The Clayton effect on Fitz's contract and Johnson

[AZCB34]

Alot of this is info given by Jurecki this AM.

Mark Clayton at #15 overall signed his deal yesterday. According to Jurecki, reports are indication that Clayton's deal was 8%-10% higher than last years #15 overall pick (McDougle). The problem is, according to what I have seen, the overall rookie pool amount only went up about 2% this year. This is going to cause some chaos. and it will trickle down to Fitz.

Johnson's foot injury is big on alot of fronts. Again, Jurecki says this only strengthens Fitz' negotiating position as now the Cards would be left with Boldin, Poole, Kasper, Gilmore, McAddley as long as Fitz holds out. Now it is imperative that Fitz gets into camp because who knows how long Johnson will miss and further if he will ever get 100% this year without surgery. Johnson being hurt really puts a crimp in the 3 WR sets Green likes to run since Johnson was being counted on as the deep threat.

They played some clips of an interview with Fitz and he is saying all the typical things about length of career and wanting to get paid. Not unexpected.

Unless there is some mad rush of 1st rounders signing, he is going to miss significant time and quite frankly, the reported permium paid to Clayton will only make it harder as the trickle down effect occurs.

 

[arthurracoon]

Scary...

 

[Lex]

#15 is a long way from #3.

Reports are Gallery and Rivers are close to deals, so if they get signed, it should be easy to set the price for Fitzgerald.

At the time and place the Cardinals find themselves, and with Rod Graves ONLY working on Fitz's deal, there should be no reason for problems.

Could it be that the reason we haven't signed any of our other picks, is that we'll get Fitz done first, then let the others fight over the balance of the rookie pool?

 

[CaptTurbo]

Hey I just had this illumination.....Fitz will hold out into the season.

 

[Cardinal Bob]

This may help...

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=pasquarelli_len&id=1844362

 

[Skkorpion]

This crap is all falling apart, just as I feared. The signs were there and I was not just going to go into kool-aid mode. All, and I mean all, the Cards front office people are out of town or not reachable. Even Bryant Johnson doesn't know how severe his injury is. How 'bout them apples?

AZCB is right. The Clayton deal screws everybody below him. And Eugene Parker was already one of the worst of the turdball agents.

The players are due to report in 10 days. It takes 2 days to take physicals, get outfitted and get up the mountain. That leaves eight days to sign 7 players and get Johnson evaluated. Na ga happen on time, folks.

 

[arthurracoon]

*sigh*

 

[Cheesebeef]

what the hell is going on with Johnson? When did he get injured?

 

[Cheesebeef]

This crap is all falling apart, just as I feared. The signs were there and I was not just going to go into kool-aid mode. All, and I mean all, the Cards front office people are out of town or not reachable. Even Bryant Johnson doesn't know how severe his injury is. How 'bout them apples?

none of that sounds very good. I will hope that the front office people are unreachable because they are doing their jobs and working on getting people signed to contracts. Rod Graves made a believer out of me somewhat in the past 7 months - but the above - doesn't do anything to bolster that belief.

 

[jf-08]

what the hell is going on with Johnson? When did he get injured?

http://www.arizonasportsfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=33815

stress fracture



*deflates*

 

[spanky1]

I refuse to believe that the "sky is falling" regarding the as of yet picks to be signed. If those responsible feel that their respective holiday schedules do not need to be interupted in order to facilitate getting contracts signed then this means one of two things:

a) They don't give a rat's ass (which can't be the case).
b) That negotiations are moving along just fine and all will be signed, sealed and delivered as late as early next week. This means that there are "agreements in principle" and that the only thing remaining is minor "financial fine tuning" resulting from contract slotting.

You would think some agent would have alluded to "trouble in river city" by now if there were to be massive contract holdouts on the horizon. It also appears that players such as Gallery and Rivers are very close.

 

[AZCB34]

Gallery and Rivers were close before Clayton got a premium on his contract. Now, all bets are off. Everyone will want an 8% premium on their deal over last year assuming Clayton's is that much higher hence the domino effect so gallery's and Rivers' agents, among otehrs, are loving the Clayton deal because now they can wring some more money out the teams involved.

It is a whole new ballgame now regarding Fitz and I fear this is going to get very messy and well into August before things get resolved.

 

[spanky1]

Gallery and Rivers were close before Clayton got a premium on his contract. Now, all bets are off. Everyone will want an 8% premium on their deal over last year assuming Clayton's is that much higher hence the domino effect so gallery's and Rivers' agents, among otehrs, are loving the Clayton deal because now they can wring some more money out the teams involved.

It is a whole new ballgame now regarding Fitz and I fear this is going to get very messy and well into August before things get resolved.

I have seen nothing ANYWHERE to confirm that Jurecki is correct concerning an 8-10% increase regarding Clayton's contract. While acknowledging the signing, there is ABSOLUTELY no contract terms mentioned anywhere (Tampa's web site, ESPN or KFFL).

 

[spanky1]

I take the above post/comment back......my bad.......it is mentioned on the TB website that the contract likely included an 8-10% increase.

 

[Skkorpion]

I have seen nothing ANYWHERE to confirm that Jurecki is correct concerning an 8-10% increase regarding Clayton's contract. While acknowledging the signing, there is ABSOLUTELY no contract terms mentioned anywhere (Tampa's web site, ESPN or KFFL).

