It might be a dead period for some, but guess
what? It's never a dead period over here in the
Football Junkies podcast because you know what?
We got collusion in the highest of the high places
of the NFL, folks. That's right. It is a story
that's not being talked about as much as being
swept under the rug, but I am going to rip off
the rug, burn it, and then cook. Ken Burgers
on it, all right? Because guess what? This is
the 84th episode of the Football Junkies Podcast,
all right? I am your host with the most, all
right? I am your chief bag roll dominance. I'm
your chief head of the table, anything and everything
related to the bag and more. I'm your GM who
currently is not on a team right now, but don't
you worry about it because guess what? I'm your
GM who is rss .com affiliated, all right? That's
right, folks. rss .com affiliate over here with
the Football Junkies Podcast. Because guess what?
We are working. While people are sleeping, we
are still working. So guess what? I am all these
things and more. But most importantly, the most
important thing that you must remember is I am
your host, Kale. Just know this episode is going
to be a great episode. It's going to be an amazing
episode. It's going to be an episode full of
twists and turns. And yes, I will have transcripts.
And yes, I will have time steps. So guess what?
On three. One, two, three. So excited. Let's
lock in. Right, folks, let's just get into the
meat and potatoes of everything that is going
on in the league right now. And yes, even though
there's not a whole lot of moves going on, we
still have something that we have to talk about.
There is a reason why I have not put out an episode,
a full episode in a while, because you know why?
I have been reading an arbitration report about
a case between the Players Association and the
NFL. Now, this is going to be a lengthy episode,
but just know. It's going to be an amazing episode,
okay? For all the people that love to hear conspiracy
theories and cases and whatnot, guess what? This
is going to be the episode for you, all right?
So all the people that got your tinfoil, guess
what? I want you to make the biggest tinfoil
hat you can possibly think of because I have
one that is the size of Texas on the top of my
head right now. So let's just get into it. So
there was a case alleging... that the NFL and
the owners colluded together to prevent guarantees
for players. Specifically, large guarantees for
players. And this all has to do with the aftermath
of Deshaun Watson's fully guaranteed contract.
Now, for a lot of people, you're going to be
learning a lot of new things. For others, this
may be a refresher. So guess what? classes in
session so this all started on october 19th 2022
when the players association launched an arbitration
against the nfl stating that it that it alleges
the nfl had colluded with teams to quote unquote
restrict or limit fully guaranteed contracts
the purpose of this collusion stems from deshaun
watson's five -year 230 million fully guaranteed
contract the players association alleged the
nfl colluded against the contract negotiations
of kyla murray russell wilson and lamar jackson
during the owners meetings around august 9th
of 2022 a high -ranking league official asked
an owner to start a discussion with other owners
to not agree on large fully guaranteed contracts
the players association's grievance shifted to
an owner's meeting in 2022 the nflpa broadened
its accusation of collusion to include the limit
of veteran players receiving guaranteed contracts
as well now here are the people that are involved
with this entire case we have former players
association president jc treanor russell wilson
lamar jackson roger goodell former nflpa executive
director d marie smith You also have NFL and
NFL MC executives Jeff Pasch and Larry Ferrazini,
Eric DaCosta, John Mera, Jimmy Haslam, Michael
Bidwell, Greg Painter, Steve Bishotti, Robert
Kraft, Arthur Blank, and Dean Spanos. Yes, you
have a lot of high -ranking people that are involved
in this case. Now, before we go any further with
this whole case and whatnot, I just want to emphasize
this. And this was something that I was talking
to Mook and the rest of my friends about it once
Deshaun Watson got his contract. I didn't have
any credible sources, didn't have any information,
but I knew the minute that the Browns gave Deshaun
Watson that contract, it was going to open up
Pandora's box. And the league was going to make
sure that this would never happen again. But
here is the thing that not a lot of people talk
about. Technically speaking, Deshaun Watson wasn't
the first person to get a fully guaranteed contract.
It was actually Kirk Cousins. Now that we've
dropped that bombshell for everybody, let's talk
about the difference between a fully guaranteed
and a non -fully guaranteed contract because
there is a distinct difference. So a fully guaranteed
contract, when a player's compensation or a portion
of his compensation is guaranteed in all three
areas, skill, injury, and salary cap termination.
