Too bad Pats missed out on Mason

[tombonneau]

Hindsight is 20/20, but in this case so is Pats management's foresight. Amazing that they obv. saw this situation coming. Maybe not a Deion holdout & trade, but they clearly knew they might have troubles with a re-signing/extenstion thus went after Mason in the 05 offseason. (And they obv. knew they would not attempt to re-sign Givens bc his market value would be well above their's.)

Damn shame they missed on out Mason too, as this WR would be in much much better shame with him in a uni.

 

[Kdo5]

Hindsight is 20/20, but in this case so is Pats management's foresight. Amazing that they obv. saw this situation coming. Maybe not a Deion holdout & trade, but they clearly knew they might have troubles with a re-signing/extenstion thus went after Mason in the 05 offseason. (And they obv. knew they would not attempt to re-sign Givens bc his market value would be well above their's.)

Damn shame they missed on out Mason too, as this WR would be in much much better shame with him in a uniQUOTE]
???


Why get Mason when you can have Chad Jackson

 

[edzo44]

Hindsight is 20/20, but in this case so is Pats management's foresight. Amazing that they obv. saw this situation coming. Maybe not a Deion holdout & trade, but they clearly knew they might have troubles with a re-signing/extenstion thus went after Mason in the 05 offseason. (And they obv. knew they would not attempt to re-sign Givens bc his market value would be well above their's.)

Damn shame they missed on out Mason too, as this WR would be in much much better shame with him in a uni.

The Patriots did not exactly "miss out" on Mason! Mason decided to go elsewhere at the prodding of someone else. (I seem to remember reading something about his wife not wanting him to come here because she had relatives in the area he ended up and that was the deciding factor in not taking the offer to play here.) Anybody else remember hearing that?

 

[jefmblrd]

I remember reading that the time. They were talking about on EEI the other day and echoed the same story.

 

[marty]

The Patriots did not exactly "miss out" on Mason! Mason decided to go elsewhere at the prodding of someone else. (I seem to remember reading something about his wife not wanting him to come here because she had relatives in the area he ended up and that was the deciding factor in not taking the offer to play here.) Anybody else remember hearing that?

Yes that's the way I remember it. Also worth mentioning is that they offered MORE MONEY than the Ravens, I'm sure this is hard for the "cheap camp" people to believe!

 

[patsox23]

Just goes to show you that the conventional wisdom is wrong - Belichick is perfectly willing to spend big-time $$$ on FA's if he sees the value. Like Colvin, Mason was a very good bet and he went after him with a very strong offer. This bodes well for FA signings in the future.

 

[Ichiro]

I still haven't resovled this Derrick Mason issue in my mind two years later.

I can't believe he actually wanted to play for the Ravens (with Kyle Boller at the time) instead of Brady and the Pats for MORE money. Huh? Wanting to live in Baltimore instead of greater Boston? There is no comparison between the two. Baltimore is a city with some of the worst crime around. It just does't make any sense to me, and I've looked at every angle.

 

[hwc]

I heard that ****amamie "wife" story just like the rest of you. But, I don't believe it for as long as it would take me to scarf down a Maryland crab cake.

Folks, it's always about the money!

 

[alamo]

Folks, it's always about the money!

We've seen enough instances of players taking a bit less money because of other factors (such as location or team) that your statement is undeniably wrong. Money is usually the biggest factor but not the only one, depending on the person.

Why should it always be about the money for players when it's certainly not always about the money for people outside of sports? Lots of people live where they live and work where they work for reasons other than money, when they could probably do slightly better financially by making a change.

 

[Miguel]

I heard that ****amamie "wife" story just like the rest of you. But, I don't believe it for as long as it would take me to scarf down a Maryland crab cake.

Folks, it's always about the money!

Then why did Mason take less money to go to the Ravens???

 

[T-ShirtDynasty]

Then why did Mason take less money to go to the Ravens???

I coulda sworn that the Ravens contract had more guaranteed money, but the Pats had more overall money. No?

 

[Kasmir]

Then why did Mason take less money to go to the Ravens???

Iirc, there was a also a story that Branch advised him against joining the Pats, the b*stard...

 

[Seneschal2]

Hindsight is 20/20, but in this case so is Pats management's foresight. Amazing that they obv. saw this situation coming. Maybe not a Deion holdout & trade, but they clearly knew they might have troubles with a re-signing/extenstion thus went after Mason in the 05 offseason. (And they obv. knew they would not attempt to re-sign Givens bc his market value would be well above their's.)

There's always the risk of losing the player. The fair offer to Mason and the attempted trade-up to draft WR Mark Clayton proves the FO did not want to risk leaving the WR corps with a hole, should one of Givens/Branch depart.

 

[hwc]

Then why did Mason take less money to go to the Ravens???

And how would we know that? I've never seen the offer sheet from the Patriots. Nor, do I assume that the media pundits reported it properly.

But, hey...maybe it wasn't the money. Maybe he just fit better on a team with an accused murderer thug as a captain and a hipster coach in a leather jacket.

 

[Seneschal2]

But, hey...maybe it wasn't the money. Maybe he just fit better on a team with an accused murderer thug as a captain and a hipster coach in a leather jacket.

Or maybe he'd catch more passes in a Ravens uni...

 

[sieglo]

His wife wanted to be in Baltimore. Her family is there.

 

[MDPATSFAN]

Maybe the FO mistakenly assumed they had Branch under contract for 2006.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Or maybe Mason decided here they were just hedging their bets with him for a year or two tops as insurance and competing with the two youngsters if one or both re-upped he'd be the odd man out and looking for a gig again at 33.

The offer was said to be for a little more bonus here - $8M vs. $7M - but it may have been backloaded to a greater extent. Most reports had him getting $11M in the first two seasons here on a $20M deal, while others indicate he's getting $13M in the first two seasons in Baltimore on a $19M total deal with flat $3M salaries.

The almost comical thing is at the time many here were almost upset at the prospect of adding Mason - could not understand it. After all we had Givens and Branch. Also funny to note that after leading the league in receptions in 2004 Mason was cut by the Titans as a cap casualty. Only to be replaced a year later by overpaying for David Givens. The NFL is a small world....

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Iirc, there was a also a story that Branch advised him against joining the Pats, the b*stard...

No that was Javon Walker this season, according to Michael Smith of ESPN. Supposedly told him you will never see your money here...

 

[Miguel]

And how would we know that? I've never seen the offer sheet from the Patriots. Nor, do I assume that the media pundits reported it properly.

I remember reading a transcript of an interview on the Ravens website in which Derrick Mason said/implied that he did turn down more money from the Patriots. Can I found the interview now??? No.