NEW ARTICLE: Former DE Ninkovich Describes How Patriots Leveraged Brady's Contract Against Players

[PatsFans.com Article]

Former DE Ninkovich Describes How Patriots Leveraged Brady's Contract Against Players
Ian Logue
Former Patriots defensive end Rob Ninkovich was part of New England's incredible run during his time playing with former QB Tom Brady, but he also gave a little insight earlier this week on how the team leveraged the QB into getting guys to take lesser de

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[Bourne Again Christian]

Dear god
Everytime Mcafee opens his mouth it hurts our allure to free agents even more.
Nink giving us this insight is eye opening.
Danny A came out and seemed disgruntled but Nink coming out and saying this it really shows why players took lesser deals here.
I didn’t know that Tom would also effect that.
Bill is going to have a hard time getting people to buy into this when players now know A.
Tom regrets taking paycuts and was miserable at the end of this time here.
B. Danny A and Nink showed how shrewd Bill was in negotiations.
C. Belichick is the highest paid coach in sports.
D. So if your a young player and Bill is telling you to take 25 percent less to play in frigid New England where you will be yelled at by Bill and coached harder and work harder than you’ve ever worked with no current solution at QB.
Your phone rings while your speaking with Bill and a team like the Dolphins,Bucs, Rams, Colts, Cardinals call offering you the same or even a little bit more.
We are going to have to target B minus to C level players pay them close to B level and hope they can be coached up.
However Bill has shown he will pay for real game changers.
Gilmore
Wilfork
Revis
Moss
This will be a very interesting offseason.

 

[Steve102]

The NFL is a ruthless business. The most successful franchise is ruthless in it's negotiations with players? Doesn't seem like news to me. Anyone who's followed this team for the last 20 years can see they are brutal. They are ruthless in their pursuit of winning. They've bent the rules, broken them, and skirted them. I'm not surprised by anything they do in the process of fielding a winning team. We all were fine with it until they played hardball with Tom and, as a result, went 7-9. Now, we don't like the way they do business? I don't think we can have it both ways.

 

[patsfanincleveland]

Dear god
Everytime Mcafee opens his mouth it hurts our allure to free agents even more.
Nink giving us this insight is eye opening.
Danny A came out and seemed disgruntled but Nink coming out and saying this it really shows why players took lesser deals here.
I didn’t know that Tom would also effect that.
Bill is going to have a hard time getting people to buy into this when players now know A.
Tom regrets taking paycuts and was miserable at the end of this time here.
B. Danny A and Nink showed how shrewd Bill was in negotiations.
C. Belichick is the highest paid coach in sports.
D. So if your a young player and Bill is telling you to take 25 percent less to play in frigid New England where you will be yelled at by Bill and coached harder and work harder than you’ve ever worked with no current solution at QB.
Your phone rings while your speaking with Bill and a team like the Dolphins,Bucs, Rams, Colts, Cardinals call offering you the same or even a little bit more.
We are going to have to target B minus to C level players pay them close to B level and hope they can be coached up.
However Bill has shown he will pay for real game changers.
Gilmore
Wilfork
Revis
Moss
This will be a very interesting offseason.

So do you think Chandler Jones and Jamie Collins regret the fact they never left to go to other teams to get bigger contracts? Do you think that Hightower is kicking himself in the nuts because he left?

How about Logan Ryan or Nate Solder or Trent Brown? I think Revis regrets staying after the Jets offered significantly more.

How about Danny Amendola? I hear that Van Noy is kicking himself for staying in 2020 and taking less money.

 

[Triumph]

A leopard doesnt change his stripes.

History predicts that BB is going to go cheap at QB again. Thats why Cam was so attractive. I seriously doubt that BB is going to suddenly open up the checkbook an sign a bigtime FA QB. That is not the way its been done for over 20 years and I cannot see BB throwing the baby out with the bath water. He has a system that has produced 9 Super Bowl visits.

Cam wont be back because Cam will produce basically the same results. He could win enough for the Pats to make the postseason, but Cam is not taking you to the Super Bowl.

