Every Saturday night, we answer your mailbag questions.
We’re not sure why. We just do it.
Hopefully, some of you read it.
With Michael Vick playing great lately I was thinking how his next contract would affect his bankruptcy. I can’t recall the exact details but he allocated a certain amount of his salary based on a tiered level. Can you explain what will happen next year and when Vick will be able to start banking his hard-earned cash. Charles H.
When Vick’s bankruptcy plan was approved, he owed $20 million. Some has been paid back during his first two years back in the NFL.
Per a source with knowledge of the situation, a specific formula applies over the next four years for partial repayment of the creditors.
Don’t expect him to backload any deal to circumvent the bankruptcy plan; we’re told that Vick’s creditors will be monitoring the situation carefully for any possible shenanigans.
Are the Panthers positioning themselves to be sold and moved to another market? Dan D.
It looks that way, but the thinking is that owner Jerry Richardson has decided to take one for the good of the league, cutting back spending and not getting caught up in the chase for free agents. Combined with a lame-duck coach and a G.M. who isn’t as secure in his position as he could be, the mixture has created a situation on par with Carolina’s disastrous 1-15 record from 2001.
The good news? Two years later, the Panthers won the NFC title.
They’ll need a lot of breaks to make that happen again, especially with the Falcons and Saints and Bucs both looking to be teams that will contend for the foreseeable future, if not longer.
Where do the Dolphins go from here with their QB situation, Does Tyler Thigpen have a future? -- Dave D
Based on his performance against the Bears on Thursday night, Thigpen’s future entails not playing quarterback for the Dolphins. For now, though, he’s all they have.
Moving forward, it remains to be seen what the Dolphins do. Chad Henne hasn’t been written off yet, but the fact that he was benched for Chad Pennington won’t do much for Henne’s confidence.
Hopefully, they won’t spend a second-round pick next year on a new quarterback. Since 2004, five second-round picks have been devoted to the position. In 2004, a second-rounder was traded to Philly for A.J. Feeley. In 2006, the Dolphins opted against signing Drew Brees as a free agent, instead sending a second-round pick to Minnesota for Daunte Culpepper. The next year, the Fins picked up John Beck in round two. Then came Chad Henne in the second round, during the first year of the Parcells regime.
Finally, Pat White joined via round two in 2009, and he’s currently on no NFL roster.
Meanwhile, it’s now been 27 years since Dan Marino fell to the Dolphins with the next-to-last pick in round one.
Are the terms of the NFL’s current labor agreement incorporated into each player’s contract? If so, what effect would decertification of the union have on existing contracts? Would the implementation of new work rules by the NFL breach the existing player contracts if the new rules were materially different from the current labor agreement? Geoff D.
Player contracts exist independently of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The CBA outlines certain rights that all players have; the contract fixes the compensation and other specific terms.
Thus, if the CBA expires, player contracts that have not expired will continue. Players whose contracts expire after the 2010 season will have their free-agency rights determined by the next labor deal or by the terms unilaterally imposed by the NFL, either after an impasse in bargaining is declared or after the union decertifies.
Decertification of the NFLPA would result in the creation by the league of rules relating to the draft, free agency, minimum salaries, and/or salary cap. Though it would allow football to continue, the players likely would sue the league, arguing that any attempt by 32 businesses to set rules that each will follow violates antitrust law.
Through it all, the terms of any individual player contracts still in effect would apply, subject to any contrary terms of the next labor deal. If/when there is one.
On the NFL team captains’ patches, what do the stars under the “C” indicate? They can’t be tenure with a team because if it were, Peyton Manning’s patch would pull his whole jersey down. They can’t indicate tenure in the NFL because then Brett Favre’s whole jersey would be one big patch. Gene.
The stars under the “C” indicate the number of times the player has been a captain.
Note that not every team uses the “C” patches.
I think that’s the shortest answer we’ve ever written. And then by adding these last two sentences it probably isn’t.
Since the players have issues with the Thursday night games why can’t the league just make sure the teams that play on Thursday night have a bye week the week before the game? DK Dawg.
The problem is that the byes end in Week 10, the same week in which the Thursday night games start.
Also, don’t assume that all players have issues with Thursday night games. Some (such as former NFL player Ross Tucker of ESPN, Sirius NFL Radio, and Sports USA Radio) like the short work week before a Thursday game and the 10 days between games on the back end.
It’s possible that players are complaining about Thursday night games because players are now conditioned to complain about anything the league does, given the ongoing labor situation.
The latest back and forth between the league and the NFLPA over the extended season involved the union asking to expand the roster from 53 to 56/57 players. What’s the downside of this from the owner’s perspective? Presumably their salary costs go up but it’d be by a paltry (for them!) amount since we’re talking about backup rather than starter salaries. Joe D.
Generally speaking, the union’s reported proposal regarding the expansion of the season to 18 games seems to be very reasonable. Though further negotiation likely will be needed before a final agreement can be reached on this point, it appears that the two sides are in striking distance for reaching a consensus.
In the end, the biggest sticking point will be money, both from the standpoint of how much the players will get for two extra games and, more broadly, how much they’ll be getting for all of them. Still, as to the union’s position on the 18-game season, their specific requests don’t reflect the bluster that had been coming from players who supposedly were dead set against playing more games.
