The reason I ask is Bakers Comments. He is the third person to go on record and say the J-E-T-S lied to him. (Third Most recent I can remember.) If that many people say that, even though they want more money, it may start getting attention around the NFL. That is not a good rep to have. I hope they are not pulling the crap the patrirats did and could still be doing. They used to string people along for a few years then use their age against them. Or. Wait for them to have a bad year and try to get them less money. I really hope thats not the case though. Am I looking to deep into this?
i have been asking myself the same question. i really really hope this is not the case and not how they are operating. i am fairly disappointed in how they have handled their player relations in the past 2 years now. then again it didnt seem to hurt in free agency this year.
i doubt it..cuz coles said it..and then we signed fanaca, pace, woody, franks, richardson..etc, etc ...over paid for some but still
One things for sure, if you fling enough mud, somes going to stick. Personally, forget about who said what etc.... I think its disgusting that the Jets FO let it get to a stage where we're doing our dirty washing in public. This stuff shouldn't be public knowledge until a deal has either been done, thats just me though. To answear your question directly, YES, they are going to get a bad reputation.
NFL=Not For Long All this stuff can blow over very soon. Hopefully... On the other hand? My concern is the immediate impact it could have in the locker room. I figure a lot of current players who might have seen the Jets as a long-term deal are now thinking: "WTF? The way the Jets treated Pete Kendall, Chris Baker etc. Why am I here?" The Jets are NOT a team with a winning tradition. They are NOT a national team (like the Cowboys, Steelers--even the Giants!). So players don't have the promotional opportunities they'd have with other teams. This "FU!" attitude that Tannenbaum/Mangini display towards certain players (Kendall, now Baker) might come back to haunt us...
They said it to Kendall, and we know what happened. Coles they fixed. Which was an excellent move. Baker, i think, may get a reworked deal but not a raise per say. Maybe the FO sees him as expendable due to Keller being drafted. Baker might have to be patient with getting his contract, he's upset because a faster, better athlete is coming in, as a 1st round pick nonetheless, and probably will take his job. He may have been told that he was getting a new deal but come draft day, Keller was there and they got him. Its a business first. Better personnel moves some people out, and i'm one of the Baker supporters.
They Paid Coles, Rhodes, Moore, and Thomas. They stiffed Kendall and now Baker. The Jets are paying the ones they feel the need to pay. Just because the loudest voices are the ones bitching does not mean there is alot of unrest in the locker room. It had little to no impact in free agency and probly never will. For the most part money talks there. I'm not too worried about thier actions. This is a business. it also happens to be a football team that we all cheer for. Thats just the way things happen. People get promised a promotion and passed over all the time.
The problem is that players are taking notice... Kendall was the first that was a big deal, along with Moore.... When Coles felt he had been mistreated, he cited the Kendall and Moore situations... And now that Baker is asking for more cash, he's sighting all three of those situations... Players are taking notice of the gripes of their peers. Whether or not the gripes are warranted is irrelevant, because the fact of the matter is SOMETHING is going wrong, and now players are starting to take notice... By the way, if I were a Jet vet, ala Baker, who had contributed for a number of years, that the FO did give Thomas a big deal would be even more motivation for me to complain. Thomas did NOTHING outside of one season, and got paid. Those who have consistently contributed deserve the money more than he did- and you know that's a factor when they start complaining...
Baker, BTW, was not quiet during all the losing last year. He was one of the few Jets willing to openly question the very questionable moves being made by the CS as things really deteriorated. He's going to be gone for any number of reasons at this point and will probably emerge in a better system for him that makes him more valuable. I'm hoping it's with an NFC team so we don't get hurt by him on the field. Chris Baker is the best all-around Jet's tightend since about the time Mickey Shuler left town. There just haven't been very many people there who could catch the ball and block in the interim.
That's another part of the mistreatment of veterans that players may start to take notice of... When Baker complained about the playcalling after some abysmal calls made at the end of a game, he mysteriously came down with a back injury, and didn't even travel with the team the next week. Similarly, in a later game (I want to say the Washington game, or the home Buffalo game), after a defender took a cheap shot at Leon Washington on the sideline, Brandon Moore stepped up, defended his player, was flagged, and was subsequently benched. That kind of thing generally doesn't sit well in the locker room. I'm hoping the team can open up strong, with a couple wins, next season so that little things like this don't end up becoming big things. Wins heal...
I DON'T THINK YOU ARE. I THINK YOUR DEAD ON. I'VE GOT NO RESPECT FOR WHAT THEY'RE DOING TO BAKER. THE GUY CAN PLAY. HE'S BEING TREATED TOTALLY UNFAIR.
fair is fair, and baker is under paid. say what you want, but i would have rather told coles to go take a walk. he's a fuckin' crybaby. he always wants to renegotiate. i still don't see him as a #1 reciever on most teams in the nfl.
