Cooper's Contract?

[HotSauce]

I don't like the idea of a guard, of all positions, doing a Kelly Stouffer.

Would the Cardinals retain his rights next season if there is no agreement to a contract?

I'd like the idea of just letting him sit out the season with this attitude.

Won't happen, but sadly enough, if this kid sat out the entire season, there's probably a snowball's chance in hell that any team would offer a 2014 1st round pick for his services.

 

[Bodha]

I don't like the idea of a guard, of all positions, doing a Kelly Stouffer.

Would the Cardinals retain his rights next season if there is no agreement to a contract?

I'd like the idea of just letting him sit out the season with this attitude.

As mad as we all are, Cooper is a good guy. Fact is he will probably sign within the next 4 days. Id be shocked if this goes any longer. Seems like every year this happens. Goes 1 or 2 days into camp, then they sign.


If he held out all year (he wont) Im almost certain wed hold his rights forever. Kinda like how Swope 'retired' yet if he ever wanted to come back, wed have his rights.

 

[BullheadCardFan]

Like it or not it is still on Keim to get the deal done on time..

Should have started the negotiations 3 or 4 weeks ago. Make it clear then that this how we structure our contracts and let Cooper and his agent make decisions then so there is time to work it out. All this waiting for other players to sign. Why not set precedent and do our contract first?

 

[gmabel830]

As mad as we all are, Cooper is a good guy. Fact is he will probably sign within the next 4 days. Id be shocked if this goes any longer. Seems like every year this happens. Goes 1 or 2 days into camp, then they sign.


If he held out all year (he wont) Im almost certain wed hold his rights forever. Kinda like how Swope 'retired' yet if he ever wanted to come back, wed have his rights.

Actually, if he never agrees to a contract with us, I believe he would go back in the draft next year. But I believe there's a better chance that Cooper is eaten by a shark (or maybe Dockett's tiger) than this happening.

Since we actually signed Swope, I would guess we would retain his rights if he comes back -- at least for the duration of the contract that he agreed to.

 

[TJ]

Actually, if he never agrees to a contract with us, I believe he would go back in the draft next year. But I believe there's a better chance that Cooper is eaten by a shark (or maybe Dockett's tiger) than this happening.

Since we actually signed Swope, I would guess we would retain his rights if he comes back -- at least for the duration of the contract that he agreed to.

He'd go back into the draft in the very rare event that'd occur.

See: Bo Jackson

 

[Bodha]

He'd go back into the draft in the very rare event that'd occur.

See: Bo Jackson

They should seriously make a rule about that. Either play for the team who drafted you, or never play anywhere. You would have to figure theyd at least give you a good supplementary draft pick, right? lol. Probably the last pick of the 1st round.

Thats a primary reason I despise Eli Manning. He refused to play for the Chargers pre draft. What an entitled POS.

 

[iRobot]

What's fair is what #7 received last year. I just hope this doesn't strain his relationship early on with the org or sour him on staying long term..

http://azbirdgang.com/?p=63

 

[Gee!]

But I believe there's a better chance that Cooper is eaten by a shark

You've obviously never seen Sharknado..

 

[thirty-two]

You've obviously never seen Sharknado..

LOL!

 

[TJ]

They should seriously make a rule about that. Either play for the team who drafted you, or never play anywhere. You would have to figure theyd at least give you a good supplementary draft pick, right? lol. Probably the last pick of the 1st round.

Thats a primary reason I despise Eli Manning. He refused to play for the Chargers pre draft. What an entitled POS.

Meh...it's only happened a handful of times. It's teams like the inept Bucs of the 80s that royally screw up that kind of situation. They drafted Bo Jackson with the #1 pick knowing he didn't want to play for them, and being brazen enough to believe they could somehow change his mind.

It's not like the athlete has a lot of leverage if they do that, Bo was different because he fell back on baseball and only played football "as a hobby." He reentered the draft and went from the #1 pick to a 7th rounder the following season. In today's draft, that's the difference between $14 mil guaranteed and ~$2mil partially guaranteed.

Cooper is not in a place of power. He's slotted, he's not getting the language he wants in his contract, and him and his agent are costing the player valuable reps.

