Jennings - Last Season with the Pack

[rbaloha1]

Standard Negotiating 101 stuff.

GJ wants the Packers to know he wants fair market value for an elite receiver.

In a way, Nelson who was not considered an elite receiver when signing the contract somewhat "undermined" GJ. According to previous articles, teammates ridicule Nelson for accepting a perceived low offer.

[Kiwon]

Anything can happen (the Packers lose Cobb or Nelson to serious injury), but all things being equal, Jennings will be elsewhere next season. Successful players expect to get paid top dollar and there'll be a good team who's an experienced, quality receiver short of being a serious Super Bowl contender who'll gamble on him.

Jennings will get paid.

[Packers4Glory]

w/ the depth this team has at WR, it wouldn't shock me if they let him walk and used that money to shore up some other key guys. A lot will depend on how Nelson, Cobb, and Jones look this yr. I still like Jones a lot and think he could be a helluva a starter. Cobb is exciting and sorta reminds me of a young driver/jennings hybrid of a player.

Hard choices have to be made and successful teams have a lot of guys who outperform their deals and it becomes impossible to keep them all together. I don't know that w/ the depth we have, that the reward on a soon to be 30yr WR is worth the financial gamble. I hate to say it. I hate myself for thinking it. But that's sort of the facts they have to look at next yr.

[smuggler]

Vincent Jackson really fucked our chances of getting Jennings to sign long-term (and, to some extent Garcon as well). Like others have said, we can franchise him two years in a row and then let him walk when he's 32.

[mission]

How does a phone call from his agent prevent the dude from running a crisp route or plucking a ball out of the air? Really don't understand this 'distraction' thing. Sure if he's taking calls around the clock with every minute detail then it can be a distraction, but I think you guys are really playing a professional athlete to be pretty soft. Prevent him from having his best season? I don't know, go out and catch the damn ball. How are they mutually exclusive?

Call me a conspiracy-nerd, but I don't expect Jennings to get the same amount of targets per game that he's received in the past. Rodgers knows the score, he did it with Finley last year early on.

[Little Whiskey]

its tough to give a hometown discount in the NFL. the contract is not guaranteed. the minute he has a career ending injury he is out of a contract. depending on how the contract is laid out, an extra 5mil could be a big deal.

[MadScientist]

The problem with the tag is that all that money is tied to the current year's cap, they can't do any bonus / averaging games. It may prevent an AR or CM deal being struck. It is the price of being good at accumulating talent in the NFL. Maybe Boykin will be GJ II.

[Packers4Glory]

as the article mentions, there are guys like Rodgers, Mathews, and Raji who are higher up on the extension list. Admittedly I'm not very up to date on guys and their contract situations, but I don't think either of them are FA next yr aside from Jennings. So in theory they could wait on those guys until next yr and put the franchise tag on Jennings, but I just don't see it happening. They have to lock up those other 3 guys who are the core of the franchise's future success. Your offensive and defensive star players and your D-line anchor.

But like I said lets see how Cobb does this yr in year 2. Pray he doesn't get killed during a return.

Don't see anything wrong w/ anything Jennings is saying. Nor do I see any reason he won't be as involved in the game plan or targeted by Rodgers. Rodgers is going to hit whoever is open.

[Patler]

How does a phone call from his agent prevent the dude from running a crisp route or plucking a ball out of the air? Really don't understand this 'distraction' thing. Sure if he's taking calls around the clock with every minute detail then it can be a distraction, but I think you guys are really playing a professional athlete to be pretty soft. Prevent him from having his best season? I don't know, go out and catch the damn ball. How are they mutually exclusive?

It was Jennings himself who said he didn't want the distraction. He told his agent to not even contact him unless they were close to a deal, so he could focus on the games.

Personally, I think it is bull, too. But it is what almost all of them say, because it sounds good, and MIGHT put a little pressure on the team to get something done early.

[pbmax]

Mish, it also serves as a notice to the media, "C'mon, now, no more contract questions. I won't even know the status of the talks until something breaks through, and then we will all know."

He's setting a marker that the only possible people who could give you an update are his agent and the team. It helps to deflect attention while allowing him to have one more day in the media stating that he is looking for a new deal. After this blitz, he just refers back to the no update status.

[mission]

It was Jennings himself who said he didn't want the distraction. He told his agent to not even contact him unless they were close to a deal, so he could focus on the games.

Personally, I think it is bull, too. But it is what almost all of them say, because it sounds good, and MIGHT put a little pressure on the team to get something done early.

That's really the key there. I hope that's it. I got worked up over this, but if it's just because he doesn't want to play too much of the season without something long term in fear of injury then I really can't blame him. Really comes down to what that number is before judging him. If he wants 6 years for 70+ million then we know what's going to happen. I'd like 4 yrs/44 mil or something but he's going to want some length on this contract.

A lot of unknown at this point. Hopefully, like you say, it's just posturing.

[mission]

Mish, it also serves as a notice to the media, "C'mon, now, no more contract questions. I won't even know the status of the talks until something breaks through, and then we will all know."

He's setting a marker that the only possible people who could give you an update are his agent and the team. It helps to deflect attention while allowing him to have one more day in the media stating that he is looking for a new deal. After this blitz, he just refers back to the no update status.

Good point. I'm seeing some light here. Hate to think of Jennings as a villain.

[Patler]

Good point. I'm seeing some light here. Hate to think of Jennings as a villain.

PB had a good point, I agree, too.

Most of them are not villains, they're business men trying to make they best deal they can for themselves, which does not always mean the most money, but often does. Only a small handful act like prima donnas.

As a side note, many, many criticized Ryan Grant for "holding out" 5 years ago. I said at the time that he had an opportunity to leverage it into a solid long-term contract, and he should because it might be the only one he would ever get, especially at the position he played. Well, it is looking like that might be his only meaningful NFL contract. He played the situation about like a 1st or 2nd round draft pick could at that time, and that really was close to his situation.

Only a few things bother me about players and their contract dealings:
- ignoring all aspects of their compensation, and claiming to be grossly underpaid based on salary when they had received very significant bonus money
- having a bunch of mediocre to poor seasons in which they were overpaid, followed by one very good year, then wanting to tear up a couple years of an existing contract.
- acting as if there is something morally unjust in the way they are being treated, and/or referring to being slaves, destitute, etc.

[Smeefers]

I think a lot of rats here are upset that they're not going to get GJ for a deal. If you substitute his name with Mathews or Rodgers, nobody would even dream of getting on them. What's the difference? If Rodgers said anthing close to that, people would be screaming for Ted to get the deal done.

The only time people want to get someone cheap is when they know they can afford to loose them, but they just don't want to. If our only real option at WR was Greg Jennings, the only guys behind him being a handfull of Shakey Smithson's, then people would be loosing their shit to get him signed.

Get used to the idea, the dude is gone unless GB ponies up with some serious garunteed cash.

[Smidgeon]

I think a lot of rats here are upset that they're not going to get GJ for a deal. If you substitute his name with Mathews or Rodgers, nobody would even dream of getting on them. What's the difference? If Rodgers said anthing close to that, people would be screaming for Ted to get the deal done.

The only time people want to get someone cheap is when they know they can afford to loose them, but they just don't want to. If our only real option at WR was Greg Jennings, the only guys behind him being a handfull of Shakey Smithson's, then people would be loosing their shit to get him signed.

Get used to the idea, the dude is gone unless GB ponies up with some serious garunteed cash.

I for one would prefer a hometown discount for all the stars. Thus, able to afford more stars and dominate year after year. Let's get all the hometown discounts done!