That's fully guaranteed. Non -fully guaranteed
is the opposite, when a player's compensation
contains some guarantees for skill, injury, and
or salary cap termination. So with that being
said, let's talk about everything else that comes
with the fully guaranteed contracts. So, the
Players Association has tried to get fully guaranteed
contracts twice. They tried with the CBA of 2011
and the CBA of 2020. But the argument the league
has made within the last few years when it comes
to giving their contract is due in part to the
higher chance of injury compared to baseball
and basketball players, as well as the NFL having
a hard cap, unlike baseball and basketball, which
is true. But if you're the owners and if you're
the league, you should have at least attempted
to create a formatted, fully guaranteed contract
that will work for all players. Because we have
seen multiple times players' careers just end
because of one hit, one tackle, one sack, one
interception, one catch. We've seen it multiple
times. So why wouldn't you want to give them
a fully guaranteed contract? That is something
that I can agree with. Now, everything else that
comes with this arbitration, I cannot agree with.
So let's get into the nooks and crannies of it,
all right? So this is what Arthur Blank had to
say about the salary cap, and I quote. The cap
is a closed -loop system. You get X number of
dollars, and no matter what your personal wealth
may be, it makes no difference. Every team has
exactly the same salary cap, and you have to
operate within that cap, end quote. Which is
true, but here is something that not a lot of
people know about. The salary cap is a culmination
of all revenue from broadcast revenues, ticket
sales, concessions, and other sources. Now here's
the part that's for the players, which is called
the player's cost amount. That is the revenue
players are entitled to receive, which under
the current CBA is 48 .5%. Another term that
gets flowed around a whole lot, especially when
a star player gets cut or traded, is dead money.
So dead money is when a player with a guaranteed
salary is cut. The remaining portion of that
player's salary is counted against the cap. Another
term that was brought up a lot in this arbitration
was trenches, specifically trenches period. And
so there is a rule in place within the CBA where
teams must satisfy a cash spending minimum for
players, which currently is at least 90 % of
the salary, but is calculated within a three
to four league year increment. So the recent
trenches period was 2017 to 2020. and we're in
one right now and that is from 2024 to 2026.
so as long as a team is spending within that
period they're fine now if they don't then may
have a problem but let's get into some more pressing
things about this uh this case so prior to 2021
the cap had been increasing from 10 to 12 million
a year But due to the pandemic, a mini CBA was
adopted on August 3rd of 2020. Under the mini
CBA, the 2020 cap was based on pre -COVID projected
revenue, which remained at $198 .2 million. But
certain player benefits were either suspended
or temporarily not funded. So I wouldn't call
this breaking news, but this is a new development
to this story. So according to ESPN's Don Van
Netta Jr. and Kalen Kaler, the NFL and NFLPA
have quietly agreed to seal this case from players.
But here's the kicker, though. According to ESPN,
again, the NFL Players Association Executive
Director Lloyd Howell Jr. is working as a paid
part -time consultant for the Car -El Group.
which is one of the select groups that was approved
by the league as a private equity firm that is
now seeking minority ownership within NFL franchises.
He joined the firm in March of 2023 prior to
being elected as the NFL Players Association
executive director. Folks, I don't want to be
this person that's, you know, conspiracy theorist
and whatnot. That's not my role at this point.
I think the players need to come together and
I think they really need to blow this story up.
Because right now, this is some next level bull.
If you're a player, who do you run to? Who do
you trust? If you're having a problem with your
team, who do you go to? It's supposed to be the
players association. Well, clearly that's not
the case. The only way that true change is going
to occur. is that the players have to collectively
come together and say, no, we are not going to
do this. We are not going to stand for this.
We are no longer going to allow you guys, the
owners and the league, to continue to do what
you've been doing for the past few years. Because
the Players Association is supposed to be a representation
of the players. It's not supposed to be the lapdog
of the NFL. And that's basically what it's become
at this point. So why in the world has nobody,
not one player said anything about this? Because
prior to the new executive director being hired,
neither Gene Upshaw or DeMarie Smith were allowed
to be paid for outside work. So then why in the
blue hell is the new executive director allowed
to do this? At some point, someone's going to
have to show that they have balls. Because right
now, I don't see it. I don't see any. And you
want to know what makes things worse? A union
lawyer asked Howell to consider resigning from
the private equity firm to avoid the appearance
of a conflict of interest within the firm in
taking ownership of an NFL franchise. And you
know what he did? He declined it. So you mean
to tell me he is still actively a part of a private
equity firm that could possibly try to get a
mistake within an NFL team while being the executive
director of the Players Association? That is
a conflict of interest. That is something that
you cannot do. I don't care if this is for the
NBA, the NHL, the NFL, whatever. This cannot
stand. This cannot be allowed to happen. And
the players need to know about this. Because
I guarantee you they pay some form of dues every
single month that goes to the Players Association.
