Comments on: Bradford's $50 million guarantee is legit

By: Tombstone7

Tombstone7 — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 10:23:02 +0000

The RAMS made a poor investment. Sam Bradford will be the next big bust due to injurries. He won’t last a full season. The guy is injury-proned! Lots of money to pay a guy who hasn’t played 2 full seasons……in college at that!

By: theGimp

theGimp — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 04:42:28 +0000

Come on Florio. You know ownership is trying to get these vets to vote in a rookie wage scale this year. So Bradford gets a pile and the NFL tells the RFA’s “Look we can’t afford this kind of cash for them and you. Give us a new deal.” It just might work, too. Of coarse, the new union boss is a political hack so he probably wants to negotiate the new deal in the US Senate some time next fall. God I hope I’m wrong.

By: Brian Sipe

Brian Sipe — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 13:03:27 +0000

Wow the Rams are “THEE” worst run professional team in the world.

By: Duan

Duan — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 12:13:29 +0000

This is a gotdamn shame! This som-a-biscuit is holding out for money, he hasn’t even proven he is worth, with two garbarg a$$ shoulders!!!!
C’mon man!
Somebody pimp slap this dude!

By: BCGreg

BCGreg — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 12:07:40 +0000

There HAS to be a rookie wage scale.
This happened in the NBA when the # 1 picks like Derrick Coleman and Glenn Robinson were getting $100 million dollar contracts just for being drafted. It was killing the system and fostering resentment among the players, namely the vets. The NBA corrected it (to a degree). The NFL must do the same.
And I could care less if Bradford becomes a star or a bust. Good for him for getting the money. The owners could have said no. I understand the repercussions if the Rams didn’t pay him, but they could have said no still. A rookie wage scale would have prevented this whole discussion.

By: bowski

bowski — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 11:44:14 +0000

Brilliant thinking here. The rams replace an all-pro who had absolutely no blocking and receivers with a $50,000,000 rookie who will have the same caliber blockers and receivers- i’ll give bradford 7 games before he is carried off the field….what is funnier is that the rams fan see bradford as a savior and badmouth bulger for his contract which was half of the guarantee…
Interesting to see the rams indoor arena –paid for by st louis taxpayers and opened in 1995 is obsolete

By: ramsfan8

ramsfan8 — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 11:26:36 +0000

how can u blame the rams for this? every year the 1st overall contract has been increasingly rising and rising, the rams had no choice but to draft the best qb available, and they had no choice but to fork up the $$$. stafford got a big deal last year, why not bradford? jamarcus russell got 61 mil (32 guaranteed) u think tom condon is gonna sit back and have his player accept that much? no of course not hes gonna ask for more. if theres no rookie cap we’ll be sittin here next year saying how lockers contract is absurd

By: lowleadman

lowleadman — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 10:57:42 +0000

Most of these players ought to be paid by the game. Albert comes to mind.

By: carolinaviking

carolinaviking — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 10:45:35 +0000

if the nfl can justify paying a rookie this kind of money,they should be able to build their own stadiums without public support,i can never understand why a player may make 10 million a year when the player beside him makes 365 thousand,make the 10 million player play several positions if he is that good,its a team sport ha ha

By: azlionsfan

azlionsfan — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 10:45:10 +0000

Well it looks like Sue will get more guarenteed money than Stafford. Lets hope it doesn’t cause any discontent.

By: Raiders757

Raiders757 — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 10:30:23 +0000

# 1mge says: July 31, 2010 8:30 AM
Ford Field is out dated????
————————————
I sure he means the dome the Rams play in, and that still begs to ask the same question. The dome in St. Louis is only 15 years old. Hardy outdated by any means.
————————————-
FoF says: July 31, 2010 9:04 AM
And that folks is why the Lions are the Lions.
————————————–
What do the Lions have to do with this?
On the topic at hand. The rookie pay scale is getting out of control. Unproven players don’t deserve this kind of money.

By: Bearfan54

Bearfan54 — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 10:17:47 +0000

My friends wife makes $12.00 an hour helping the elderly, wiping their asses and this guy gets $50 mil for throwing a football…

By: stetai

stetai — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 10:14:18 +0000

Congratulations Bradford and your agent, you’ve suckered them all in beautifully. The NFL has created this system based on fooling people with leverage and a “hot” college game to parlay that into a virtual lottery win.
Then once you play pro it literally doesn’t matter and more often than not you stink. JaMarcus really kicked this trend into high gear and God bless all these college/rookies who are merely playing the game and exploiting this ridiculous system for what it is.
For Godsakes, even the WWF-like NBA has more sense than this with their rookie cap. Players at least have to prove their stardom or game ability before cashing in.
The NFL is so petrified about “losing a season” that they continue to run this stupid system that hurts the game and the league. History lesson, MLB lost an ENTIRE season, and when they came back they had a home run race which captivated the world, the Yankees won more, the players all make more money than the NFL superstars, the teams make more money, and despite the steroid scandals, baseball is STILL just as popular over 13 years later.
NFLPA, Goodell, fix this broken system. You are the laughing stock of the sports world despite being the most popular. Unless Labron James switches sports, NO ROOKIE should be getting $50million before stepping foot on an NFL field.