Chris Baker is not a big contributor. Out of six total seasons he has had only two decent ones. He is a one, maybe two year wonder if any thing. In the past three seasons: Rec Yds Y/G Avg Lng YAC 1stD TD 18 269 33.6 14.9 47 7.0 11 1 31 300 18.8 9.7 28 4.3 18 4 41 409 27.3 10.0 22 4.0 29 3 Good numbers. Not great. The three years before that are next to nothing stats wise. He does almost nothing after the catch. This could be a product of the offense he's used in as well as a lack of speed. He is know for having decent hands but not great speed and is an OK blocker. This is an average guy here. Or Just a guy. Nothing great. The Moore situation was not player out in public. He was taken care of. When asked about things in camp, he never talked badly about anyone, but played down the issue. Kendall was the Jets taking a stand. Maybe one they should not have. Coles was always been a loud mouth whiner when it comes to his contract. He latched on to what ever negitive thing he could to twist things his way. Baker is not close to being Coles. He will not get a reworked deal by crying in the press, because he is not that big a part of the team. Coles is our #1 receiver and we have little depth behind him. Baker now has Franks and Keller to deal with. He will be made an example of as a lesser tier player trying to get his way. Moore was a less tier of player who kept quite and got his deal redone. Smart man. Baker can make all the noise he wants and will find himself with little to no playing time. Tough shit. This happens all over the NFL. Not just with the Jets. It happened in KC with Jared Allen. TO has always made noise. Chad Johnson? Randy Moss? Those are jsut big name players off the top of my head. I'm sure a little research could bring up alot more. The thread starter seems to be stating that its a big problem for the Jets FO. Its a problem everywhere. The NFL is a multi Billion dollar business and ever player and agent wants as big a peice of that pie as they can get. The very good players tend to get thier way. The lesser skilled ones tend to get pushed aside.
On many teams maybe not, but the fact is he is the #1 on the Jets and we badly need him. We do not have the players behind him to ship his ass out of future picks. If we had more WR depth this past offseason that situation may have been handled differently.
thats why i think we should have tried to work a deal for someone like boldin, or someone like that. including him in the deal. the fact is, you said it yourself, we really don't have a "true" #1 reciever, and thats a big problem.
Those who like how oil companies treat consumers will love how the jets treat their players and fans.
This happens anywhere you have a boss and employees. Does it give a bad rep to the employer? Absolutely. But only to those affected are bothered by it. I see guys at my job saying they were promised raises and haven't heard anything in months. I hear guys saying the new guys are getting more money than they are. They start bitchin more. If they were told something in confidence then they have a point but at the same time if they start bitchin too much I tell them to take it somewhere else like the boss. Go back and talk to him. I don't want to hear that crap. Thats very contagious and spreads like wildfire through the warehouse. Everybody starts talkin to eachother and askin how much eachother makes and other people start bitchin. I understand but please I don't want to hear it. I also tell management to take care of it. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don't and if the dude quits then they hire someone else. No sweat off their backs. But they don't do that to the guys and gals that are not easily replaced. Bottom line is it ultimately falls on management to take care of these things and shouldn't be telling people what they want to hear to appease them because they will hold them to it. But of course in the real world there are no contracts involved. And in the NFL there seems to be a trend involving the garaunteed money swaying a binding contract to renegotiate. Thats where I get confused with this but as far as I can tell it's still binding unless the FO budges. I think Baker would have to be irreplaceable for a renegotiation. Is he? Thas for the FO to decide.
Thats just it...players always have a good season towards the end of their contracts and then all of a sudden want more money and swear it was promised to them.....why doesn't Baker give back money from the previous years when he didn't do so good....66 catches from 2003 to 2005 and then 72catches from 2006 and 2007. Seems like he should pay the JETS back money for sucking earlier on!!!
The Jets probably are offering Baker more money but he doesn't view it as enough. Either way, because the Jets don't have a reputation for going deep into the playoffs, the only reason a free agent is going to come here is for the money. Luckily, this is all most guys care about (Randy Moss - you're a moron). If we offer a guy more money than other teams, they'll come here. End of story. They aren't gonna think about what's gonna happen when I want to renegotiate in 5 years.
I wouldn't get up in arms over it. Since when is everyone in even a conventional work place a happy camper? I certainly don't put any of this in the same category as 'the Patriots are a class organization'. EDIT: I pretty much said what DenniYork said without reading it first because I'm flying out the door here. My bad.