So why in the world would I want to be continuing
to pay these dues? When I'm not even really getting,
when I'm not getting representation, when I don't
have anybody that's standing up for me. At this
point, it is going to take every single player.
I'm talking about players who are on the practice
squad, players who are on the main roster, the
superstars. Everyone is going to have to say,
you know what? We're going to hold out. We're
going to hold out until we get a fair shake at
the table because we are the reason. While everybody
wants to put butts in seats, we are the reason
why people wear our jerseys. We are the reason
why people wear the hats. We are the reason that
people make time to watch the games that we play.
We are the reason why the league is successful
right now. That has to happen immediately, and
I understand that that is a very dangerous move
to make, and it can have serious implications,
and it can cause a lot of people to lose a lot
of money. I understand that, but guess what?
If the players come together, only real change
will occur. Until then, the players will never
have a leg to stand when it comes to these high
meetings. Anything that the league wants, they
can do. Because you know why? They understand
that the highest ranking person within the Players
Association is in their back pocket. And he is
not going to have the balls to say, you know
what? We can't do that. Because you know why?
He has his own interest in trying to acquire
a stake within a team. If this ain't some next
level BS, I don't know what is, man. I don't
know what is, but let's get back to everything
else. So in 2021, every team was accounted for
a payment of $4 million in deferred benefit payments
from 2020. $11 million in benefits were restored
to make up for benefit spending that was once
deferred during the pandemic as well. Moving
forward. There is something that we need to talk
about, and this is a group that I didn't even
know existed until I read this document, and
that is the NFL Management Council, which is
a group of owners who oversee the operation of
the management council and engage in collective
bargaining with the NFLPA and advise other owners
on quote -unquote labor relation issues. Since
2012, John Mayer, owner of the Giants, has been
the presiding chairman of the CEC. Now, this
is what John Mara had to say about the role of
the CEC in the NFL MC, and I quote, it is to
educate the clubs as to what the trends are out
there so that the clubs can make their own decisions
about how to handle their cap going forward,
end quote. Between December and March, the NFL
MC makes presentations at many league meetings
to discuss the operation of the CBA and quote
unquote factors that are in play. Now, here is
an email exchange between Roger Goodell and Mr.
Pass shortly after Deshaun Watson's contract,
and I quote, We discussed guarantees, signing
bonus commitments, etc. on Thursday and Friday.
What we don't know yet is whether we are seeing
what we saw the last two years, where the very
top players, for example, Miller, Rogers, Stafford,
Watson, got large guarantees, but many other
players. Second -tier free agents and below sign
much more club -friendly deals. As the top of
the market clears and the next tier starts to
sign, we will have a better sense of whether
the large guarantees are extending further into
the free agent pool and also how they are affecting
club deals with their own players. It is certainly
something that we will want to discuss at both
the football op sessions and with owners as well.
This is Roger Goodell's response. Agreed. but
the tip of the market is most of the dollars
and if we wait to see how it falls it will be
too late to counter agree with raising with a
big concern that this will erode a key aspect
of our cba that resisted guaranteed money except
as clubs determined own this is what mr pash
had to say we will definitely be prepared to
raise it and make sure that people are focused
The next tier of signings is generally slower,
as of course you know, so I think we will be
ahead of it when we speak to the clubs, end quote.
If this isn't collusion, I don't know what is.
I knew that Deshaun Watson's contract was going
to have a negative effect on the league, but
I didn't expect for it to be this bad. I didn't
expect for the league to say, you know what,
we are going to make sure that nobody gets high
guarantees. Why wouldn't you want that? The NFL
right now is in a place where it's making so
much money, it's blowing people's mind. You are
talking about a league that is far surpassing
the amount of revenue that they're bringing each
and every season. You're talking about a league,
by the way, legitimately taking over the NBA
spot when it comes to the holidays. Because remember,
there was a point in time where the NFL really
wasn't the best during the holidays. We all knew
that crappy Thanksgiving game where it was most
likely the Cowboys and the Lions or it was the
Cowboys and the Washington team at that time
or it was just really two bad teams, right? And
then Christmas, you know, they may do something
a little bit special. New Year's, they might
do a little something a little bit special as
well. But now that's changed. The Thanksgiving
games are amazing now. They have a Black Friday
game as well as Christmas games and New Year's
Eve games. And mind you, they're doing this on
platforms such as Amazon Prime and Netflix. So
I don't see why there's such a group effort to
make sure that players don't get guaranteed money.
