Do you realize how silly you sound when you use terms like "brainwashed" and stuff like that. That's rhetorical by the way. The Johnson's are 1/2 in creating solid franchises by decade. There is no hate here. I can enjoy football with or without the Jets. It's more fun when they're good and heading in the right direction but I'm not the type of person who has the football season ruined for me when they're bad. There's a reason the Jets have been sticklers about rookie contracts and we're entering a point where it's almost a yearly occurrence where we are among the last (if not the last) to sign their draft backs. This predates Joe Douglas. Live in your fantasy land where the money people don't ever dictate policy thoughts. Go read about the organizational stinginess of the Bengals if you don't believe in it.
The bottom line here is that the Jets' playing hardball with the guy they expect to be their long awaited savior was a bullshit move regardless of who, or what combination of people made the decision to do so. What they got for it is a two day loss in learning time for the latest version of the most important guy on the team, the possibility they pissed him off enough to hamper future negotiations, a pissed off fanbase and bad press. They also got a realistic deal that delivers bonus money in the timely fashion that is the rule in the NFL and an agreement on the offset that would have been spit in the bucket. It should have been completed a month ago.
I wouldn't even know this hack existed unless Jets fans didn't find reasons to share his every quote...
The Jets should play hardball with everybody (especially people who can't go anywhere else, like Zack or Maye). First of all, we don't know yet whether Zack is the savior or not. Hopefully, he will be. Second of all, giving players whatever they want has worked so well for the organization over the years - I remember all those superbowl wins (oh, wait a second, that was the patriots). Remember when Revis was the savior and they gave him that big fat guaranteed contract to come back and he played well the first year and was total garbage and old after that? Its not like they could have looked at his date of birth and known he was going to be old - oh yeah, they could have. These negotiations are all about leverage. At the end of the day, the Jets had leverage and, with rookies, there's not much you can negotiate because of the CBA, but offsets are one of them. Incidentally, offsets are when a player is cut and whether money they get from a new organization offsets your continuing obligations to pay the player. If Zack gets cut and he gets big money from somebody else, why should he be able to keep all the money from the Jets and the next team? This is a minor issue, but its very helpful from a negotiating perspective for players (and their agents) to understand that Douglas does not give in on these types of issues - otherwise you create a strong incentive for players to hold out, etc. Maye is another case. He's a safety who's going to be 28 this year. They locked him up for this year with the non-exclusive franchise tag for about $10 million. If he sucks then they don't have to pay him next year. If he gets hurt (and he's had some serious injuries in the past) then they don't have to pay him next year. If they still want him next year, they can still franchise him next year for about $12 million and then he'll be 29. Now, after 2 years, it would cost about $17 million to franchise him and you don't want to pay a safety that much so then he could leave, but he'll be going on 30 then. He wants a long-term deal, probably in the 3-4 year range. Why would any team possibly want to lock him up for 4 years when he'll be a 32 year old safety and give him large guarantees for that period of time (which incidentally is what he and his agent want)? Haven't we learned anything from Revis? Maye's a good player, but he's not Ronnie Lott or a hall of fame talent, so why lock him up for big bucks as he's declining and getting older? He's making $10 million guaranteed next year and, likely many millions more over his NFLcareer, he's not someone you should be feeling sorry for. When you have millionaires vs billionaires, there are no underdogs. If the Jets are to have continuing success as a franchise going forward, they have to become very smart with money. They cannot pay older/declining players huge amounts of money with long-term guaranteed contracts because that severely limits your ability to pay your own talented players as they come off their rookie contracts. They also need to establish a reputation as a team that cannot get pushed around or give in to player threats, etc. Joe Douglas is doing exactly what he should be doing with these contracts.
Look, if you cannot see after everything I posted why this "report" suggesting Johnson Co president Ira causing an impasse with Zach is no where near meeting the journalistic standards of being factual, and choose to believe it, then yes, I do think you are incapable of seeing things clearly and logically in this case, probably because of disdain of Johnsons. Call it silly, dumb, brainwashed, whatever else we have used throughout this conversation on either side, but let's just say we are in complete disagreement here. As far as Johnsons, I actually think Chris turned things around in a major way in Woody's absence. It's wasn't smooth by any means, it took him 4 years, and he made mistakes along the way. Gase was a big one. Chris was new to this. I suspect Payton's recommendation playing a big role. Ultimately though, he got rid of Mac, and got rid of both Bowels and Gase and replaced them with JD and Saleh. 4 years back he inherited Mac as GM, Todd B as coach, and shit QB situation. I feel we now have a real GM and coach, and a true FQB, and correct reporting structure when GM has the final word. All of this needs to be proven, of course, and I think in time it will, but at this point of time I finally feel Chris/ownership righted the ship.
I called using the word choice of "brainwashed to hate," silly. It is silly to use words like that when it comes to football discussion. Chris turned things around? It was arguably the worst four years of Jets football in the history of the organization, bro. You're super delusional just because things seem like they're looking up. But it's all good.
If only one or two other NFL teams believe it is worthwhile to try to hold bonus money back there has to be something wrong with the idea. That is not the place to use leverage just because you can. That is not the place to draw the line in the sand and accomplished nothing positive but may well have left a negative impact going forward. And the process did make Wilson miss two important days on the practice field - you only get 30. I certainly did not call Wilson the savior - read that section again but there is no need to piss off any player just because you can. I'm pretty sure just about everyone here is well aware of what the offset represents, not sure why you felt the need to explain it here, most importantly because you agree it is a minor issue. The last thing Joe Douglas and the Jets need is for him to flex his muscles simply because he can and get a reputation as a guy who is unreasonable in his demands.
Out of sight is out of mind. We all dislike Manish Mehta because we all know he's nothing more than a hack. So why do Jets fans continue to quote his every hot take while creating threads about it at the same time?
So, you're concerned that taking a hard line on a minor issue would result in such significant badwill that 5 years from now (when his 4 year rookie deal and one year team option have expired,) that he would bear such a grudge that he wouldn't want to resign with the Jets? If you think a minor issue would result in a player holding such a significant grudge for such a long period of time then is your solution to always give a player anything he wants because he could hold a grudge?
My concern is much larger than that. My concern is why would one team expect any player to not be concerned that they were being nickel and dimed by not being able to collect their signing bonus for six months or a year or more when the NFL norm is two to four weeks. My concern is that such a stance would deter other players, particularly free agents, from wanting to get involved with the unique team that thinks such practice is acceptable. Do you believe that taking such a hardline on a minor issue is a good business practice? At no time have I advocated any team giving any player whatever they ask for lest they hold a grudge - why would you ask such a question? Can you not recognize the difference?
There is no Franchise who is undefeated in contract negotiations and there is no GM who's never attempted to nickel and dime certain players depending on situation (s). No. Zach Wilson will not hold a "grudge" 4-5 years from today against the same Franchise who gambled on him #2 overall before blessing him with his Rookie contract worth over $20 million (guaranteed). And if he did hold that type of grudge he'd be nothing more than a scumbag who I wouldn't want around to begin with (thnx God he's an awesome kid).
It's not like the Jets have the greatest track record when their draft picks approach their second contract. There's a reason we've overpaid internally (Revis, Wilkerson), traded players away over disputes (Richardson, Adams - unreasonable idiot but he still fits the bill), externally (Bell, Mosely, Johnson, etc.) and gotten our draft picks into camp late/had contract disputes (Wilson, Darnold, Williams). There's a trend of the Jets being difficult to deal with financially that pre-dates the current regime. Maybe this is a nothing burger? To me, it's a bad early taste to have a pissing match over this.
