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FRPLG · 01-04-2005, 03:43 PM

I Don't want to lose him at all but we can't go overboard to keep him.

A couple people have mentioned that this is about money and that that is sad. I would say that the money isn't the real issue or problem. These guys(all football players really) see money as a sign of respect. They want to feel that their team is going to do right by them when they have played well. This is probably a good way to judge respect...the problem is the agents are the ones who determine what "respect" is. The contracts for football players are so convuluted by salary cap work arounds and such that most players(and normal people too) could never understand who is making what and when. They basically only understand their own contract. The agents decide what they think their client is worth and that is the number they tell the player they should get. When the team doesn't offer that money then the players feel disrespected since they have been told and they now believe they are worth more. But often the numbers agents shoot for are unrealistic. It is very common for guys in Smoots position to end up signing an only marginally better offer from another team simply because the agent has created such uneeded acrimony between the player and team. If we offer say(this is only hypothetical) $40 million over 6 years with $11 million SB and they get pissed then he'll probably end up with maybe $43 million over 6 years with 12 million SB. Now I'd bet a lot of guys, and especially guys like Smoot who seem genuine and loyal, would take the first contract in a normal situation out loyalty and comfort but with all the acrimony stirred in by agents they walk for basically $1 million more. Sad really.

My wife worked with a sports representation firm while in law school and it was common for agents to attempt to "PURPOSEFULLY" create the acrimony so that the player would not take a smaller contract out of loyalty. These guys are ruining professional sports. The agent remuneration model in professional sports needs to be altered.

01-04-2005, 03:43 PM	#12
FRPLG MVP Join Date: May 2004 Age: 46 Posts: 10,164	I Don't want to lose him at all but we can't go overboard to keep him. A couple people have mentioned that this is about money and that that is sad. I would say that the money isn't the real issue or problem. These guys(all football players really) see money as a sign of respect. They want to feel that their team is going to do right by them when they have played well. This is probably a good way to judge respect...the problem is the agents are the ones who determine what "respect" is. The contracts for football players are so convuluted by salary cap work arounds and such that most players(and normal people too) could never understand who is making what and when. They basically only understand their own contract. The agents decide what they think their client is worth and that is the number they tell the player they should get. When the team doesn't offer that money then the players feel disrespected since they have been told and they now believe they are worth more. But often the numbers agents shoot for are unrealistic. It is very common for guys in Smoots position to end up signing an only marginally better offer from another team simply because the agent has created such uneeded acrimony between the player and team. If we offer say(this is only hypothetical) $40 million over 6 years with $11 million SB and they get pissed then he'll probably end up with maybe $43 million over 6 years with 12 million SB. Now I'd bet a lot of guys, and especially guys like Smoot who seem genuine and loyal, would take the first contract in a normal situation out loyalty and comfort but with all the acrimony stirred in by agents they walk for basically $1 million more. Sad really. My wife worked with a sports representation firm while in law school and it was common for agents to attempt to "PURPOSEFULLY" create the acrimony so that the player would not take a smaller contract out of loyalty. These guys are ruining professional sports. The agent remuneration model in professional sports needs to be altered.