Skanki, listen, forget Clayton for a moment. There are other problems. This could all clear up but right now, I don't like what I hear in the pipeline.

 

[Cheesebeef]

and the bottom line is this - we are the Cards - we still can't afford to be like everyone else. For once - just for once - it would be nice to see this team be the overly aggressive ones in some area - namely draft pick signings - I mean how refreshing would it be to see that we were the first team to sign their number one pick - rather than having to spout out the familiar refrain - Almost half the league hasn't . . . .yada yada yada.

Not an issue though until it becomes an issue. We'll see what happens.

 

[Pariah]

This crap is all falling apart, just as I feared. The signs were there and I was not just going to go into kool-aid mode. All, and I mean all, the Cards front office people are out of town or not reachable. Even Bryant Johnson doesn't know how severe his injury is. How 'bout them apples?

...

 

[spanky1]

skkorp,

Once again, if you do not feel that you can share all that you may know "in your pipeline".....best not to refer to it at all. You are famous for this type of "fatalistic journalism"......time to stop the "bait and hook" if you cannot share more details.

 

[spanky1]

Tampa Bay have just made a definitive statement regarding their intentions about renegotiating Keenan McCardell's contract with the signing of Clayton at a premium...........bye bye Keenan......unless you smarten up.

 

[Skkorpion]

skkorp,

Once again, if you do not feel that you can share all that you may know "in your pipeline".....best not to refer to it at all. You are famous for this type of "fatalistic journalism"......time to stop the "bait and hook" if you cannot share more details.

No. I give you what I can when I can. The source won't let me say more and it could be completely wrong, but most people would rather know than not know.

If I am made to look like an idiot, so be it. Next time I won't trust that source. This is a bulletin board by fans for fans. It is an appropriate place for this kind of quasi-news-rumor.

It's the Bryant Johnson thing that is most worrisome. He really does not know himself how bad the injury is, 4 weeks into wearing a boot. That's not a rumor. That's fact I confirmed.

 

[spanky1]

I would agree that the injury to Bryant Johnson is worrisome. Stress fractures sound much worse than they really are however. He'll be back in short order.

Now, what I have a hard time believing is the comment that he has no idea as to how bad the situation is. Do you mean to tell me that a diagnosis of a stress fracture some four -five weeks ago (by a specialist and then the team physician no doubt) has left any doubt as to the severity (or lack thereof) of the situation.

I'm guessing that we would have heard about this before now if there was cause for any real concern.

 

[AZCB34]

and the bottom line is this - we are the Cards - we still can't afford to be like everyone else. For once - just for once - it would be nice to see this team be the overly aggressive ones in some area - namely draft pick signings - I mean how refreshing would it be to see that we were the first team to sign their number one pick - rather than having to spout out the familiar refrain - Almost half the league hasn't . . . .yada yada yada.

Not an issue though until it becomes an issue. We'll see what happens.

Great post. The Cards do have to be mroe aggressive in this area and set the market and let the chips fall where they may afterwards. Have the rest of the league reacting to them rather than having to adjust and play hardball on the other side knowing that it only hurts the team.

This is where I think the agents, players and teams make a huge mistake. I believe this waiting until the last minute crap causes so many more problems than it ever solves. It is up to the players to telltheir agents to get their asses moving in May and get it done. I would think the teams would be on board with that and hey, maybe the GMs could actually have a relaxing vacation with no contract worries.

I have this vision of Rod's cruise:

Day 1
Rods Wife: Honey, come to bed. I bought this sexy new outfit I want to show you.

Rod: Sorry honey, I have to go onto the Lido deck to get better phone reception so I don't miss a call from Fitz's agent.

Day 2
Rod's Wife: Sweetie, how about if we go down to the casino and have some fun.

Rod: Darling, I wish I could but I HAVE to get this contract done. See you tomorrow.

Day 3 (First port of call)
Rod's Wife: Let's take that rum runners beach tour. Remember how much fun we had doing that last time? Remember slipping behind that sand dune and rubbing oil on each other?

Rod: It isn't wise to negotiate big contracts while drinking. Think I will stay on board and hope Eugene calls me back. You go.

Day 4
Rod's Wife (hungover): Did Eugene call back?

Rod: No...but I did find this awesome bow tie in the gift shop I bought for Mr Bidwill. Has palm trees on it.

Day 5
No sign of Rod until he is found on the bow of the ship yelling "FITZ, PLEASE CALL!!"

Day 6 (Second port of call)
Rod's Wife: I am going ashore. They have great jewels here.

Rod: Mumbles incoherently while looking at his cell phone

Day 7
Rod's cell rings at dinner and he leaps up to answer it only to find Dennis Green on the other end yelling at him about getting people signed. Green threatens Rod's job if he doesn't come through

Day 8
Rod's Wife: I asked the Captain to get a helicopter out here to take you back to shore so you can fly home. This vacation has sucked.

Rod: I am already packed.

 

[Skkorpion]

Spanky, yes, the severity of the injury is indeed still in doubt - in Bryant Johnson's opinion. That's all I've got.

 

[spanky1]

Would it help calm people down if everyone realized that ONLY 10 players selected in the 1st THREE rounds have signed as of RIGHT NOW.

 

[cardsunsfan]

More worried about Johnson now... I love Football but one thing I hate is the constant injuries...