 FREE AGENTS & PLAYER'S AGENTS, BY MIDMOFAN
(Feb 17) |
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MILLER. With what I have
read of Miller's deal (almost 9 mil in guaranteed money with 10 mil total an easy reach
for next year) he was right to leave. No way the Rams could pay him that much, all things
considered. He will be taken care of for the rest of his life with this one contract and
it does not appear to matter whether or not he has a lousy year, or even makes the team. But I am sorry to see Miller and the others go and to see the agents posturing on Grut. I know this kind of thing happens to teams that have had great years, but I was still hoping for better. I can't help but remember all of the feature stories on the Rams OL this past year. How they went to each others houses, how they ate out together. In all, how close they were and how that "family" feeling helped them in their play and made this the best year of their playing lives. Was it all BS? Or does the prospect of a little more money IF they make the transition overrule everything? AGENTS. I am not saying this will happen with Miller or any of the Rams ex-players, but I am always suprised by the folks who give up on a sure thing (as sure as anything gets in the NFL) and take a chance on a new situation with new coaches, new schemes new players etc., often for not much more money they could have gotten with their old team. These guys should remember that not that long ago, with some slightly different coaches and slightly different personel around them, they were one of the worst teams in the league. How many teams would have been fighting over these guys last year? IMO, the problem is with the agents. It seems to me that there are a number of agents who are more interested in feathering their own nest than in what is in the long-term best interests of the players. A perfect examply was the Pace holdout. What was eventually accepted was not much different than what the Rams had offered early on with the exception of a clause that is never going to be exercised, but gave the agent the chance to boast what a huge contract he had obtained for his client. Thus the holdout benifited the agent but hurt Pace by setting him back. Has Pace ever realized that he was used and taken advantage of by his own agent? What gets me is how the players continue to listen to these guys blindly. Somewhere along the way some players seem to lose any abiliy to think for themselves and/or have nobody besides the agents that they trust. Now since agents live off what the players make, why would they put them in a situation where they, in the long run, could make less? Publicity is one factor. There are only so many players out there. So these agents need to be able to blow their horn about the great (looking) deals that they have recently negotiated. Ego is another. Last is the turnover factor. Agents can and do get replaced. By getting a player to change teams, an agent can often get a bigger signing bonus from the new team right now, even though over a longer period, the player has a greater chance of earning more by staying put. Thus the agent gets his now which, since he might be around to negotiate the next contract, is important to him. BYW, I use to have a partner who was a small-time sports agent. He had a pretty low opinion of the profession as well. Still...having said all that...I, for one, am optimistic that the Rams have the ability to survive these FA loses and come out an even better team than last year. At least I am willing to give the guys the benifit of the doubt. |
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