Saturday to retire after the Pro Bowl

[denverYooper]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/01/25/jeff-saturday-calling-it-quits-after-pro-bowl/


Saturday has sped up the process. Saturday appeared on 1070 The Fan in Indianapolis on Friday and said that he would be retiring after Sunday’s game.

“We’ll finish it with sunsets in Hawaii and call it a much better career than I would have anticipated,” Saturday said on the Grady and Big Joe Show.

So there's some cap room freed up.

[Freak Out]

Good.

[MadScientist]

Better to announce your retirement then have all the other teams do it for you.

[mraynrand]

Can't he retire before the game?

[Teamcheez1]

He wasn't coming back here anyway. He played poorly most of the season.

[Guiness]

Go easy on the guy everyone.

Kudos to him for seeing the writing on the wall, and realizing the tank was empty. His comment is very humble as well, "...a much better career than I would have anticipated."

Classy way to go.

There is the inevitable, question though...what was his signing bonus? Does the team get half of that back?

[run pMc]

Go easy on the guy everyone.

Kudos to him for seeing the writing on the wall, and realizing the tank was empty. His comment is very humble as well, "...a much better career than I would have anticipated."

Classy way to go.

There is the inevitable, question though...what was his signing bonus? Does the team get half of that back?

+1
Saturday didn't deserve the Pro Bowl nod, but he took his benching well and knew he was at the end of the road. Give him credit for making the decision -- TT would have made it for him March 1.
Not sure how much cap relief GB gets.

So EDS is now the starting C. The sample size is small based on this season, but it's probably an improvement. Having Saturday, Newhouse, and Finley in the game didn't do the running game wonders.
I'd like to see EDS (and Newhouse, for that matter) get some tough competition for the job in TC.

[esoxx]

A year too late.

[KYPack]

Go easy on the guy everyone.

Kudos to him for seeing the writing on the wall, and realizing the tank was empty. His comment is very humble as well, "...a much better career than I would have anticipated."

Classy way to go.

There is the inevitable, question though...what was his signing bonus? Does the team get half of that back?

There are conflicting stories about his signing bonus. Read in one place it was 2.65 million. He played at the vet minimum with a 1 mil roster bonus. He was on the roster for 16 games, so he earned that one.

Whatever the signing bonus was, Saturday gets it and gets to keep it. That's why players want those 2 - 5 year deals with a signing bonus. You get the signing bonus (for signing your contract) up front. All the other money must earned and that part of your deal terminates if the team releases you.

[Fritz]

Nice guy, good career, great story, glad he's gone.

[Pugger]

But I'm glad he was a Packer. I don't doubt he helped EDS at practice and in games on the sidelines after he got benched.

[Jimx29]

Saturday to Manning one last time.
Ya....that's a NFC center hiking to an AFC QB. It's the pro bowl after all. Manning was class act too by giving Saturday that ball.

http://i.imgur.com/OLaxw6t.jpg

[Guiness]

There are conflicting stories about his signing bonus. Read in one place it was 2.65 million. He played at the vet minimum with a 1 mil roster bonus. He was on the roster for 16 games, so he earned that one.

Whatever the signing bonus was, Saturday gets it and gets to keep it. That's why players want those 2 - 5 year deals with a signing bonus. You get the signing bonus (for signing your contract) up front. All the other money must earned and that part of your deal terminates if the team releases you.

There have been some cases of players having to return their signing bonus if they retire before the contract is complete, as opposed to being cut though, isn't there? I remember some noise being made about it, but don't remember what happened. Those were situations with conflict between the team and player though, so a different situation than this one, I'm sure.

[QBME]

There have been some cases of players having to return their signing bonus if they retire before the contract is complete, as opposed to being cut though, isn't there? I remember some noise being made about it, but don't remember what happened. Those were situations with conflict between the team and player though, so a different situation than this one, I'm sure.

I believe the most famous was Ricky Williams retiring and the Dolphins going after the money. The Phins won the ruling, and Ricky suddenly rediscovered his passion for the game.

[mraynrand]

Saturday to Manning one last time.
Ya....that's a NFC center hiking to an AFC QB. It's the pro bowl after all. Manning was class act too by giving Saturday that ball.

http://i.imgur.com/OLaxw6t.jpg

I don't get this at all. Care to explain the circumstances? "Gee, Jeff, even though we're on opposite teams, can I feel your butt just once more, for old time's sake?" He's the opposition QB for chrissakes!

[Patler]

According to one site, Saturday had no signing bonus. Instead, there were roster bonus of $2.9 million in 2012 and $2.4 in 2013, with salaries of $1.1 and $1.35, respectively.

If that is true, there is no dead money for him in 2013.

[Guiness]

Nice, the roster bonus obviously won't occur. Have to wonder though why he would negotiate something like this, seems like an overly confident move. Of course, before this year, he had no reason to doubt his abilities, seems like he fell off pretty quickly. This seems to be a case of signing some else's declining player, but the Pack protected themselves well.

[smuggler]

It's nice to have that 3.75 million off the books in 2013. It won't let us keep Jennings, but it might help us lock up Matthews.

[Rutnstrut]

It looked like he retired early the way he played this year, if only someone had called that, oh I DID. Last year when they signed the bum.

[woodbuck27]

But I'm glad he was a Packer. I don't doubt he helped EDS at practice and in games on the sidelines after he got benched.

Worth every penny then.

[Rutnstrut]

It looked like he retired early the way he played this year, if only someone had called that, oh I DID. Last year when they signed the bum.

So they used a roster spot for a consultant? Yeah that's a savvy football move.

[pbmax]

So they used a roster spot for a consultant? Yeah that's a savvy football move.

The Rams are paying their consultant much more. Who made the wiser decision?

[Rutnstrut]

The Rams are paying their consultant much more. Who made the wiser decision?

The Rams can still get some of their investment out of Wells, the Packers get nothing out of Saturday. Did the Rams over pay, certainly. But I think the Packers could have worked a little harder to keep Wells. I will admit though I don't know that as I wasn't sitting in on the talks.

[Patler]

The Rams can still get some of their investment out of Wells, the Packers get nothing out of Saturday. Did the Rams over pay, certainly. But I think the Packers could have worked a little harder to keep Wells. I will admit though I don't know that as I wasn't sitting in on the talks.

Ya, it's impossible for us to know what the team was thinking, or what they offered, if anything. Maybe they wanted him back at or below a certain price, maybe they decided it was time to move on regardless.

That said, I have no problem with a philosophy that has them setting a limit for each player, and refusing to exceed the limit they set. At times it may be that expectations are so different that the player leaves without any negotiations with the Packers, because the player is able to get much, much more than the Packers were willing to pay. This appears to have happened with Wells. In other situations, again there may be little discussion, but at the last minute the player returns because the market wasn't what he hoped. This seems to have happened with Jones.

They have a lot of contracts to deal with, and overpaying any can have a snowball effect.

[mraynrand]

That said, I have no problem with a philosophy that has them setting a limit for each player, and refusing to exceed the limit they set....They have a lot of contracts to deal with, and overpaying any can have a snowball effect.

I think this is spot on - the Packers are like the best used car buyers - if you set a limit, there's no way you can get ripped off. You may have some regrets from time to time, but you don't go broke.