1 Bear gets payday... The other becomes unhappy...

[packers11]

pft.com


URLACHER TO BOYCOTT VOLUNTARY WORKOUTS
Posted by Mike Florio on April 7, 2008, 8:15 a.m.
It figures.

Now that Chicago Bears linebacker Lance Briggs has a long-term deal that presumably has resulted in the removal of the stick from his sphincter, said stick apparently has been shifted to another linebacker on the team.

Middle linebacker Brian Urlacher plans to miss the first day of voluntary workouts, according to the Chicago Tribune. Urlacher told the Trib of his plans, which arise in part from an “unresolved contract situation,” as the newspaper describes it.

Urlacher is signed through 2011, and he is due to earn a base salary of $3.95 million in 2008. But the market has changed dramatically since Urlacher signed his long-term deal, and he presumably wants his contract adjusted to reflect the new realities of a salary cap that increases by $7 million or so per year.

Under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, players may not be forced to attend or participate in voluntary workouts. Indeed, the teams are not permitted to say or do anything suggesting that the sessions aren’t totally voluntary.

But since the NFLPA generally has remained inactive over the years while teams have said and done plenty to indicate that the sessions are anything but voluntary, guys like Vaughan McClure of the Tribune believe that it is appropriate for a team like the Bears to “briefly demote” players who have not participated in voluntary workouts.

It’s not McClure’s fault; the fact that he thinks such action is permissible results directly from the union’s chronic failure to take a stand against such practices.

With the owners poised to pull the plug two years early on the current CBA and then to try to squeeze the players into taking a smaller overall piece of the pie, it’ll be interesting to see if the union finally decides to draw a line in the sand.

I know he signed the contract and play through it... But only 4 mill a year... :shock: ...

[DonHutson]

Now that Chicago Bears linebacker Lance Briggs has a long-term deal that presumably has resulted in the removal of the stick from his sphincter, said stick apparently has been shifted to another linebacker on the team.

1) Getting a stick up his sphincter will not do Urlacher's back problems any good (if he doesn't believe me, he can ask Mike Vick).

2) $4 M in salary, but what kind of signing bonus did he get when he signed that deal?

3) Briggs outplayed Urlacher last year. Maybe he actually deserves more money. Was Urlacher's mediocre play an aberration, or a sign of things to come.

4) Couldn't happen to a nicer team.

[KYPack]

Urlacher's back miseries seemed to come and go. He's play poorly, then do OK, then have a stellar game.

He's getting paid what he's worth now. He's no longer a dominant player that he was a couple years ago.

Man, I love to see the Bears crumbling.

[oregonpackfan]

It's amazing how the value of a signed contract has little meaning for many professional athletes.

Maybe Uhrlacher is receving less today than he is worth. The fact is he is the one who signed the long-term contract based on financial security.

Perhaps he should learn to live with it. Most Americans would love to "struggle" with the challenge of living on $3.8 million a year. :roll:

[Pack-man]

Uhlacher you cry baby, no one twisted your arm and told you to sign the deal. When are these moron players gonna realize that if they sign a long term deal that 4, 5 or 6 years down the road their deal won't be that good anymore? Stop your whining and play!
:violin:

[Guiness]

agreed, but without knowing the signing bonus (assuming it wasn't a Woodson style deal) you have to admit he has pretty much outplayed the contract. They should extend it and give him a raise for the same reason we did with DD, Kampman, etc.

[sheepshead]

My position on TT has always been, he and the scouting staff spend much more time watching players than I do. So while I am always nervous about guys like Harrell, I give him benefit of the doubt. I dont watch enough college football to have a solid opinion.

This leads to my actual point, one of TT's biggest reasons for staying out of free agency the way he does, is this scenario that's playing out in Halas Hall. He looks at every contract and the trickle down effect it will have. A factor in the Williams trade in my opinion too.

[Patler]

According to USA today, Urlacher received a bonus of $13 million in 2003 and another of $13 million in 2007. His salaries were $3.95 million in both 2006 and 2007, with another $50,000 bonus each year (presumably a workout bonus or something). He seems to have received $42.1 million in the last 5 seasons.

[Gunakor]

According to USA today, Urlacher received a bonus of $13 million in 2003 and another of $13 million in 2007. His salaries were $3.95 million in both 2006 and 2007, with another $50,000 bonus each year (presumably a workout bonus or something). He seems to have received $42.1 million in the last 5 seasons.


