In the NFL it is vital to structure contracts that pay according to the level of play. Teams need to compensate based on the amount of productivity they expect, not what they have already experienced.
This isn’t MLB!
Clearly this is a difficult task, particularly when dealing with superstars. Such accomplished players and their agents demand pay that is comparative or greater than contracts rewarded to players of similar ilk.
And then all too often, those players don’t play to the level of their contract and they become expendable. And the parting of ways can be painful, particularly when it involves a fan favorite.
That said, teams can keep superstars who are relatively overpaid if they have younger players performing well beyond the level of their rookie contracts making quality draft day decisions even more important to preserving a roster in the salary cap era. The Baltimore Ravens have enjoyed such a luxury with Ray Rice.
On the flip side of that equation is Ed Reed. Reed is due to make $7.2 million in 2012, the highest base salary among all Ravens. Is he worth that?
Obviously Reed doesn’t tackle like he once did. He bails out on many opportunities, a protectionist approach to avoid a potentially career ending injury – one just waiting to happen given the ever present nerve impingement in his neck.
The approach has paved the way to criticism primarily because what he does on camera, doesn’t justify $7.2M.
Off camera Reed influences, sometimes even intimidates opposing quarterbacks and that affords the Ravens defense a few luxuries they wouldn’t enjoy without the eight-time All Pro. But is that enough productivity when weighed against his W-2?
Last year while agonizing over whether to keep Todd Heap the Ravens organizationally determined that while Ed Dickson or Dennis Pitta were then a mere 80% of the player Heap was, their pay was a fraction of Heap’s. They concluded that reallocating Heap’s cap dollars elsewhere would benefit the team overall given the capable young players waiting in the wings.
Is there anyone who is 80% as good as Ed Reed ready to replace the future Hall of Famer?
Is Haruki Nakamura that guy?
Tom Zbikowski?
The answer to both is no and that leaves the team with a bit of a dilemma.
Can they get a commitment from the mercurial safety to play not just in 2012 but 2013 as well in exchange for a restructured deal that changes Reed’s 16 game checks in 2012 into an upfront bonus? By doing so, the team could spread out the bonus over 3 seasons, take a slight cap hit in 2014 in order to create some cap space for 2012.
Finding that space, could be the difference between bringing on a quality free agent who performs beyond the value of his contract. Cory Redding, Bernard Pollard and Vonta Leach immediately come to mind.
It could be the cap wiggle room needed to entice Lardarius Webb to sign a long-term deal.
Clearly Reed has the leverage here but if the Ravens fail to extend Reed and somehow alter his salary and cap number for 2012 ($8.5M), Ed Reed will become another great player not performing to the level of his contract.
And in the NFL today, such circumstances usually don’t have happy endings.