 

[ajcardfan]

Looks like the FO needs to take some of the blame here.



I'll give Keim and Co. some latitude because they've been very active in free agency, trades, and other draft signees, but if this lingers on, this will cause Cooper to lose valuable practice time and delay his transition into the NFL.

Rod Graves would be eviscerated by the fans if this situation was under his supervision. Keim hasn't been so busy that daily phone calls, weeks in advance of camp, to the agent of a guy you hope will be cornerstone of a great team were out of the question.

Hey, Keim for practicing the worst of Graves' methods for signing rookies.

 

[O]

Screw Cooper and his agent!
The minute he signs his contract he gets TEN MILLION PLUS DOLLARS and his agent gets a percentage.
This is about the agents getting their future cut and nothing else.

You fold once and you are bent over forever.

Will Cooper make this team better? Yes.
Will Cooper not being here destroy this team? No!

I applaud the stance Kiem is taking.

 

[LoyaltyisaCurse]

I'd advise Cooper to fire his agent... Not a good way to get stared pal.

 

[NJCardFan]

What I don't understand is that I thought rookie salaries were slotted. All but 3 1st round picks are signed and it figured ours is one of the 3. That said, I don't mind the hardballing. You have to earn your paycheck before you receive it.

 

[Mitch]

As a poster (lostok) on ProFootballTalk put it:

"So they are risking their careers, or at the very least stunting the beginning of it, for the chance to make extra money if they suck bad enough to get cut.

And that makes sense to them..."

 

[CardsFan88]

It's hard to fault Keim when the total money and signing bonus are agreed upon. With the new CBA the holdouts usually don't have much legs to stand on. Slotting basically made most if not all rookie holdouts useless and now makes the player look bad. I'm sure there is some sort of exception to this new rule, but it isn't with Cooper's contract as the rationale is a very thin one.

Obviously it's Keim's job to get it done, and it also reflects badly on him, but when a rookie is getting moron advice from his agent and holding out over something pitiful like this, that bad reflection basically doesn't exist.

 

[LDL]

Not a good way to start off the new regime.

More things change, more things stay the same.

Stupid. To have so much time to get something like this done, and the process being so streamlined this is unacceptable.

This is NOT how you shed the "Same Ol' Cardinals" and "Cheap" label.

To say signing this kid is not important is crazy. Worst offensive line in the league last year, and without a doubt the worst interior line in the league.

Again, to say he is not needed is just not true.

Very Frustrating as a fan to see this happen.

Disagree, and not factual to boot. Only 3 or 4 picks in the top 10 have offset language and there are picks above Cooper that do not have this. So I hope that the same ol' cheap Cards tell Coopers' agent that his client needs to sign the contract cuz it will still pay him the full value of his contract if he signs elsewhere for less money, if/when he gets cut.

 

[jw7]

He's signed per Schefter. Looks like the Cards caved and gave into the offset.

 

[Azlen]

He's signed per Schefter. Looks like the Cards caved and gave into the offset.

According to Ian Rapoport, it looks like they didn't give in but gave him more upfront.

https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/361549609589420032

While teams fight for offset language, agents fight for early bonus payouts in exchange. Seems to have happened with Cooper. Everyone wins

 

[gmabel830]

According to Ian Rapoport, it looks like they didn't give in but gave him more upfront.

https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/361549609589420032

While teams fight for offset language, agents fight for early bonus payouts in exchange. Seems to have happened with Cooper. Everyone wins

I believe this is the same thing that happened with Eric Fisher. Seems like a fine middle ground, without knowing too much of the details.

 

[TJ]

He's signed per Schefter. Looks like the Cards caved and gave into the offset.

No they got the offset language, but had to give a bigger signing bonus than earlier picks

 

[Brak]

Schefter says "with" offset language. Doesn't that mean that the Cards got their way and it was Cooper that caved?

 

[jbjarko]

Gave him a larger bonus from what I read. Everybody wins. He'll get his full signing bonus within 2.5 months.

 

[roland77]

I don't think he got a larger bonus, but he just gets it sooner.

 

[jbjarko]

I don't think he got a larger bonus, but he just gets it sooner.

Could be, maybe I read that wrong. You are correct, earlier payout.