It's important and imperative that players get
guaranteed money because that is the only money
that they are for sure guaranteed to get if they
get injured, cut, traded, whatever the case may
be. What sense does that make? Why isn't this
being talked about as much? And I don't want
to sound like a broken record, but when you continue
to read this document, it just makes you more
and more frustrated because we are seeing a system
-wide effort of collusion from Roger Goodell
all the way down to the Players Association that
is going to prevent players from getting guaranteed
contracts. When they need guaranteed contracts
because of the sport that they play. How many
times every single season do we see somebody
tear their ACL, tear their Achilles, break an
arm, dislocate their shoulder, get a concussion,
get a very serious injury where they have to
be put on the back of a stretcher or something?
How many times do we see that? And how many times
do those players have guaranteed money? Not a
lot of them. But here's something else that's
crazy. The presenter notes found that if guarantees
continue to grow in the amount of players, then
there's a risk that it becomes the norm in future
contracts regardless of players' quality. So,
if you're a journeyman, your guarantees are going
to be a little bit higher. If you're a star player,
your guarantees are going to be a little bit
higher. If you're somebody that's on the practice
squad or an undrafted free agent, your guarantees
are going to be a little bit higher. That's what
that basically means. But they emphasize that
all clubs must make their own decisions, but
continuing these trends can handcuff a club in
the future. Now we're about to get to the good
part. So this is what the owners had to say about
Deshaun Watson's extension. This is what Steve
Bishotti, owner of the Ravens, had to say, and
I quote, It's like, damn, I wish they hadn't
guaranteed the whole contract. I don't know that
Watson should have been the first guy to get
a fully guaranteed contract. To me, that's something
that's groundbreaking and it'll make negotiations
hard with others, but that doesn't necessarily
mean we have to play that game, you know? We
shall see, end quote. This is what Arthur Bling
had to say about Deshaun Watson's contract, and
I quote, you have to leave that to the Haslams,
the owners of the Browns, to make their own judgment.
The fact that it's $80 million above the highest
contract ever guaranteed in the history of the
league that's 102 years old says a lot. Whether
or not most teams in the NFL or any other team
would have committed to that, I don't know. It's
certainly a huge commitment, end quote. But here's
the thing, though. Weren't you the same owner
that was in the sweepstakes of getting Deshaun
Watson? See, I want everybody to remember this,
right? During that whole Deshaun Watson trade
debacle, once it got down to the nitty gritty,
once a lot of the teams were eliminated and it
was just between the Falcons and the Browns,
Deshaun Watson posted a picture of wearing Falcons
gear. It was an old Falcons varsity jacket. And
everyone was thinking, oh, he's going to go to
the Falcons. But then come to find out, the Falcons
didn't want to give him the money that he was
looking for, and so eventually he went to the
Browns. But this is the same owner who had an
opportunity to get Lamar Jackson, and he didn't
want to get Lamar Jackson because of his playing
style and the money that he was looking for.
Man, get out of here. Get out of here with this
foolishness. Now, this is what John Mera had
to say about the presentation, and I quote, Beware
of the fact that the more signing bonuses you
pay, the less flexibility you're going to have
to manage your roster, end quote. Many owners
who testified have denied participation or being
aware of colluding together to reduce guarantees
after the March 2022 meeting. Now, this is what
John Mayer had to say, which, believe it or not,
this is probably the most that I've ever heard
him say anything. He is a man that does not speak
a whole lot. I guess, I don't know, but this
is what he had to say on the competitive nature
of the league, and I quote, I'm not going to
be told what to do in terms of individual player
contracts by anybody from management council
or by anybody from another club, end quote. He
further explains by saying this, and I quote,
just the thought of me calling Jerry Jones or
somebody and asking him not to guarantee Dak
Prescott's contract or somebody else's contract,
I mean, he would laugh at me. Among other choice
words, I'm sure. Just the whole notion is ridiculous.
We're out here to win, to win games, and we're
going to do whatever we can to improve our teams.
