As much as I would love to have Deebo, he is going to want a ton of money, on a new contract.
If for some reason he refuses to report or play out the final year of his rookie deal, another strike against football for me.
The days of contracts meaning something is slowly going out the window.
I agree and You gave me an idea on how to slow that down and spread the Love. I would like to see teams have more incentives to reap some benefit if they sign a rookie (including UDFA) and develop him into a superstar. If that player does not resign with an originator team and attains a high end contract elsewhere (e.g. $20M+ guaranteed) then we should see a reward compensation. I’m talking just higher profile players Like Davante, not run of the mill types.
Such as: A current season top 200 Draft selection OR 5% of the new contract guarantee in compensation at originators choice.
That way if a guy like Davante wants to skip town? His previous team gets some slight compensation for his success and their risk in developing the player. That would’ve been a $3.2M kickback for his deal for putting him in a position to succeed. That $ gets paid 50/50 player/team so everyone feels the love and its escalated immediately.
There needs to be better incentives for teams who contributed to developing a superstar, target than a slap in the face and rhetorical “thank you good bye! I love you fans!”
Otherwise a team develops a player and does all the dirty work and other teams reap what they do not sow.
Also. If a high profile player holds out and demands a trade inside a contract? That player participates by paying 100% of the 5% departure fee if his team allows a request to leave. That includes this “retiring inside a contract” stuff.
Put a $1.5M “unexpected departure payout” due immediately. Thank you BJ Raji for your service! Make your check C/O “Oldschool101 Christmas party Fund”