Tannehill's Contract - Offset Language Snag

I mentioned early in this post that Tannehill should have the confidence to allow the inclusion of the offset language, and that may be true in and of itself. However, considering that the players slotted above and below him had contracts with no offset language, I don't think the Dolphins have a leg to stand on regarding this. The fair thing should be done and that's for the FO not to pursue this. They can fight this battle another day if they feel strongly enough, but they will be hurting everyone including themselves if they don't do the right thing in this situation.

Seems like the Vikings and KC are also being harda**es about this too. I hope the Dolphins don't join them.

 

i personally change my stand on this, since the team is already doing conditioning drills, to me he is a holdout

 

I don't think the Dolphins are going to blink on this one. Tannehill is probably going to have to cave in. I just hope there isn't a prolonged holdout before that happens.

 

That may be, but if a prolonged holdout does happen, Ireland's going to be on the wrong side of another PR situation IMO. Lot's of folks are going to be calling for his head again.

 

To me this is the definition of stupidity. While both Ryan Tannehill and the Dolphins would probably like you to think this is about a significant sum of money, it's NOT. On either side. It's purely about ego clash and leverage.

 

What is professional sports contract negotiations?

 

In MOST negotiations, it's about money in addition to the ego clash and leverage. This isn't about a great deal of money. In reality both sides are fighting over a theoretical $500k in the event that Ryan Tannehill sucks so bad he's not even worth a backup QB's salary in 2015. Essentially, Ryan wants to be assured he's on roster in 2015 or at least traded to a team that's willing to give something up for him, with an outside shot of getting up to a million bucks as a free agent (probably more like half a million) in the event that he's so worthless the Dolphins decide he's not even worth a 53 man roster spot regardless of price. The Dolphins want the possibility of saving half a million in the event that he's so worthless they would rather cut him than pay him the veteran's minimum, which is essentially the same as saying he's not worth a 53 man roster spot.

That's the logical continuation of the scenarios. The Dolphins want to be able to make a decision whether Ryan is worth $500k or not in 2015, and Ryan wants the Dolphins to be forced to make a decision whether Ryan is worth $0 or not in 2015. The chances of either scenario actually playing out in a way where one side is glad they have or don't have offset language is freaking miniscule.

 

That's why I for one, and probably a lot of others will be livid if Ireland lets this develop into a protracted holdout. Even if it only lasts a few days Ireland will incur a lot of wrath.

 

Armando reporting that neither Khalil's nor Poe's contracts had offset language.

 

I know Kalil's didn't have offset language but the PFT report on Poe's deal says he had offset language...so that's a conflicting report.

 

http://miamiherald.typepad.com/dolp...t-round-pick-dontari-poe-signed-today-ne.html

Link to Mondos article FWIW

 

I would trust Josh Alper's report on PFT for the moment. The difference is that while Alper stipulated "sources tell PFT that..." if you read Armando's blog post he says "according to various reports". One has firsthand sources and another is information-gathering off the internet, and therefore I'd assume the latter simply misunderstood what he was reading.

 

I don't know that you're thinking this through logically. Put yourself in the shoes of the team that hypothetically wants to sign Ryan Tannehill for $2-3 million. You know that Ryan has $3.5 million guaranteed to him. Whatever you don't pay, the Dolphins have to make up the difference. Then tell me this, why do you offer anything more than the veteran's minimum? Why, if you are Ryan Tannehill, do you demand any more than the veteran minimum from your new team? Either way, you're getting $3.5 million, and if anything you'd prefer your old team, the one that just cut you, to shoulder the bulk of that payment...both as a means of sticking it to the team that cut you, and as a way of ensuring that the team you're joining has the best chance to field a good team.

 

is it worth the PR hit, considering everything ?

 

The flip side to this is, say you're Ryan Tannehill and you "win" the offset language battle. Your fourth year $3.5 million salary is now fully guaranteed with no offset. In what situation will you end up with the ability to "double dip"? Under what circumstances would a team that has to pay you $3.5 million in 2015 whether you're on roster or not, end up cutting you? They would have to decide that they just plain need the 53 man roster spot, that you're THAT valueless. If the team that drafted you thinks you're THAT valueless, what do you expect to get on the free market? Probably the veteran's minimum, maybe $1 million tops.

So financially it doesn't mean that much to Tannehill, either.

It's a slapfight between egos.

 

And so that brings me back to the issues of leverage and precedent. Picks #1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9 and 14 have verified contracts sans-offset language. Picks #10 and 12 have verified offset language. Picks #11 and 13 are unclear because of directly conflicting reports on pick #11 and lack of any reports whatsoever on pick #13. Pick #5 hasn't signed yet and they're currently embroiled in the same offset battle, except the prospect in question was dumb enough to get a DUI after being drafted before he'd signed his contract, so he should probably expect to lose something because of that.

So if you've got the lesser leverage on this, why dig in for a showdown and holdout over something you (should) KNOW to be almost a non-issue? Why get into a POTM battle over something you're so clearly out-numbered on?

Not only does Ryan Tannehill have SLIGHTLY more at stake, as you say, but dollar for dollar the money means more to him than it does the Dolphins because the Dolphins have tons of money and he has none.

Why not just let it go?

 

Well let's not take it completely out of context and be unfair to Matt, he said he's been trying to get better in practice year by year and he believes he has. So, there's that. But even so, to say what he did shows that there's clearly still an underlying attitude that it doesn't matter how he practices...which I think isn't a good way to go about it.

 

The Dolphins had Pat Devlin shave his head to see if fans wouldn't notice the difference.