 

[upstater1]

Dear god
Everytime Mcafee opens his mouth it hurts our allure to free agents even more.
Nink giving us this insight is eye opening.
Danny A came out and seemed disgruntled but Nink coming out and saying this it really shows why players took lesser deals here.
I didn’t know that Tom would also effect that.
Bill is going to have a hard time getting people to buy into this when players now know A.
Tom regrets taking paycuts and was miserable at the end of this time here.
B. Danny A and Nink showed how shrewd Bill was in negotiations.
C. Belichick is the highest paid coach in sports.
D. So if your a young player and Bill is telling you to take 25 percent less to play in frigid New England where you will be yelled at by Bill and coached harder and work harder than you’ve ever worked with no current solution at QB.
Your phone rings while your speaking with Bill and a team like the Dolphins,Bucs, Rams, Colts, Cardinals call offering you the same or even a little bit more.
We are going to have to target B minus to C level players pay them close to B level and hope they can be coached up.
However Bill has shown he will pay for real game changers.
Gilmore
Wilfork
Revis
Moss
This will be a very interesting offseason.

Other than Revis, we've never attracted anyone here for the chance at winning.
Gilmore was offered the best contract, top dollar, he was coming here.
The others we've traded for.
Ninkovich was where before he became a Patriot? Some of these middle class players get squeezed out by the salary cap elsewhere and they come to New England because they understand it is the best they can get. There's not a big market for middling players who want $6m a year. For most teams, you make $10m+ or you make $2m. There's not much in between.

 

[Kargetina]

A leopard doesnt change his stripes.

History predicts that BB is going to go cheap at QB again. Thats why Cam was so attractive. I seriously doubt that BB is going to suddenly open up the checkbook an sign a bigtime FA QB. That is not the way its been done for over 20 years and I cannot see BB throwing the baby out with the bath water. He has a system that has produced 9 Super Bowl visits.

Cam wont be back because Cam will produce basically the same results. He could win enough for the Pats to make the postseason, but Cam is not taking you to the Super Bowl.

Kind of peculiar that his “system” produced one playoff trip and zero division wins in 8 years without Brady and 17 trips in 18 years with him.

Very peculiar system indeed.

 

[Patriot Missile]

I believe its true to a degree. But I’d also like to have explained where the money is going if the Pats are paying out to the cap? The money is going to the players, just not in typical way that other teams do where 12 players are making 70+% percent of the entire cap. Brady was able to make this happen with his paycut for sure , but I’d argue that BB was able to pay his lower tier and mid tier players more than the average that other teams were willing to pay.

It made it a good location to land in that regard. Just not the high priced free agents that knew they were getting top dollar although occasionally you’d have the ones that were willing to take less for that ring.

It’s been a debate over the years but it comes down to honestly that the Pats aren’t cheap like some think. If your paying out all the cap most years, someone is getting that money and its not Bill. It was just a perfect storm having Tom and Bill together. Will never be the same without.

 

[amfootball]

Ugh. These types of stories/interviews are going to hurt us as FA approaches.

 

[slash83]

A leopard doesnt change his stripes.

History predicts that BB is going to go cheap at QB again. Thats why Cam was so attractive. I seriously doubt that BB is going to suddenly open up the checkbook an sign a bigtime FA QB. That is not the way its been done for over 20 years and I cannot see BB throwing the baby out with the bath water. He has a system that has produced 9 Super Bowl visits.

Cam wont be back because Cam will produce basically the same results. He could win enough for the Pats to make the postseason, but Cam is not taking you to the Super Bowl.

Neither is Fitz, Mariota, Winston. If the team is going to compete with the big boys this year it’s gotta be with Jimmy G or Watson.

If neither of the last two can be had go with a rookie if possible.

 

[denverpatsfan]

All NFL teams have tough negotiators. The Eagles have a specific room where the table/floor/chairs is slightly higher on one end than the other. This helps reach deals. Nothing new here.

 

[patsfanincleveland]

I believe its true to a degree. But I’d also like to have explained where the money is going if the Pats are paying out to the cap? The money is going to the players, just not in typical way that other teams do where 12 players are making 70+% percent of the entire cap. Brady was able to make this happen with his paycut for sure , but I’d argue that BB was able to pay his lower tier and mid tier players more than the average that other teams were willing to pay.