And if that means give more guarantees, we're
going to give more guarantees. It doesn't always
work that way. Unfortunately, sometimes guarantees
end up hurting you in the end, but you have to
make your own decisions. And the thought that
I'm going to be influenced by what another owner
is saying to me is just absurd. Now, he is right
with some of the things that he's saying. However,
Jerry Jones is probably the best example to go
with this situation because Jerry Jones sometimes
overpays his players. We all know that Jerry
Jones loves his players, the players that he
drafted, not free agents, the players that he
drafts. And we have seen multiple times within
the last five years that he goes above and beyond
with his players. From the Zeke Elliott contract
to Dak's contract, CeeDee Lamb's, and possibly
Micah Parsons. We've seen it. But, I mean, one
has to be a little bit lenient when it comes
to the guarantees. Because you don't want to
give a player these crazy guarantees. And then
something crazy happens. And now you're stuck
with all this dead money because you still have
to pay him because, you know, it's guaranteed
money. So I understand where John Mayer is coming
from a little bit. However, it still does not
dictate the decision to collude together on preventing
large guarantees. Now, here is the part where
we're all going to love. We're going to get to
the players. So the first case is Russell Wilson,
all right? So during his negotiations with the
Broncos, Russell Wilson wanted a seven -year
fully guaranteed contract around $50 million
a year. Now, this is what Russell Wilson had
to say about his negotiations with the Broncos.
And I quote, they kept saying, we'll do whatever
it takes, we'll do whatever it takes. However,
after he waived his no trade clause and his trade
to the Broncos became public, I would say shortly
after, maybe within the next 10 days or so, they
started getting cold feet on doing his fully
guaranteed thing. End quote. So after trading
for Russell Wilson, the Broncos changed ownership,
which delayed Russell Wilson from signing, which
is true. But here's the part where things get
a little bit sticky. So Mr. Penner's handwritten
notes show that he questioned the urgency of
a contract extension. He wrote, two years left
on a contract? Why not wait? But during negotiations,
Russell Wilson chose to submit a non -fully guaranteed
offer to the Broncos, though he testified that
he considered it to be effectively fully guaranteed.
But talking points within the Broncos' ownership
indicated that the Broncos believed that they
had quote -unquote leverage in Russell Wilson's
negotiations. And so somebody noted that they
did not foresee any of the owners of teams with
top quarterbacks with upcoming deals matching
or exceeding Deshaun Watson's fully guaranteed
contract. But here's a junkie nugget. Russell
Wilson had two years left on a pre -existing
deal with the Seahawks. And with the Broncos
making this move, they wanted to make sure that
they signed him to a new contract because they
didn't want a disgruntled quarterback. Russell
Wilson also testified and said that the Broncos
communicated to him that it was effectively a
fully guaranteed contract, which in some ways
is sort of like, right? And so we all know the
results. September 1st, 2022, Russell Wilson
signs a five -year, $245 million deal, $124 million
fully guaranteed at signing. So with this situation,
situation number one, of course. It's a little
bit weird because during that time, the Broncos
was going through a change of ownership. And
so, you know, they had to wait for that to be
approved and whatnot. And you had Russell Wilson
and then that whole debacle in itself and then
the trade and then the contract and whatnot.
So a lot of moving parts. Definitely didn't expect
the Broncos guaranteed contract, especially at
that time. I mean, sure, he was still an elite
quarterback, but I mean, come on now. See, this
whole situation is just a very slippery slope,
okay? Now let's go to the Kyler Murray situation,
all right? So after Kyler Murray's third season,
Eric Burkhart, which is his agent, started exploring
the possibility of an extension, which that's
normal. He submitted an offer on February 17th,
2022, prior to Deshaun Watson signing his extension.
Shortly after that, on March 24th, 2022, He withdrew
the offer due to the Cardinals, and I quote,
unresponsiveness to Kyler's proposal that was
made over five weeks ago, end quote. Both his
agent and Kyler Murray wanted a fully guaranteed
contract. Here's a text exchange between Michael
Bidwell, owner of the Cardinals, and his GM at
the time, Mr. Kime, about the whole Kyler Murray
negotiations. And I quote, we are going to load
up this contract with so many incentives to earn
the real money, end quote. Now, Mr. Kime responded,
referring to Deshaun Watson's contract at the
time. And I quote, why the Browns felt so compelled
to pay Watson like that is just baffling, end
quote. Come on, guys. Just come on. Now, Mr.
