Reed is in for a rude awakening. No team is going to pay him Eric Weddle money, he’s not going to get a long term deal, which means he’s not going to collect a bunch of guaranteed money. The Ravens have likely already put out some feelers about Reeds value.

But the owners can cut them whenever they want to. Why don’t the owners have to agree to pay them for the length stated?

In todays NFL every player makes far far FAR more money than 99% of the rest of the population. They may have the “right” to hold out….. but they sure as hell don’t get any compassion or sympathy from me.

But make not mistake, owners DO NOT pay more than a player is worth, i.e., market value. I’ve come to the conclusion that fans (i.e., normal “not rich” Americans) are simply haters! They are flat out jealous!

Great points.

A contract is NOT a MORAL agreement that says “I will show up no matter what and if I don’t, then I’m a greedy selfish bad person”.

A contract is a BUSINESS agreement which states the terms of compensation IF a player chooses to play and IF a team chooses to keep him on the roster, and what happens IF either party freely chooses not to.

Players are just as free to hold out their services for a better offer as teams are to cut players and offer to bring them back at a lower salary, but too often fans and the media are quick to demonize or judge a player as being “greedy”.

If you really believe in a free market, that means neither party is morally obligated to make a particular business decision.
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OMG!!! You are so right! I’ve said that many times before, albeit in a different way. I love your morality vs business comparison. But make not mistake, owners DO NOT

Players always cite the whole “outperforming rookie contracts” as a legitimate reason for holding out. That’s fine, but what about when you significantly underperform you contract?

If players can hold out when they overperform a contract, why can’t teams “hold out” when those players grossly underperform their contract?

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Um…it’s called getting cut. Teams cut players who are under performing every day.

And that’s coming from a Ravens fan by the way.

And this is how business works amongst “professional” athletes?

What’s the difference between this and some kid holding his breath until he gets his way?

If he was really upset over his contract, he would hire a representative to work on it. Otherwise, he’s just peeing down his leg.

I hate Ashley Fox’s hypocrisy. She’s never played a down of NFL football and thinks we’ll eat up what she says cuz she’s got a cute little avatar.
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Florio never played a down either, so would you call him a hypocrite too. He said he had an epiphany last months which means he had a different opinion before that. Fox gave what we call an opinion. Fox has a “cute little avatar” and is employed by ESPN to give her opinion. Florio has a website and gives his opinion. And both have been successful. Fox worked hard and got a better job. Florio worked hard to create this website which he eventually sold to NBC. Neither are hypocrites. They have opinions. You obviously have an opnion on the subject, so let me ask you this. Have you ever played a down in the NFL? If not, what does that make you?

What Revis did/is about to do is despicable. Ed Reed is already making what he deserves. He has been a great player but if a restructure is warranted it should be for less money rather than more. He still plays well but not as good as he used to. His injury history/age lead a reasonable person to believe his value is declining not going up.

When is the last time a holdout has resulted in an increase in performance? Rarely has a player that holds out even maintained his previous performance in the year of the holdout.

While your diatribe mentions that players get paid more by holding out, I couldn’t help but notice your omission of whether or not the player actually deserved more money or if they performed to a level worthy of the new contract once they got it.

I’m tired of players complaining they’re ONLY getting $3 million this year, however when they signed that contract, the average payout was $6 or $7 million a year, and got $15-$20 million up front. Players LOVE long term deals when they cash that signing bonus check, but are not too keen on them when there’s 2 or 3 years left and they’re base salary puts them in the bottom half of starters at their position.

Every once in a while there’s a valid complaint of over playing the contract (Chris Johnson, Revis the first time), but too often you have an Ed Reed or MJD situation come up, where the overall contract value is still about right, the player just doesn’t like the last couple years.

There’s a risk for GMs and Owners too. If the player busts, the GM may lose his job because he cannot sign other players that will help his team. For the owner, they dump $20 – $40 mil of guaranteed cash for a player, and sometimes never see anywhere close to a return of investment. Granted, those risks are not the bodily harm that the players risk, which is much more dangerous. All of those risks; player, GM, owner; are all a part of the path chosen by the person.

A contract is NOT a MORAL agreement that says “I will show up no matter what and if I don’t, then I’m a greedy selfish bad person”.

A contract is a BUSINESS agreement which states the terms of compensation IF a player chooses to play and IF a team chooses to keep him on the roster, and what happens IF either party freely chooses not to.

Players are just as free to hold out their services for a better offer as teams are to cut players and offer to bring them back at a lower salary, but too often fans and the media are quick to demonize or judge a player as being “greedy”.

If you really believe in a free market, that means neither party is morally obligated to make a particular business decision.

If players can hold out when they overperform a contract, why can’t teams “hold out” when those players grossly underperform their contract?

All this stuff needs to stop in my opinion. As a player, sign a contract and play through it. At the end, if you outperform, use that to your advantage at that time, not 1/2 way through your current contract. As a team, stop pandering to whiny players. Don’t concede and negotiate extensions mid contract, let them hold out if they want to.

Um, probably. But most don’t become rich by reneging on their deals and contracts.

The player can then sit out and give up the income.

The most likely options for this solution would seem to be an aging veteran who has only a year or two left to play [Ed Reed] or younger player who plays a position with lots of viable alternatives [Mike Wallace]

Once this happens players and their agents will take contracts more seriously.

in this NFL there is no loyalty on the teams behalf. Once a team feels the player under performs they want to restructure the contract or cut the player.
These owners are all about profit. from the 18 games to TV timeouts,, they have sold out to greed.
Look at players like Westbrook or Tautupo.. they suck the life out of these players and then cut their loses.

when you are top notch player, you hold all the cards… Ray Rice, Ed Reed, Brees, everyone should hold out to get the guaranteed contract they deserve.