It made it a good location to land in that regard. Just not the high priced free agents that knew they were getting top dollar although occasionally you’d have the ones that were willing to take less for that ring.

It’s been a debate over the years but it comes down to honestly that the Pats aren’t cheap like some think. If your paying out all the cap most years, someone is getting that money and its not Bill. It was just a perfect storm having Tom and Bill together. Will never be the same without.

Back in the day, everyone thought Belichick was a 3-4 guy because we were one of the very few teams utilizing the 3-4. Belichick was never a 3-4 guy but used it at the time because "3-4" guys weren't valued highly so he could get scheme great players at lower cost.

Once everyone switched he did as well.

Also, Belichick has proven that he can find value in the misfit toys section better than anyone.

Just once, it would be fascinating to ask someone like Nink what his football and post football life would have been without being in Foxboro. Would he have made the money? Would he have a post football media career? How would he be relevant today?

 

[Sciz]

These contract discussions must not have been too contentious given that his two extensions as an established player both came in September, 14 or 15 regular season games away from hitting free agency.

 

[luuked]

None of this is news. The fact that BB was using Brady's salary as a point of leverage in negotiations as well as the positional salary ladders have been point of discussions since 2015 on various beat guys' podcasts. Howe mentioned it repeatedly, Curran, Kyed...

 

[50-yard-line]

Kind of peculiar that his “system” produced one playoff trip and zero division wins in 8 years without Brady and 17 trips in 18 years with him.

Very peculiar system indeed.

Proving again that statistics will tell you anything you want to know if you torture them enough.

 

[stinkypete]

I hope that Belichick blows all our cap room on and our next 5 first round picks on Watson and Robinson.

This way, when we have no depth, no interior offensive line, and no defensive line, and go 6 - 10 because of it, maybe people will give up this tired narrative.

 

[Boomer B]

I wonder if this off-season Bill will tell free agents “Well, Cam was the 35th highest paid QB so....”

 

[RobertWeathers]

Former DE Ninkovich Describes How Patriots Leveraged Brady's Contract Against Players
Ian Logue
Former Patriots defensive end Rob Ninkovich was part of New England's incredible run during his time playing with former QB Tom Brady, but he also gave a little insight earlier this week on how the team leveraged the QB into getting guys to take lesser de

Continue reading...

(If you enjoyed this entry - hit the Thumbs Up/If not, hit the Thumbs down in this thread)

For all the "The Patriots Don't Pay" or "Tom Got Screwed" crowd.

Quote from Ian's article per Nink

“So if you want to be here and you want to win, I’d suggest that you do what you’ve got to do to, #1 provide. Which, yeah…I was able to do when I was here in New England, but I think winning is the number one thing. Because I could have went off, at some point in my career, and I could have tested free agency and went to Cincinnati or something and played a couple of years and then got cut because a new coaching staff came in, but I wanted to be somewhere and have some legitimate statistics behind my name.”

Some fans believe making the most money guarantees happiness and security.

It doesn't.

 

[Kontradiction]

It was interesting because it gives a little bit of insight into player negotiations, which as we know has always been a situation where guys have taken less money for the sake of keeping the team competitive. This at least gives us a glimpse into that process, and it’s hard not to wonder, now that Brady is gone, how they’ll be able to convince guys to continue accepting less to stick around moving forward.

They won’t. Welcome to life as just another NFL franchise.

 

[Hyped]

None of this is news. The fact that BB was using Brady's salary as a point of leverage in negotiations as well as the positional salary ladders have been point of discussions since 2015 on various beat guys' podcasts. Howe mentioned it repeatedly, Curran, Kyed...

Yup, it just tells me that Belichick is a shrewd negotiator....which is good news. The bad news is that Belichick no longer has that card to play...but he still does have the Edelman card to play at least...as well as the Cam Newton card.

In a way, I think Edelman's contract is one of the reasons we didn't upgrade at WR in free agency over the years.....IIRC, when Welker bolted to the Broncos...Edelman was still developing...and we gave Amendola Welker's $$$....then when Edelman was up for an extension...we paid him slightly more than Amendola...then in turn forced Amendola to take pay cuts the next several seasons while drafting guys like Boyce, Dobson, Mitchell, Harry, et al....