We all knew it was coming...

As RedskinsJunkie pointed out, according to Wednesday's Washington Post, ST is not looking for a new contract (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/17/AR2005051701249.html)

So what's the deal then?

"We're in here talking about practice. Not a game, we're talking about practice. How silly is that? I know I'm supposed to be there.... we're talking about practice.... How the hell can I make my teammates better by practicing. Who could be bothered with such a tedious waste of time?"

Maybe thats what He's thinking.

God, I hope he hasn't been hanging out with Ricky Williams.....that could get ugly

Unless he's into "natural" medicine, I think we're OK. :)

Well, I checked with my sources and apparently Taylor has told coach Gibbs he will hold out of camp until Matty changes his avatar on the Warpath

"I'm freakin' Sean Taylor," said Taylor "not some camp scrub. Sean Taylor gets sick when he sees blue"

But when asked by reporters, Mr. Kyer had the following to say "Mr. Taylor and his agent knew the rules when he signed up last year. Avatars are non-negotiable. If he wants to get a new avatar he has to earn it by putting in his dues on the message boards"

Seriously though. If in fact it is a contract issue, this is sort of a catch-22 in a way. On the one hand if they wait to renegotiate his deal it could end up costing them a lot more if-as we all hope-Sean Taylor turns into a monster player. It's similar to the Juwan Howard/Washington Bullets situation from several years ago.

On the other hand, as has been mentioned here before the Redskins are not at fault for the deal that Taylor signed and it is not their responsibility to cover for the mistakes of agents. What is the likelihood that Rosenhaus would ever tell a team "Hey listen, you didn't do a very good job negotiating my client's contract last season. This is way too much money. Here take some back."

"We're in here talking about practice. Not a game, we're talking about practice. How silly is that? I know I'm supposed to be there.... we're talking about practice.... How the hell can I make my teammates better by practicing. Who could be bothered with such a tedious waste of time?"

Maybe thats what He's thinking.

Reporter: "So you and coach Brown got caught up on Saturday about practice?"

Iverson: "If I can't practice, I can't practice. It is as simple as that. It ain't about that at all. It's easy to sum it up if you're just talking about practice. We're sitting here, and I'm supposed to be the franchise player, and we're talking about practice. I mean listen, we're sitting here talking about practice, not a game, not a game, not a game, but we're talking about practice. Not the game that I go out there and die for and play every game last it's my last but we're talking about practice man. How silly is that?

Now I know that I'm supposed to lead by example and all that but I'm not shoving that aside like it don't mean anything. I know it's important, I honestly do but we're talking about practice. We're talking about practice man. (laughter from the media crowd) We're talking about practice. We're talking about practice. We're not talking about the game. We're talking about practice. When you come to the arena, and you see me play, you've seen me play right, you've seen me give everything I've got, but we're talking about practice right now. (more laughter)

Reporter: "But it's an issue that your coach continues to raise?"

Iverson: "Hey I hear you, it's funny to me to, hey it's strange to me too but we're talking about practice man, we're not even talking about the game, when it actually matters, we're talking about practice."

Reporter: "Is it possible that if you practiced, not you but you would make your teammates better?"

Iverson: "How in the hell can I make my teammates better by practicing?

If the skins renegotiate, ST willjust turn around and hold out in 2 years when he makes the probowl. then he will hold out 3 years later when he is considered the best safety in the game.

the redskins need to take a stand against rosenhaus and not renegotiate.

Just wondering, but cant teams put a "no-holdout" clause in contracts? Something like the player will have to forfit "X" amount of his bounus if he were to hold out within the first "Y" amount of years of the contract.

That way most holdouts would only occur when players want extensions or if they were in the last year of there contract...

Maybe it's just me, but is this report anything new? It has no new quotes from either Taylor or Rosenhaus, or from the skins. It looked to me like a wire report simply reporting on the opening of the skins OTAs, and noting that Taylor wasn't there, and that it's common knowledge that he isn't happy with the intial deal. Was there ANYTHING new in this piece (regarding Taylor), except for the inflamatory headline?

I didn't see it. I expect Taylor will be here for the minicamp, and that the skins will add some sort of incentive bonus somehwere (for minimal money) so the kid can save face and Rosenhaus can buy another solid gold gold-bar holder, or something.

No need to start flaming each other...

Not that I'm the biggest fan of the Post right now, but this sounds much more promising, and it has named sources and everything! From today's Post:


Safety Sean Taylor was not present for the start of the Washington Redskins' offseason practices yesterday, but Coach Joe Gibbs said he expects the second-year player to be on hand next month for the mandatory minicamp. Taylor has not returned numerous calls from his coaches, and Gibbs said he is unsure why he is not here but that his absence is not related to his contract.

When asked if the Redskins had been given assurances from Taylor's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, that Taylor would attend a mandatory camp June 17-19, Gibbs said, "I would be in shock if he missed something that was mandatory."

Previously, Gibbs stated that he believed Taylor's absence was related to concerns about his contract. But the team has since sent salary cap specialist Eric Schaffer to Miami to meet with Rosenhaus, and Redskins officials say they are now certain that the contract is not the reason Taylor has remained in Florida. Gibbs said Rosenhaus has been reluctant to divulge details about Taylor's decision not to come to Redskins Park, but running back Clinton Portis reiterated his belief that the safety, who was a rookie last year, is burned out from football.

"He's doing the proper training" in Florida, said Portis, who speaks with Taylor regularly, "and when he gets here -- whenever that is -- he knows what his responsibility is going to be. I know he'll be here for training camp."

Redskins' Taylor Is Absent for Practice (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/17/AR2005051701249.html)

Taylor needs to fall in line, NO NEW AVATAR!