By: downwithdansnyder

downwithdansnyder — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 10:05:53 +0000

“an increase of 19.9 percent”
ABSURD. He should kiss his agent right on the smackers….

By: downwithdansnyder

downwithdansnyder — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 10:01:35 +0000

“So much for teams not being willing to sign players to long-term, big-money deals given the uncertain status of the labor situation.”
What are they supposed to do, NOT sign their draft pick. There is a big difference between giving a deal like this to a draft pick (cause you know you sort of have to) and a current player that is already under contract. Those are the deals that don’t seem to be getting done. Every team will sign their draft picks.

By: H8R

H8R — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 09:58:13 +0000

For a second-tier talent…. WOW

By: CarolinaMike

CarolinaMike — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 09:54:58 +0000

This is the biggest issue in the NFL today.

By: spartyfi

spartyfi — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 09:40:01 +0000

They had no choice, just like the lions last year. Can’t afford to have a long holdout when you suck. The NFL needs to fix this issue with the new agreement.

By: LittleWarrior

LittleWarrior — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 09:29:40 +0000

Totally unfair to player like Manning and Brady. What is wrong with the ownership in St. Louis to do a deal this stupid.

By: Tim_Stead

Tim_Stead — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 09:26:05 +0000

The Rams were in a postion to wildly overpay for Sam Bradford because they’re a pathetically lousy team/organization which is why they were in position to draft Bradford to begin with.
The Colts and Patriots are no such organizations
They’re not going to cut their own throats with huge contracts until they know the lay of the salary cap land.

By: Football Fan

Football Fan — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 09:24:50 +0000

This is a great example of why the Rams are so bad. Giving obscene amounts of money to an unproven player like this is just plain stupid. Billy Devaney is an idiot GM and their owners are spoiled brats who know nothing about football. This franchise is going down the tank and will continue to do so.

By: Ufanforreal

Ufanforreal — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 09:24:08 +0000

0ut of that 50 million how much of it is he going to donate to the fans so they can afford to go to the games to see this unproven player.

By: BigBear123

BigBear123 — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 09:18:10 +0000

He might give JMac competition for biggest bust ever if that shoulder doesn’t hold up.
There is a reason bad teams stay bad.

By: CT Pats Fan

CT Pats Fan — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 09:09:57 +0000

This is just the cover Kraft needed to sign Brady to a mega deal. Now when the owners blame him for breaking rank, he can just blame the Rams.
As an aside, a 20% increase in guaranteed money is bonkers!

By: The Oven

The Oven — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 09:09:36 +0000

He will be the Glenn Robinson of the NFL…

By: FoF

FoF — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 09:04:16 +0000

And that folks is why the Lions are the Lions. Always the joke of the league.

By: Pack_Attack

Pack_Attack — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 09:00:09 +0000

How is $50 million legit to any rook? The league needs a rookie cap now. If this kid fails (50/50 chance) the Rams are done for years.

By: lowleadman

lowleadman — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 08:56:14 +0000

Mike
You are absolutely correct. Kraft, pay Brady now. Enough BS.

By: Omega

Omega — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 08:55:07 +0000

Bradford has leverage. Those looking to get their contracts extended have less leverage.
The Rams are between a rock and a hard place. Which is why “winning” the #1 pick in the draft is becoming less and less of a prize. It kills the financial structure of a team, creates issues in the locker room, and if the pick turns out to be a bust it will potentially destroy a team for years. See Detroit, see Cleveland.

By: BroncoBourque

BroncoBourque — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 08:51:22 +0000

I can’t believe the Rams paid that much to Bradford but Mike you seem to be missing the point.
First, the fact that the Rams have been so bad and have unsettled ownership is probably a reason why they had to give in and pay Bradford. They can’t really afford to further alienate their fan base by not signing the #1 overall pick in the draft. They didn’t have a lot of leverage in this case and the deal they signed seems to reflect that.
Second, Bradford wasn’t under contract so there was nothing forcing him to report to training camp if the Rams didn’t give in. Brady and Manning are both under contract so they would risk fines and maybe even fan backlash if they held out. McNeil and Jackson are both restricted free agents for a GM with a God complex, while I don’t agree with AJ Smith, he holds a lot of leverage and is using it.