do this I don't think it matters. With Graham they'll set a price and if he's willing to come in within their value range he's resigned. With Samuel he's getting tagged even if he wants money outside of the range because of the trade value, so it's about maintaining control over the player.

 

[TeamPats]

Teams have until 3/1/2007 (if I remember right but it's about that date) to franchise players. The only way Samuel/Graham could collude is to agree to not sign a contract on 3/1 or before and thus force the Patriots to commit the tag to one or the other.

I think it is actually only February 22nd for the tag, and March 1st for Free Agency. In either case the offseason is about get a whole lot more interesting in the coming weeks.

 

[everlong]

I think it is actually only February 22nd for the tag, and March 1st for Free Agency. In either case the offseason is about get a whole lot more interesting in the coming weeks.

I think you're correct on the dates. I just didn't feel like looking up the exact ones so I put in the disclaimer.

 

[mgteich]

The reason for the two dates is to deny the players the leverage you indicate.