Kime let Burkhart know that a fully guaranteed
contract was not going to happen. Kyler Murray
valued the ad compensation per year, which is
the APY, under his new deal. So time passes,
and then on July of 2022, Kyler Murray signs
a five -year $230 .5 million deal, $103 .3 million
fully guaranteed, and he will be making $46 .1
million a year at that time. Now here's the junkie
nugget about this whole debacle. He further explains
that the Cardinals communicated to Mr. Burkhart
that Mr. Murray was still under contract for
two additional seasons, even without before any
franchise tag designations. This is what they're
saying. This is not what I'm saying. This is
what they're saying. And therefore, they had
leverage and did not want to sign a contract
that would negatively impact their roster flexibility,
particularly because Mr. Murray is a relatively
small quarterback compared with others in the
league. That's how they feel about you. Now,
here is a text exchange between Michael Bidwell,
owner of the Cardinals, and Dean Spanos, owner
of the Chargers, on July 22nd of 2022. Dean Spanos
says, congratulations on signing Murray. Michael
Bidwell replies and says, thanks, Dino. These
quarterback deals are expensive, but we limited
the fully guaranteed money and have some pretty
good language. Thankfully, we have a quarterback
that's worth paying. Dean Spano says, your deal
will help us for our quarterback next year. Michael
Bidwell replies and says, I think many teams
will be happy with it once they have a chance
to review. Cleveland really screwed things up.
I was resolved to keep the guarantee relatively,
and I quote, low, end quote. That simple exchange
between two owners lets you know how some of
them feel about their players, their star players.
Let's continue to move forward before I go on
another rant. So this is the Lamar Jackson situation,
and this one's a pretty juicy one, all right?
So Eric DaCosta, GM of the Ravens currently,
testified that he wasn't opposed to giving out
a fully guaranteed contract to Lamar, but they,
and I quote, have to be pushed out to later years,
end quote. DaCosta stated Lamar Jackson's playing
style, being a running quarterback, and having
some injuries are some of the reasons he wanted
to minimize guarantees within the fifth and sixth
year of contracts. In 2022, during contract negotiations,
Lamar Jackson had informed Eric DaCosta that
he wanted a fully guaranteed contract at the
time. Eric DaCosta knew that the contract was
important to Lamar. After multiple offers, Lamar
Jackson informed Eric DaCosta that he would rather
play under his fifth -year option. Lamar Jackson
texted Eric DaCosta, and I quote, I'm going to
request a fully guaranteed contract. I understand
you all don't, and that's fine, end quote. So
after the 2022 -2023 season, Lamar and DaCosta
restarted contract talks, and DaCosta offered
Lamar two different three -year deals that were
considered fully guaranteed. During these negotiations,
Lamar stated that his mic on his phone wasn't
working, which made communication difficult.
EDC asked Lamar if he would be interested in
being traded to, but was never given a list.
Prior to the Ravens franchising Lamar, a few
teams expressed interest in Lamar, but no teams
reached out to Lamar directly. Pardon the interruption,
but this is your GM, your bag road dominance,
here to talk about RSS .com, alright? If you
guys already don't know, I am a RSS .com affiliate.
And so I just want to tell you for just a quick
moment about why you should choose RSS .com.
So me personally, on my journey of podcasting,
I was looking at different platforms just to
find the right place. And I looked here, I looked
there, I looked everywhere, but I checked out
RSS .com and it was the best decision I ever
made. From low prices to interactive analytics.
to as well as helping you with your distribution.
RSS .com does it all. Not to mention, they just
started a Slack channel where you can network
and interact with other podcasters. and even
get some insightful tips on how you can increase
your podcast even more so head on over to rss
.com i will be attaching my rss affiliate link
within the description when you click on that
link i will be able to to receive some compensation
for it and with that compensation i will be able
to give you guys a better product a lot of that
money will go towards upgrading the microphones
computers new subscriptions for more analytical
information that we can use for future podcasts,
all of that and more. Thank you for your support,
and thank you RSS .com for making me an affiliate.
Now back to the good stuff. So Steve Bishotti,
owner of the Ravens, believed the reason teams
weren't really interested in Lamar was due to
some teams already having a quarterback, teams
weren't interested in the size of the contract
Lamar was looking for, and or they didn't have
any money to pay into the league's escrow account,
which is required by the CPA. Now, this is known
as the funding rule, which the league maintains
an escrow account in which teams must future
year contracts that are guaranteed for skill
related terminations. While under the non -exclusive
franchise tag, any team who would have acquired
Lamar would have had to give the Ravens two first
round picks. Arthur Blank, owner of the Falcons,
which we talked about earlier in the episode,
testified the reason the Falcons weren't interested
in acquiring Lamar was due in part to Lamar Jackson's
injuries and keeping their quarterback would
provide more cap flexibility than pursuing Lamar.
