Collusion.
Collusion is a term often aimed at NFL owners by players, former players and of course the NFLPA and its Executive Director DeMaurice Smith. They use it regularly when market conditions fluctuate in a way that don’t align with their collective goals and objectives. Collusion can also be a convenient excuse, used in a similar way that under-qualified job applicants point to unfair hiring practices when their skills and experiences aren’t even in the same area code as the job requirements.
Collusion has been kicked around regularly by all of the above and many in the media when the subject of Lamar Jackson’s elusive long-term contract is brought up. I’m not buying it. Nor should you.
Let’s consider teams with voids at starting quarterback, that could potentially have interest in Lamar, at the right price of course, entering this offseason, along with alternative solutions that they’ve opted for:
• Dolphins: Tua Tagovailoa (no first-round pick in 2023)
• Raiders: Jimmy Garoppolo
• Texans: No. 2 overall pick
• Falcons: Desmond Ridder, Taylor Heinicke
• Panthers: Traded for No. 1 overall pick
• Bucs: Baker Mayfield
• Saints: Derek Carr
Other possible landing spots for Lamar include the Jets, Commanders, Colts and long-shots like the Lions and the Titans. Let’s consider each.
The Jets are far, far down the road with Aaron Rodgers. A trade is imminent, but then again, nothing about Rodgers is predictable. Maybe he goes into the dark for a couple more days and emerges with thoughts of being an actor. He certainly understands drama. But $60M per is hard to walk away from.
The Lions are an ascending franchise with QB Jared Goff, who played well down the stretch in 2022. The Titans are in transition, even contemplating moving Derrick Henry and they have just $6.9M in available cap space per Over The Cap. They could part ways with the underwhelming incumbent Ryan Tannehill which would trigger a cap savings of $17.8M. The Titans would need to do a bit more cap maneuvering to make room for Lamar and to address any other roster requirements.
The Falcons are a bit of a wild card.
From what I’ve been told, the football people in Atlanta aren’t exactly enamored with the prospects of Lamar donning their crimson and black. There are doubts about his long-term fit and they question his career path. Can he develop as a passer to offset the natural declination of his running skills as he ages?
Falcons owner Arthur Blank will spend freely if he thinks a player can boost his franchise. If he wants Lamar, Blank possesses the power of persuasion and could talk said football people into an LJ Era in Atlanta. Do they have any other choice?
The co-founder of Home Depot is one of the league’s most well-liked owners and shares a tight relationship with commissioner Roger Goodell. And given that relationship, it would be a bit of a stretch for Blank to become the second owner to extend a fully guaranteed deal to a player – to be the author (no pun intended) of the bookend to Deshaun Watson’s $230M fully guaranteed deal. Blank won’t want to slide a blank check across the table to Lamar and make negotiations for his league contemporaries more challenging going forward.
As for the Commanders, Ron Rivera, in a recent interview on NFL Network, said that they are not in on Lamar. Rivera is generally recognized as a straight-shooter. The Commanders signing Jacoby Brissett to a one-year deal supports that notion.
Reporters on the Commanders beat aren’t even considering the possibility of Lamar to Washington. That said, Daniel Snyder is a wild card in the DC mix and who knows where his head is. There are some who believe that Snyder could exact a bit of revenge against fellow owners by fully guaranteeing a big QB deal before he vacates the owner’s chair. But let’s not forget that Snyder has some serious allegations to deal with. Should he be spending his time being vindictive towards his colleagues? Might that then undermine his character even more and make it more difficult to minimize the damage of the charges brought against him? Dan has some bigger fish to fry – before he gets fried.
New #Commanders QB Jacoby Brissett’s one-year deal:
$4.5 million signing bonus
$3M fully guaranteed base salary
$500K workout bonus
Up to $2M in playtime incentivesBase: $8M.
Max: $10M.— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 16, 2023
And that brings us to the Colts.
The general consensus on the Indy beat indicates that Jim Irsay would NOT be willing to do the fully guaranteed deal. He’s experienced first-hand, the challenges of injured franchise quarterbacks like Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck. It’s also believed that the Colts want to draft and develop their own guy. Lastly, an interesting side note, Irsay I’m told really likes Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti and may be unwilling to put the screws to a respected colleague.
