It’s the only issue about which teams and top-10 first-round picks can haggle. And so they are.
But why is the question of whether the contracts will contain so-called offset language an issue? Former Chiefs G.M. Scott Pioli and Patriots V.P. of player personnel Scott Pioli joined Monday’s PFT Live to explain the concept, and the reasons some teams feel strongly about it.
As it relates to the team for which Pioli most recently worked, he addressed rumors that the Chiefs’ decision to insist on offset language in first overall pick Eric Fisher’s contract comes from owner Clark Hunt.
“I would find that very hard to believe, that Clark is demanding that the Chiefs or that anybody in the organization takes a stance,” Pioli said. “I can say this emphatically. My four years in [Kansas City], he let us negotiate things the way we wanted to. At times the way we did it wasn’t popular with agents or it wasn’t popular in the agent community or with players, but ownership always allowed us to do business the way that we believed was right. Clark wanted to know what was going on, what we were doing and why we were doing it, but really, he let us do our jobs and, truthfully, I know that that was a case for the previous regime prior to my arrival there. I am certain that Carl Peterson, Denny Thum and the group that was there in management before that were allowed to negotiate contracts and do things the way they wanted. I mean, we were given autonomy, so that’s how Clark does business. He empowers the people that he hires and lets them do things the way they want.”
So, basically, someone in the current regime wants offset language in Fisher’s deal, and it’s still unclear whether they’ll get it.