Think about this for a second here, folks. Here
you have someone in Lamar Jackson who is a spitting
image of Michael Vick, a better passer than Michael
Vick. possibly a faster player than Michael Vick.
All you have to do is give up two first round
picks and give them some new money. And instead
of you doing that, you decide and say, you know
what? Nah, I don't really want that. I don't
really need that. And instead, you decide to
go through a carousel of quarterbacks. And now
you have what? Michael Penix and you have Kirk
Cousins who by the way continues to say that
you know he doesn't want to be a part of the
Falcons anymore because the Falcons quote -unquote
screwed him and everything so it's just crazy
to me you know it really is how the Falcons just
continue to just fall on their own sword every
single chance that they get but hey it's the
Falcons right they choked the 28th 28 -3 lead,
remember? Remember that, Falcons fans? Remember
that? Remember that, choke artists? Remember
that? 28 -3? Remember that? You remember that?
I know you do. But moving forward. So as Eric
DaCosta was preparing for the 2023 draft, he
sent an offer to Lamar in which he accepted and
signed a five -year $260 million deal, $135 million
guaranteed, with a $72 .5 million signing bonus.
So here's the thing with this. And we're starting
to see a trend within the last two situations.
Well, actually, yeah, last two situations. All
three of these players wanted fully guaranteed
contracts at first. And all three of the teams
said no. And they stood on their ground for a
long period of time until the players said, you
know what, forget about it. Just send me an offer
and we'll just sign it. Now for Lamar's situation,
in some ways, I could understand why they probably
didn't want to give him a fully guaranteed just
because of his playing style and whatnot. But
even then, he has been much more healthier now
than he was probably the first three or four
years of his career. Because now he knows, okay,
listen, this is the playing way that I like to
play at. And he knows exactly the process that
he has to go through in order to be the best
version of himself when he's on the field. Which
is fine. But here's the thing that I will say.
And this is a conversation that I've had with
friends. The only other positions that I would
give a fully guaranteed contract to is a kicker
and a punter. Because why? Their salaries aren't
high. So you can give a fully guaranteed to Chris
Boswell or Sam Coach or whomever and not lose
an interest lead. Because you know why? For one,
they're going to be part of the team. probably
for the rest of their career. You won't have
to give them 20 or 30 plus million. You can probably
give them, what, 12, maybe 13 at best. That's
not bad. That's actually really good money. But
at some point, I feel like the league and the
players need to come together. They need to sit
down. They need to hash this out and try to find
a way to make a format that is beneficial for
both the owners and the players. That is structured
as a fully guaranteed contract. Now, if it means
that they get probably 50 to 60 percent of their
money in signing bonus and then their base salary
is maybe, I don't know, eight, nine million a
year. OK, fine. I think somebody will be willing
to do that because right now the current contract
format really isn't the best. Now, granted. Yes,
we can look at the Browns prior to acquiring
Deshaun Watson and now, and we can all agree
that right now their cap situation is in hell,
but that's because of the amount of money that
they've had to give him. I think if you give,
I don't know, AJ Brown a deal where he's making
30 plus million a year, but a majority of that
money is in the signing bonus or some type of
format, I think you can make it work. Compared
to, you know, they make up this contract and
a majority of his guaranteed money is on the
back end of the deal instead of in the front
of the deal. The point that I'm trying to make
with all of this is that it can be done. It's
just you have the owners that just have their
head up their asses that don't want to do that.
And for whatever reason, I don't know why. You
guys are making a boatload of money. The league
is making a boatload of money. You have to do
right by the players. The players are the reason
why you guys are able to live the lives that
you're able to live. Remember that. Now let's
talk about some more conflict. And this is between
Robert Kraft and DeMarie Smith. So the former
NFLPA exec DeMarie Smith testified stating that
Robert Kraft, owner of the Patriots, raised the
issue of Watson's fully guaranteed contract during
a conversation in the summer of 2022. Now, here
is the conversation between the two. Mr. Smith
stated, and I quote, I just remember him talking
about Mr. Kraft saying, you know, Roger has asked
me to talk about guaranteed contracts at an owner's
meeting, end quote. He also testifies and says
that Mr. Kraft told him that he was asked to
raise the guaranteed contracts, and I quote,
were a problem. This is what they're saying.
