The point is... you give 6 mill to a proven number 1 RB, if he proves this year he can be one how much money will he want, 8 mill ? I think the Jets are right in saying: hey if you want a new contract now we can give you 5 mill per season (which is a lot of money!) BEFORE you prove you can withstand 20 carries a game, if you want 6 prove to us you are worth all that money! It makes perfect sense... No one will offer him more then 6 mill a season anyways so we might as well wait one season before offering him ALL the money he wants!
By "We", that means the Jets as an orginization. To say I offered him anything would be just stupid. I know you have more common sense than that....
The way you phrased it and then said 'Fuck him' made it sound like you were taking in personally - hence the separation of yourself from the team in terms of financial promises. I have seen nothing from Leon but humility and professionalism to add to his amazing play. He's protecting his own interests because it's part of the business aspect of the game. Get over it.
I say give him 6. Thomas Jones will be gone soon enough and Leon will be our #1 RB. If he had a bad year in 08 or was injured and wasn't the same. The Jets would be doing the same to him. In the world of not guaranteed contracts the player has every right to do this. Hopefully with the new bargaining agreement this will change and teams won't have to deal with this crap. On that note, rookies make way too much money.
i'm not a cap follower, or anything remotely close... but assuming the jets and leon's camp don't come to an agreement this season. due to the uncapped year doesn't he become a restricted free agent? and if that's the case, in an uncapped year, won't an increase in salary ( read:more than what's being offered now ) affect us little in that said uncapped year? if this is the case, and i'm honestly asking here, i don't see the need for haste in this situation. it basically seems like "ok you want more, here... not good enough, just wait." but that's pure speculation on my part.
Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum doesn't expect to have an extension in place with Leon Washington before the start of the season. Washington is taking a sizable risk here. The Jets have reportedly increased their offer to $5 million per year, and Washington will miss free agency if the NFL has an uncapped year in 2010. Per ROTOWORLD
I thought the 5 mil was rejected because the way it was structured. Is this a new 5 mil? I think Leon should take that.
