As evidenced by other threads I’m not too sharp on the nuances of NFL contracts. Chicago is my team so obviously I really like Forte and don’t want to lose him. It appears there’s no way to lose him though and I don’t understand, business wise, why we would offer to pay Forte more money than we would have to if we slapped him with the franchise tag.
Is there any reason to give the guy a higher dollar contract at this time?
(I do think he is worth alot of money and if the Bears HAD to pay him more to keep him they should, but I can’t understand why they would put themselves on the hook for more than the cost of franchising him)
I believe, though I’m not sure, that putting the franchise tag on a player leads to a one-year contract. Which means you’re just pushing the negotiation for a longer-term deal off by a year. If you believe that the player will still be a very good player after that year, it may not be a great idea.
Also, many players seem to get very ticked off by getting that franchise tag applied to them. If you, as the GM, hope to have a chance to sign the player again after the franchise tag expires, then franchising a player who became mad at you for franchising him may also not be a great idea.
One other thing: the franchise tag means that Forte would get a 2012 salary equal to the average salary of the top 5 running backs in the league. There may well be some absurdly high RB salaries out there, which may put the Bears on the hook for more than they would want to pay, anyway.
Putting the franchise tag on people pisses them off, because they don’t have a long-term deal and are essentially playing another free-agency year with all the risk that comes with it. That sort of thing does not lead to a harmonious relationship with management because it shows that they are willing to pay them big money but not guarantee it for a number of years, thus denying them future security.
Forte has earned a decent payday, but he needs to understand that the Chris Johnson contract and his performance since signing it is hurting him, he’s never going to get that kind of money guaranteed. He’s going to have to lower his expectations, especially in a league where passing, not running, is king.
I don’t think the question has been answered. I still don’t see any reason, other than to avoid butt-hurt for the Forte, for Chicago to not slap the franchise tag on him. If they franchise him and then offer big money next year he isn’t going to turn them down. Big money is big money.
If he’s worth the money next year he’s worth it this year, and a team with big pockets and lots of cap room can take that butthurt and ram it right up Chicago’s ass with a monster tender offer that they can’t hope to match. Also, if another team offers him security, even if Chicago matches Forte may tell them to go to hell.
If my boss holds me over a few bucks and someone offers me more, does it matter that now he’s willing to match it after poisoning the relationship? I’m history, I’m off to bigger and better things, sorry about your luck, you blew your chance. An employee in the NFL is no different than an employee elsewhere, they just get more money.
The question has been answered, you just don’t like the answer. If Chicago tells him explicitly that he’s being franchised to they can get a deal done (as has happened in the past) he might be OK with that. If they’re franchising him so they only have to pay him mid-to-high money and don’t have to offer him a new long-term deal he has every right to be pissed.
Exactly…the franchise tag sends the signal to the player, “we like you enough to pay you pretty well this year, but not enough to give you a longer-term contract.” No player is going to like to get that message, and it’s likely to poison future negotiations with that player (for example, if the Bears decide to negotiate a longer contract with Forte after next season).
Unless the player was a very high draft choice (i.e., the first half-dozen or so picks), if he sticks in the league long enough to get a second multi-year contract, it’s that second contract which is going to be his big payday. For most players (and running backs in particular), every year that passes before he gets that big contract is another year of mileage and pounding, as well as the risk (as Airman Doors alluded to in his first post) that he might suffer a severe injury during that year, and never get the chance at that big contract.
While everything you said is true, I think it may be mitigated somewhat by allowing the stench of the CJ contract to dissipate. Right now, the franchise tag will factor in CJ’s enormous, misguided contract; so, Forte will benefit in a sense from that. Second, assuming he stay healthy and plays well, people will forget about the CJ contract with time. Negotiating in a climate where a team just paid an insane amount of money for an apparently useless RB is generally bad. As time passes, maybe CJ will play better, or people will forget, but it’s not particularly advantageous for Forte to be negotiating with that calamity fresh in people’s memories.
But bigger money is bigger. If Forte gets the franchise tag, he might hold out. If that happens, the Bears are screwwwwwwwwwwwwwed on offense, because all their players suck except for him.
I think it’s a sound business decision to just franchise Forte for next year and the year after that if he continues to perform. Running backs have so little time in which to be productive and Forte has a lot of miles on his tires. If I thought I’d only get a couple more productive years out of him (which is what I think), I’d rather franchise him twice and draft his replacement. If I thought he’d still be good for four or five more years down the road (I don’t), I’d do the long term deal.
The problem with it being a “sound business decision” is that it doesn’t factor in the cost in goodwill from the player and other players looking at the Bears. Forte has far outperformed his rookie contract and is woefully underpaid this year, and not giving him a long term deal can be interpreted as a slap in the face. If your franchise is most concerned about bottom line production and value, and not in looking good, it’s well worth it to just franchise him. But if your franchise wants that goodwill, wants to be recognized as rewarding young players, it’s a bad move.
I think the Bears made Forte a long term offer at what they thought he was worth, he thinks he’s worth more, and so they didn’t get it done. Rather than overpaying for Forte (what the Bears think it’s worth, not what he thinks he’s worth), the smart business decision is to franchise him.
I heard some chit chat that Forte should begin his holdout now. He’s more than proven his worth, they haven’t signed him longterm, and he’s one of the most underpaid players in the league right now. He could have announced that he’s not going to play under a shitty contract and begin his holdout last week during the bye. It’s about the only way Forte could get some leverage against the Bears if he wants a long term deal.
The big problem with that is he’d be letting down his team and would have to pay huge fines (compared to his salary). It would be hard to do to his teammates, who are still thinking they can make the playoffs, but it might be the only way to get that long term deal with the Bears. But I think the Bears know he wouldn’t do that, so they’re in no rush to get a long term deal done.
His teammates think they can make the playoffs with Forte, but they know they can’t make the playoffs without him. A lot of his teammates have also been in his place, and not just special teamers or roleplayers - Lance Briggs is a big voice in their locker room, and he was in the same fight with the organization, and the players aren’t at all happy with the way the team cut Chris Harris.
I think that Forte should start a holdout now, but I think you’re right that he won’t. As long as he feels an obligation to his teammates, the Bears (who clearly don’t) are going to have the upper hand in the negotiations.
Almost every NFL player has uttered the words “I understand it’s a business”, but if your team is in the running for the playoffs and your best players decides that now is the time to get paid, I think there is going to be a lot of animosity. Had Forte held out at the beginning of the season, that’d be one thing. But holding out now? I think a majority of his teammates (especially guys who have been paid like Cutler and Urlacher, maybe not DJ Moore) would be more than a little bit angry at his selfishness and lack of helping his teammates. The press would likely excoriate him too.
No, there’s no way anybody could do that without it being a huge fucking mess. I just can’t imagine a situation that would create a more sympathetic huge fucking mess than Forte’s.