Many Packer fans are predicting Brett Favre will retire if the Vikings lose to the Packers Sunday, which would kill any small hope of the Vikings making the playoffs. Do you think Favre will quit before the end of this season? Do you think Favre SHOULD quit before the end of the season and give the Vikings a chance to see what they now have in Tarvaris Jackson? Steve, Wisconsin.
Actually, I think there’s a better chance he’ll quit if the Vikings win than if they lose. For a guy who wanted to walk off into the sunset with a Super Bowl win, his best bet may be to limp away after beating the Packers one last time.
I think it’s too late for the Vikings to nudge Favre aside. It made sense to give Jackson a chance while there was still time to turn things around. Despite Favre’s accomplishments, he has 21 turnovers in nine games.
Each week, the Vikings should have stripped the names off the jerseys and picked the quarterback best suited to lead the team to victory. Now that the Vikings are moving closer to practical if not mathematical elimination from the postseason, the Vikings should consider giving rookie Joe Webb a test drive.
The Ravens could certainly use a spark on the defensive line, especially in the area of rushing the quarterback. They reportedly were interested in Shawne Merriman when he was dropped by the Chargers, so do you think that there is a possibility of Jarvis Moss coming to Baltimore for that type of a role? Stephen L.
Jarvis Moss has been a major bust at the NFL level. He survived as long as he did in Denver because he had base-salary guarantees. If he was going to be paid whether he was on the team or not, the Broncos kept him on the team.
There’s a reason he cleared waivers and hasn’t been signed -- he’s not very good. It would be a big surprise if the Ravens take a chance on him.
The fact that Redskins coach Mike Shanahan, who drafted Moss in Denver, hasn’t pounced tells us all we need to know.
How can the performances of the NFL’s officials be so disparate and so non-uniform from week to week? In this day and age, it just doesn’t make sense. With so much at stake and so much on the line, especially financially, doesn’t the NFL want to ensure that the integrity of the game is maintained at all costs? I mean, what the hey? Is this the NBA? Did Tim Donaghy become the V.P. of officiating? Did Pete Rose become the commissioner? Thoughts? Todd D.
Though the picture you paint probably is a bit exaggerated, we’ve been arguing for a long time that, as the game becomes bigger and bigger, the NFL needs to devote greater resources to getting every call right.
The league consistently has resisted the possibility of making officials full-time employees, since the league would then have to increase their pay in order to keep them on the payroll. (Currently, most if not all NFL officials have other jobs.)
Still, as the NFL continues to become more and more popular and the outcomes of the games becomes more and more significant, the league must embrace all available techniques for ensuring the highest possible degree of public confidence.
Andy Reid gets a lot of grief for things like clock management but recently he’s been getting some love because of his apparent success developing quarterbacks and getting the best out of them. If Vick keeps playing at a high level and the Eagles are still playing into January, does Reid deserve some serious consideration for coach of the year? Joe D.
To quote a well-know, albeit fictitious, Philadelphia native, “Absolutely.”
The performances of Mike Vick and Kevin Kolb in Philly -- and former Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb in Washington -- prove that Reid can get the most out of any quarterback that plays for him.
Every quarterback has a ceiling on his abilities, and Reid helps them approach it.
We mentioned A.J. Feeley above. Reid made Feeley look like a second-round pick. Feeley never has played to that level elsewhere.
And what about Jeff Garcia? Koy Detmer? Mike McMahon? Reid knows how to get quarterbacks ready to play, and his work with Vick arguably represents the best work Reid ever has done.
Is it just me, or is anybody else wondering if/when Michael Vick feels comfortable again will he go back to doing horrible things? It seems that because the guy is a talented athlete everyone in the NFL is quick to forgive. Maybe he is a changed man but personally he needs to LIVE that for awhile to prove it is for real. To hear people saying that he should be the league MVP frankly is offensive to the “good” guys still in contention for it: Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Roddy White, Arian Foster, etc. Ralph B.
Vick has paid his debt to society and he has been fully reinstated to the NFL. That said, he remains one slip-up away from a revocation of his federal probation and/or another suspension from pro football. The Eagles know this, and it’s affecting their view of his overall value on a potential long-term deal.
After Monday night’s performance, Vick definitely is a candidate for MVP. He’ll likely never win an award like the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year, but Vick has every right to play -- and he also has every right to secure any accolades that result from playing.
Also, Vick is now older and wiser. He seems to have learned from his past mistakes and bad choices.
Is the Donovan McNabb contract really a bad deal for him if the Redskins trade him? The numbers are good, maybe more then he would get without this contract, but the range has been set right? I’m thinking that a trade benefits the Skins AND McNabb if the Skins get picks and McNabb gets the money from another team. Will this contract stand up if he is traded? Zach, Maryland.
Under the deal, McNabb will receive $12.5 million in 2011, a very fair amount for a guy who supposedly is a franchise quarterback. The contract could make McNabb even more attractive in trade, which could help the Redskins get back some of the trade compensation sent to Philly for McNabb.
How can there be so much discrepancy with the way various teams handle alcohol related incidents with players? How can the union allow that? Barney R.
Under the labor agreement, teams are not permitted to impose discipline on players who are charged with alcohol-related offenses. But the union can’t do much about, for example, the one-game suspension imposed on Colts kicker Pat McAfee for public intoxication charges if McAfee wants to take his medicine and not fight it. As a result, we’ll continue to see different teams handle these situations differently, with little if ever opposition from the union -- unless the player decides to file a grievance.