Comments on: Grant still not practicing

By: awhayes

awhayes — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 16:37:03 +0000

cheers Joe…

By: Joe

Joe — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 12:25:01 +0000

I just want to know what Grant and the team were doing between, say January and April? Also, Grant needs to realize that his leverage is not very good. He played a partial season and had great games and lousy games. I like, I think he may be the real deal, but his bargaining position is pretty weak. If I were Ted, I would probably remind him that I am pretty good at finding talent after all Ted found Grant didn’t he.

As for the poor players who can get cut and lose their paychecks, welcome to life. They are adults and that is how it works for the vast majority of workers. I could get fired tomorrow and I have no guaranteed money. May be I should hold out too …

By: Aaron

Aaron — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 18:29:09 +0000

Andy,

Remember, there is zero precedent for Grant’s situation. That no doubt is complicating talks between his agent and the club. I agree with you in that Grant could, at anytime, say “Make a deal” to his agent. It’s his career.

When the team is walking/jogging through in shorts, I’m not too concerned. But to echo RayMidge, if this goes one day into training camp, I will not be pleased.

By: awhayes

awhayes — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 14:43:04 +0000

thoughtful comment RayMidge, as usual. You’re right re the Grant situation being a bit different than some of the other high profile situations, but the bottom line still, is that Grant is missing camp. And you’re right about him having a good year last year. While I’d stop short of saying he’s a totally proven commodity at this point, it’s fairly evident the guy is quite good. My guess is the Packers are very aware of his talent and potential and it seems clear that they have big plans for him as their feature back. So I would be surprised to learn that the delay is due to the Packers low-balling/undervaluing.

I guess I just think it’s incumbent upon Grant to make sure the contract situation gets figured out before the crucial team activities begin. I didn’t mind so much that he missed voluntary OTAs so much – those were voluntary. But now that attendance counts more as the season approaches, I would just feel better about Grant if I somehow knew he had done everything possible on his end to avoid a holdout. You’re right, he had a solid year last year and he clearly has the backing of his team and coach – but that should be good enough leverage to help him get a reasonable offer from the team. Again, it’s sort of hard to comment firmly on this without knowing the figures/contract details being discussed, but my suspicion is that Grant’s side is delaying this by over-reaching for money/guarantees.

By: RayMidge

RayMidge — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 14:03:24 +0000

He *is* holding out, of course. I must admit, though, I have become more sympathetic to the NFL players in this situation because of the CBA which basically only guarantees bonuses and allows a team to cut bait anytime they want to. Yes, their union agreed to it but in some individual cases like this one I can see why the player feels he needs to use the only leverage he has to get some security. This isn’t a Chad Johnson or T.O. situation where a guy just cashed in a few years back and has a few years left on a deal that he agreed to or a Javon Walker situaiton where a guy was overpaid for years he wasn’t that productive and then suddenly decides after a huge year that he is underpaid. . . as an undrafted FA Grant has never gotten a big payday and he performed exceptionally well last year in a way that indicates he is the real deal.

If it stretches into training camp, however, I’ll probably change my view.

By: Aaron

Aaron — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 13:37:22 +0000

Don’t think of it as supporting Tom Cruise. Think of it as supporting Cameron Crowe before he lost it.

Great movie.