jimster Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 Union looking into Welker deal http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=jc-welkerdeal031307&prov=yhoo&type=lgns By Jason Cole, Yahoo! Sports March 13, 2007 An NFL Players Association source confirmed that the union has sent a letter to the NFL Management Council inquiring whether unethical dealings took place leading up to last week's trade between the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots. On Tuesday, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported that the NFLPA was looking into the trade of wide receiver Wes Welker from the Dolphins to the Patriots. Welker was a restricted free agent and visited the Patriots. There had been indications before the visit that Welker would receive an offer sheet from the Patriots for a six-year contract worth approximately $36 million. Had the Dolphins not matched the deal, they would have received a second-round draft pick as compensation for losing Welker. However, before Welker received the offer sheet, the teams worked out a deal in which New England sent a second- and seventh-round pick to the Dolphins for Welker's rights. The Patriots then signed Welker to a five-year, $18 million that includes $9 million in the first year of the deal. The concern is whether Miami was falsely induced to trade Welker, believing there was no chance he could be retained. "The rules specifically state that one team can't give another team any additional consideration to discourage a team from matching an offer sheet," the union source said. But what if there was no offer sheet ever given to the player? "We'll have to see about that," the source said. The inquiry could lead to the deal being nullified, although that seems unlikely. In essence, the Dolphins appear to have gotten a little more out of the deal and the Patriots had to pay a lot less. Jason Cole is a national NFL writer for Yahoo! Sports. Send Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DWinzit Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 It will be very interesting to see how this one plays out! Seems like the only thing they could do would be to void the contract. If that happens, they run the risk of Welker staying in Miami and playing at a minimal salary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD_washingtonredskins Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 I don't understand what the violation was...can someone smarter than me explain it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westbrook36 Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 I think it would be great if the NFL had Welker sign the original deal, as was offered on the original contract. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soup Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 The Pats are rookies to Free agency. It will be couple of years before they can reach the redskins level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OWUeagleMD Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 The Pats are rookies to Free agency. It will be couple of years before they can reach the redskins level. I'm sure that's what Bellichek is aspiring to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lombardi's_kid_brother Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 I don't understand what the violation was...can someone smarter than me explain it? The thought is that the Pats may have offered the Dolphins an extra pick in order to keep them from matching the offer sheet that the Pats originally intended to give Welker. In other words, the teams colluded to drive down his price. Basically, Welker's agent thinks the Pats called the Dolphins and said, "Look, we don't want to give Wes Welker $35 million any more than you do. If we give you a 7th rounder along with the 2nd that we had to give you for him anyway, would you just trade him to us? Maybe we can help you out some day." It sort of defeats the purpose of being an RFA if teams do this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Brave Little Toaster Oven Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 The thought is that the Pats may have offered the Dolphins an extra pick in order to keep them from matching the offer sheet that the Pats originally intended to give Welker. In other words' date=' the teams colluded to drive down his price.Basically, Welker's agent thinks the Pats called the Dolphins and said, "Look, we don't want to give Wes Welker $35 million any more than you do. If we give you a 7th rounder along with the 2nd that we had to give you for him anyway, would you just trade him to us? Maybe we can help you out some day." It sort of defeats the purpose of being an RFA if teams do this.[/quote'] But they are hated rivals, no way the Redskins would do this with the Cowboys or any other division team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD_washingtonredskins Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 The thought is that the Pats may have offered the Dolphins an extra pick in order to keep them from matching the offer sheet that the Pats originally intended to give Welker. In other words' date=' the teams colluded to drive down his price.Basically, Welker's agent thinks the Pats called the Dolphins and said, "Look, we don't want to give Wes Welker $35 million any more than you do. If we give you a 7th rounder along with the 2nd that we had to give you for him anyway, would you just trade him to us? Maybe we can help you out some day." It sort of defeats the purpose of being an RFA if teams do this.[/quote'] Got it. Thank you for taking the time to explain it to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OWUeagleMD Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 But they are hated rivals, no way the Redskins would do this with the Cowboys or any other division team. You might be surprised. These teams are businesses, regardless of how much we want them to be something else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soup Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 I'm sure that's what Bellichek is aspiring to. its a joke. I'd lay of the eagles for awhile. Being an eagle's fan is slowing your brain down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD_washingtonredskins Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 its a joke. I'd lay of the eagles for awhile. Being an eagle's fan is slowing your brain down. You know, when you have to explain a joke, it can't be that good. Plus, I believe he was making a joke too. See how that works? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soup Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 You know, when you have to explain a joke, it can't be that good. Plus, I believe he was making a joke too. See how that works? Was I even talking to you. I didn't know you and UWOeales were a couple. I'll try to be more respectful next time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD_washingtonredskins Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 Was I even talking to you. I didn't know you and UWOeales were a couple. I'll try to be more respectful next time. :laugh: You're so touchy...it's hilarious. I'll stop though, getting you all fired up is too easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soup Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 :laugh: You're so touchy...it's hilarious. I'll stop though, getting you all fired up is too easy. No way I love the arguments that go on in this place. Here you can speak your mind without worrying about a drunk fool trying to cut you because you made fun of his girlfriend's face. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Om Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 No way I love the arguments that go on in this place. Here you can speak your mind without worrying about a drunk fool trying to cut you because you made fun of his girlfriend's face. Yes, you can speak your mind. What you can't do is call people "idiots" and "retards" and make it about the other poster as opposed to what he said. Word to the wise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 Enough guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westbrook36 Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 I don't see why Welker agreed to the lesser deal. He had them where he wanted. He was still a FA. Once the Pats traded for him, he still had the right to sign with any team. He should have demanded the original deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD_washingtonredskins Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 No way I love the arguments that go on in this place. Here you can speak your mind without worrying about a drunk fool trying to cut you because you made fun of his girlfriend's face. OK. :paranoid: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reic Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 The way I read that was that New England told Miami that they were going to sign him for 5 years 36 million and Miami wanted no part of that so took the deal of the 2nd round pick and 7th round pick. New England then turned around and signed him to a 6 year 18 million deal, significantly less than the 5 year 35 million, which Miami probably would of matched and thus the reason for the investigation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimster Posted March 14, 2007 Author Share Posted March 14, 2007 I don't see why Welker agreed to the lesser deal. He had them where he wanted. He was still a FA. Once the Pats traded for him, he still had the right to sign with any team. He should have demanded the original deal. he was a RESTRICTED free agent, so therefore Miami still had the rights to him. What's sketchy is, New England had Welker sign the offer sheet thinking he was getting the bigger contract, then went to Miami and said they'd throw in another draft pick if you just trade him to us. Once that was done, no offer sheet was needed and they paid Welker less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lombardi's_kid_brother Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 I don't see why Welker agreed to the lesser deal. He had them where he wanted. He was still a FA. Once the Pats traded for him, he still had the right to sign with any team. He should have demanded the original deal. He wasn't a UFA; he was an RFA. Big difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjfootballer Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 I see a pick being taken away from the Patriots in the near future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HapHaszard Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 Wonder if the NFLPA can call a strike against just two teams, if they don't get satisfaction? I'm not sure what would happen if the league says no foul. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoachingWinsChampionships Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 I believe that the Patriots were going to put a poison pill into his 38 million dollar offer sheet (like if Welker played more than 4 games in the state of Florida, his entire contract would be guaranteed... the same thing that happened with Hutchinson last year). I can't remember where I read this, but it was probably here on ES or else on espn.com, but the owner Kraft apparently stepped in because he saw that that situation would not end well(animosity between the franchises, scrutiny of the deal by the league, negative public opinion) and offered the seventh rounder as a way around the whole problem. The argument against Kraft's solution is that, unfortunately for Wes Welker, it caused Welker to lose his leverage at the negotiating table because he no longer could drive up his price by claiming the Dolphins would match the offer. Now I'm not sure, but if Welker were traded to the Pats without a new contract being signed, the Pats would simply have the right of first refusal at that point, so one would have to assume that a new contract with Welker was one of the Pats conditions for a trade and thus Welker must have been in on it. I believe that most of the 38 million offer sheet would have been fluff money that would not have been charged to the Pats, but would have been to the Dolphins because of the poison pill provision. The underlying actual contract was probably pretty similar to the 18 million dollar deal Welker ended up signing with the Pats. If Welker had actually been traded against his will to the Pats, there is no way he would have signed the new contract. He would have looked for other offers or waited out his last year and hit the open market(probably would have been the smarter financial move anyway with the huge contracts being handed out this year and presumably next year as well.) Maybe the NFLPA is suing just to ensure that this unique situation doesn't create a precedent to screw players out of the RFA they are entitled to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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