Is that collusion or genuine consideration for a trusted partner?
Adding Lamar to a new roster isn’t all that easy. Besides the incredible financial hurdles given his demands, there are challenges that come with a Jackson-led offense. He isn’t your prototypical quarterback. The so-called unicorn requires special treatment in the way of scheme and personnel. And that only happens with additional investment.
Given the complexities of the situation, just because teams pass on the opportunity to sign Lamar, it doesn’t spell collusion. That’s no more than a convenient excuse for an inconvenient situation, perpetuated by the NFLPA.
If only Lamar had an agent…
11 Responses
Agree 100%! He set the stage for a big contract by using his performance as the criteria to earn it and not only failed, but suffered another season ending injury! This is strictly a business decision based on his own terms…..
If only Lamar had an agent…. Enough said.
He does have an agent. But he has a fool for a client.
In the end, the real break point is any insistence of guaranteed contracts. With the obvious exception of the Haslams, I think every other owner in the NFL understands that granting that as the new standard destroys the existing business paradigm. If you have no flexibility to deal with changing conditions it becomes impossible to control your expenses and operate a business. That’s just a simple fact of economics in a cap structure system. If DeMaurice Smith wants to call vested self interest ‘collusion’ he doesn’t understand or maybe doesn’t care what it takes to assure that football as we know it continues at a ticket price we can at least aspire to.
I read that Bischotti paid $600 million dollars for the Ravens. Plus I’m sure he has invested quite a bit of money since then.
With that much money invested he should be able to spend … or not spend, his money any way he chooses.
R Clark said it best…tag is built in collusion. Teams feel like they wasting time plus Lamar has many narratives to overcome. People didnt do homework on Atlanta. Watson was a ballboy there. Has personal relationship with the owner. And he STILL wouldnt cross 200 mil guaranteed but he gonna give Lamar 230? Not a chance. Indy clearly signed Minshew to back up Levis. They down to 17 mil in space so they wouldve had Ehrlinger back up Lamar. SF was perfect spot but gave cap space to Hargrave and are rolling with Lance and Purdy. Was loves Howell and Brisset could start for 10 teams. Lamar screwed
Sad really. If Lamar is “screwed”, he did it to himself {with an able assist from DeMaurice Smith and the NFLPA]. He could be sitting on $50M a year and a guarantee of upwards to $175M over five years instead of a very real possibility of one year at $32+M and nothing guaranteed. A good agent would have gotten him paid after season three, not after his option year.
Yeah, he could refuse to sign the tag and sit out 2023, but he now has the history of a difficult to deal with player who has missed 13 games in two years. A sit out could be a career ender, a ticket to being somebody’s back-up in 2024. Le’Veon Bell sat out a year and never got his career back on track. It’s a dangerous move.
I’ve been saying this for months. Bisciotti and the rest of the owners (well, most of them) did not become billionaires by profligate spending. The Browns had a desperate need for a QB, so Watson and his agent agreeably let the Haslams be their pasty and bid against themselves. Kinda like Peter Angelos and Chris Davis…..8>)
But I digress. When is exercising good business sense, among a variety of ownership types, considered collusion? Only if you’re Ryan Clark and his pals in the NFLPA. who are perfectly willing to use Lamar as their pasty.
The market seems to have reset. Unfortunately, it reset below Lamar.
The Ravens giving in to LJs outrageous demands would be going against the business credo they have followed the entirety of Ozzie’s and EDCs careers.
Always playing the long game. Not making emotional decisions. Looking longterm, not looking for instant gratification. Not over drafting a player, going for VALUE. Right player … RIGHT PRICE!!
Whether you agree with this philosophy or not, and if you are happy with their success over the years or not, I don’t feel they should suddenly change their way of doing business now.
In my mind I’m not convinced this is the right player … and I am absolutely convinced his isn’t the RIGHT PRICE!!
It’s a practical business decision.
So is this…..the NFLPA should concern themselves with negotiating a raise of the salary cap to a level that would allow superstars (LJ8) to be paid accordingly and still leave enough in the kitty to pay good performers to surround said superstar.
Guaranteed contracts in an injury prone profession is problematic. Where is the insurance industry in all of this ?