ROFL well I could live comfortably on that... what the hell is he bitching about? You can only spend so much, and I've never seen a U-Haul following a hearse. And on top of that, his play slipped a bit last season. He wasn't even the best LB on the team, much less the best LB in the league. If he's recieved over 40 million over the last 5 seasons already, his play last season certainly doesn't warrant a raise...

[Lurker64]

ROFL well I could live comfortably on that... what the hell is he bitching about? You can only spend so much, and I've never seen a U-Haul following a hearse.

I believe for a lot of professional athletes, "being paid enough to live an outlandishly pleasant life" is not the only objective. Some athletes believe that if they get paid more than player B that's confirmation that they are better than player B (if we're talking essentially the same position). So athletes frequently desire to get paid more than players playing similar positions that they consider themselves to be better than. It's weird for people with more money than they are likely to spend to behave like this, but people get self-esteem from weird places sometimes.

This is why free agency is so dangerous these days, because if you pay market price for a mediocre free agent, that's potentially more than a quality player you already had at that position makes. This oftentimes causes unrest. It's also kind of reasonable, if you have had a better career than somebody else, play basically the same position they do, and maintain better current production than they do wouldn't you object to being paid less than the other guy, regardless of what you're getting paid?

The problem here is that Urlacher thinks he's better than Briggs and wants to get paid more, and Briggs thinks he's better than Urlacher and wants to get paid more. There's no solution to this. It's kind of amusing.

[Gunakor]

ROFL well I could live comfortably on that... what the hell is he bitching about? You can only spend so much, and I've never seen a U-Haul following a hearse.

I believe for a lot of professional athletes, "being paid enough to live an outlandishly pleasant life" is not the only objective. Some athletes believe that if they get paid more than player B that's confirmation that they are better than player B (if we're talking essentially the same position). So athletes frequently desire to get paid more than players playing similar positions that they consider themselves to be better than. It's weird for people with more money than they are likely to spend to behave like this, but people get self-esteem from weird places sometimes.

This is why free agency is so dangerous these days, because if you pay market price for a mediocre free agent, that's potentially more than a quality player you already had at that position makes. This oftentimes causes unrest. It's also kind of reasonable, if you have had a better career than somebody else, play basically the same position they do, and maintain better current production than they do wouldn't you object to being paid less than the other guy, regardless of what you're getting paid?

The problem here is that Urlacher thinks he's better than Briggs and wants to get paid more, and Briggs thinks he's better than Urlacher and wants to get paid more. There's no solution to this. It's kind of amusing.


A good solution to the problem happening in this offseason is to gague thier play/production from last season. Last season, Briggs outplayed Urlacher. So if players are going to have the attitude of "Look what I've done for you" when asking for more money, GM's should be allowed to have the attitude of "What have you done for me lately?" Briggs has done more than Urlacher in the most recent season, so I'd view that as Briggs being the better linebacker right now. And especially with multiple years left on Urlacher's contract to go prove that theory wrong, I think he should just shut his trap and go outplay Briggs before demanding more money than him...

[Pack-man]

According to USA today, Urlacher received a bonus of $13 million in 2003 and another of $13 million in 2007. His salaries were $3.95 million in both 2006 and 2007, with another $50,000 bonus each year (presumably a workout bonus or something). He seems to have received $42.1 million in the last 5 seasons.

Then he really need to shut the "f" up and just play! God I hate these spoiled friggin athletes!

Get a real job once!

[the_idle_threat]

So he's makin $4 mil this season, and they just wrote him a $13 mil bonus check last year on top of his $4 mil salary, and his play has gone downhill ...

Hmmm...

I'd say he should STFU, but to the degree it's causing turmoil in the Bears' locker room, I like it!

And---as is often the case---Lurker makes a good point. With these guys it's less about money than about respect. But when he measures the "respect" he's getting, he really should include bonus money in the equation if he wants to be fair about it.

[DonHutson]

According to USA today, Urlacher received a bonus of $13 million in 2003 and another of $13 million in 2007. His salaries were $3.95 million in both 2006 and 2007, with another $50,000 bonus each year (presumably a workout bonus or something). He seems to have received $42.1 million in the last 5 seasons.

Thanks for digging up the numbers, Patler. This is what I was talking about.

I guess once it's in the bank, it doesn't count.

[woodbuck27]

agreed, but without knowing the signing bonus (assuming it wasn't a Woodson style deal) you have to admit he has pretty much outplayed the contract. They should extend it and give him a raise for the same reason we did with DD, Kampman, etc.

I expect we'll see him get it too Guiness.