This is not what I'm saying. This is what they're
saying. This is how they type the things out
in this report. I know, weird. But during Lamar
Jackson's contract negotiations, DeMarie Smith
emailed Lamar and advised him to, and I quote,
stand firm in his demand for a fully guaranteed
contract because he's entitled to the largest
fully guaranteed contract of all time, end quote.
Now, Roger Goodell denies having discussions
with Robert Kraft about guaranteed compensation
and or having any conversations with owners about
the issue. DeMarie Smith reached out to Robert
Kraft on April 11th of 2023 saying, hello. Robert
Kraft responded by saying, and I quote, always
felt we had a special relationship. Disappointed
to hear false claim. attributed to you about
me relating to guaranteed contracts, end quote.
The arbitrator found Roger Goodell didn't ask
Robert Kraft or any owners about guaranteed contracts
in August of 2022 or any other time. So my takeaway
from this entire report is that Although the
arbitrator says Roger Goodell did not have a
direct hand within the group effort by the owners
to prevent large guarantees on players' contracts,
I still believe that Roger Goodell had a hand
to play in it in some way. Now, whether that
be an off -the -record conversation with the
owners, whether it be, you know, they're in a
smaller room. That's probably with low lighting
and everyone's phones is out and whatnot. They're
probably turned off and everything and they probably
had a conversation. Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised.
But this just shows you how this was a system
-wide effort to prevent players from getting
large guarantees as well as getting fully guaranteed
contracts. If you're a player, what do you do
at this point? Who do you go to? Who do you trust?
No one. If you can't trust the Players Association
to fight for you, you don't have a leg to stand
on. And it sucks because we know within the coming
years, they're going to want to add another game
to the season. They've already said that. And
they're trying to expand this whole international
game project that they've been working on for
the past few years. That's going to take a toll
on people's bodies. But guess what? You don't
have a players union that can fight for you.
You don't have a players union that's going to
tell the league, hey, listen, if we're going
to do a game in Australia, then the players need
at least a week or two in order to get used to
everything. Because they're going to go through
jet lag and exhaustion and getting prepared for
the time zone difference. All of those things,
even if the field conditions are right for the
players, all of those things is what the Players
Association is supposed to do for the players.
And the fact that you have leadership that is
as corrupt as they possibly can be is a slap
in the face to every single player. I'm going
to link Pablo Torres' and Mike Florio's... episode
of this entire case. I'm going to link it. in
the description so you guys can go and you can
watch and see for yourself. Because they do have
a more deeper dive into everything because, I
mean, they have sources within the NFL, NFLPA.
So they can do more of a deeper dive into everything
so you can understand it a little bit better.
But I'm going to end this episode here. If you
guys like what you are listening, please, please,
please, please, please make sure you guys like,
share, subscribe, turn that notification bell
on, leave a comment down below for my YouTube
people and for my audio listeners. Make sure
you download the episode, share the episode with
somebody, and make sure you guys leave a five
-star, five -star, five -star, five -star, five
-star review on anywhere and everywhere. that
you listen to podcasts, all right? Make sure
you guys leave a review, please. I really do
appreciate if you guys leave a review, all right?
For my YouTube people, Football Junkies Pod,
all right? Football Junkies Pod. When you go
on our YouTube, we have a link tree. When you
click on that link tree, it'll take you to anywhere
and everywhere that we have Football Junkies
content, whether that be... on our Instagram,
our TikTok, our Blue Sky, Twitter, and even our
rss .com affiliate link, all right? Now, for
my Instagram people, football underscore junkies
pod, all right? Football underscore junkies pod.
Junkies pod is not what? It is together, not
spaced, all right? It is together, not spaced.
Football underscore junkies pod. Now, for my
TikTok people. football junkies pod. All right.
Football junkies pod. I'm going to make sure
that I start posting. more content over there
because I'm seeing that you guys like it. So
I got to feed the people because I am a man of
the people. All right. For my blue sky people,
you can follow me on there. G -M -K -I -L -E.
It's the same thing with X. All right. G -M -K
-I -L -E. As always, I hope I gave you guys the
fix that you guys need. I love you guys. I appreciate
you guys so much. I had to get this episode out
before I do any other future episodes. So guess
what? Once this is out, I got to get ready for
gut check time. That's right, folks, because
by then we will have at least a few teams reporting
for training camp. So we have to talk about some
battles that I'm going to be keeping my eye on,
some headlines that are going to be talked about
with some of these teams, all of that and more.
So stay tuned. As always, this is your GM Kel
signing out. Peace and love. Later.