NFL Analyst: Massachusetts Tax Hurdle Still Looms for Patriots in Free Agency
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Prior to Tuesday night’s news of Stefon Diggs signing with the New England Patriots, the team had been facing a fair amount of criticism for their inability to close the deal with other free agents.
It’s not like they haven’t tried, and this goes all the way back to last year. Names like Calvin Ridley, Brandon Aiyuk were the most notable last year, while this offseason saw them swing and miss after coming up short on Chris Godwin. NFL Analyst Jonathan Jones talked about the struggles New England had faced prior to Diggs’ addition, and he feels that the tax issue in Massachusetts remains a challenge. Especially when they’re up against teams in states where the tax is either significantly less, or there’s no state income tax at all.
“They were willing to overspend on Calvin Ridley,” said Jones. “One thing that has really gotten the Patriots, and look, this is not just a New England problem or a Massachusetts problem, a number of states have this issue when it comes to players, is the state income tax. When you get into these bidding wars for players against a team that is located in Nevada, that is in Tennessee, that’s in Florida, you’re going to have a tough go at it.”
“They could have been in the market with a Chris Godwin. They were in the market for a Chris Godwin. You have to really overpay what the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are willing to do. Understand, one, it’s a hometown discount, two, there’s familiarity. Then three, he’s taking home a lot more money, even if he is discounted, in Tampa than he would in Massachusetts.”
“All of those things had been sort of working against the Patriots from before Mike Vrabel and certainly during Mike Vrabel’s short tenure now as head coach there. But when you consider, again, their wide receiver room, a group that desperately needs talent, names, whatever you want to say, then you have to go out there and you have to spend on a guy like Stefon Diggs.”
“You have to hope, going into his age 32 season, that he will continue to have the thousand-yard receiving seasons that he had before he tore his ACL there in Houston about midway through the year.”
In this case, the Patriots seemed to take advantage of a player who is coming off a significant injury, while giving him significant guarantees. Diggs received a deal that included $26 million guaranteed, which Albert Breer of The MMQB believes is likely more than other teams were willing to risk on him. He also believes that had Diggs been healthy, like the other players they’ve tried to get, they may have missed out on him.
“I give them a lot of credit for seeing an opening and taking it. I think that’s the biggest thing. I think if he’s healthy, they don’t have a shot at him. My understanding with Stefon Diggs wanted to play for a contender. He’s not getting that right now here. But some of the contenders were maybe unwilling to go to this sort of financial length to get him while he’s still dealing with an injury. So, the injury created an opening for the Patriots to swoop in and say, ‘Hey, look, we’re going to give you one last big bite of the financial apple going into your 11th year, coming off a torn ACL.’ I can’t imagine there’s much precedent for this deal for a player who’s coming off of that type of injury at this age.”
“Again, they see the opening, they take it. It’s a big risk. It’s a risk worth taking. You’re investing in your young quarterback by doing it. Again, this is one of the most competitive players in the NFL, and that’s one of the reasons I really like it, because I do think it’ll raise the competitive level of your guys on offense.”
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NFL states with higher tax rates for millionaires:
California (3 teams)
New York,
New Jersey 2 teams (NY, but they’re in NJ)
Minnesota (1 team)_
Washington DC (1 team)
For petes sake, at leaf mention this during these stories. Reading this stuff, it makes it sound like MA is either the only one, or the most expensive.
I wonder if the league would entertain leveling the playing field in some way. In a salary cap league, that taxation is an inequality.