Quick Reaction – ProFootballTalk Suggests Chargers Help Seahawks to Job Denver
March 11th, 2010 | by Bryan Douglass |We are getting ready for the day and can’t resist… one of our favorites, Mr. Mike Florio, operates the outstanding NFL news site known as ProFootballTalk.com. It’s become one of the most popular NFL destinations on the internet scene and he tends to throw out opinions and ideas that are, if nothing less intriguing (and for what it’s worth, he’s somewhat of an in-house guy… he’s on MSNBC, now owned by Comcast, all owned by Liberty Media, which happens to own us… keep that in mind as you read on, maybe I’ll boost my street cred).
(Yes, we stole that pick from PFT some time ago and we still love it today.)
Here’s the long and short of Florio’s idea:
1) Seattle needs to collaborate with San Diego… get San Diego to sign Brandon to an offer sheet with contract terms negotiated between Marshall and Seattle.
2) San Diego will give up the 28th pick in the Draft to Denver, they’ll sign Brandon.
3) They will then turn around and trade Brandon to Seattle in exchange for the 14th pick in the Draft.
To quote Florio, “There would be no salary cap consequences, since there is no salary cap. (Also, we vaguely recall similar sign-and-trade arrangements from past years featuring structures that allow the deals to be made without a cap hit to the team that signs the player to the contract and then trades him.) We’re aware of no impediment to such a transaction. Though there’s technically a bit of collusion at work, it’s the kind of collusion that the NFLPA should welcome, since it ultimately encourages player movement. In the end, the Chargers get Marshall out of the division, they move from No. 28 to No. 14 in round one, and the Chargers have the satisfaction of sticking it to an arch rival.”
I’m not Mike Florio, I’m not a lawyer (Florio is btw… not trying to play Star Jones on The View), and I’m not in tune with the finer aspects of the NFL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, but I do know of multiple obstacles and issues with this “plan” that any fan can appreciate.
- You are suggesting (actually, you are assuming) the Broncos won’t take the 14th pick for Marshall and that would be the only snag in the current negotiations between the Seahawks and Broncos… and I think that’s a leap. I might suggest the Seahawks don’t wish to relinquish EITHER of their first rounders in this deal. Their half-hearted attempt to acquire Marshall died before it ever began last week… they flew him out and it became apparent he wasn’t getting a sheet to sign. If they were so dedicated to the move, there was no need to hesitate… but there WAS hesitation because the Seahawks had no intentions of giving up the 6. They wanted to get Denver to the table, they did, and the price tag is set and was asserted as the demand for the exchange.
How many folks typed this exact sentence after Marshall was tendered only with at the 1st-round level: “This is an invitation”? Seattle was invited, there were discussions, and they never extended the offer sheet. As we noted in last night’s post it appears the growing sentiment around the league is (a) the value of receivers is diminished, (b) the faith in taking a gamble on a guy with Brandon’s rap sheet isn’t so strong these days, and (c) the emotions in Seattle suggest the team would be roundly criticized by their fan base, seemingly open to the belief that there are SO many holes to fill in the Seattle roster that relinquishing any high draft picks would simply be bad business (and fans in Seattle are tired of bad business).
In other words, I’m not sure there is a need to go around and take the back door… it’s already been attempted without the middle man.
- Speaking of the middle man, you are going to assume A.J. Smith, the general manager for the Chargers, is willing to…
(a) Open the door for accusations of collusion – that’s what this is Mike, no matter how broad the brush you use to paint this picture… its still collusion – from a division rival, from the NFL, and from Roger Goodell.
(b) Accept criticism from the NFL owners… a group of owners that stand as united as any group of investors in professional sports, a group of owners seeking a more beneficial collective bargaining agreement with better financial structures and guarantees for this group, a group of owners that views and assert Pat Bowlen as one of their leaders and one of the most influential voices in the league.
… and (c) play nice with the Seahawks. You are assuming Smith can deal with Seattle, that no issues of trust or fears of foul play will arise, and that he can then deal with Denver.
Again, I may be wrong, but it sounds like stretch… in fact, it sounds like a lot of stretching.
- Florio also notes the new deal for Brandon would have to include what is commonly known as a “poison pill”… it is an expression used to broadly define terms in a contract agreement attached to an offer sheet that will force the team faced with matching that offer into a corner (you may remember the Vikings did this to sign Steve Hutchinson away from Seattle… ironic, I know… signing Hutch to an offer sheet with terms the Vikings could not match without breaking the league’s salary cap). You can find a great explanation right here by Florio himself… and as noted in this piece, the league has worked hard to close that door of opportunity and ban the use of these tactics. It hasn’t been done yet… but the CBA is under negotiation, and the owners are the side seeking support from the NFL (which they appear to have) in efforts to further constrain spending. For a team to now pursue a deal not only with a poison pill NEEDED to get it done but also with the biggest name in this year’s free agency attached to it… that would be a rather brash move by the Seahawks or the Chargers, AND IT STILL DOES NOTHING TO STOP THE ACCUSATIONS (AND REALITY) OF COLLUSION.
And without the poison pill, Denver still has the right to match that offer sheet and retain Brandon.
It’s a great piece Mike and as presented we do not argue that it can be discussed… but the realities of the league today and the ramifications of this approach are much larger obstacles than you might want to admit in putting it forth.
(Now watch it happen… no, there’s no way… well, not “no” way… right now I’m 87% certain it won’t happen.)
Thanks for stopping in.
Tags: Brandon Marshall, Denver Broncos, Mike Florio, ProFootballTalk.com, San Diego Chargers, Seattle Seahawks
