Why Bradford hasn't agreed to "home town" discount yet?

[wmc540]

sams leverage lies in whether the Rams want him back and what they are willing to pay him.
It's not supply and demand.
If sam refuses to restructure because the terms aren't to his liking, that doesn't increase his leverage, it reduces it
He is under contract for 2015 and neither he nor the Rams "have" to do anything
However, his contract is not guaranteed and after free agency, the draft and pre season are over and rosters are set, the Rams could cut bradford then.
For some reason it seems that some posters believe that the Rams would cut bradford in the near future and I don't see any reason why that would happen

Wouldn't the Rams need his $12 million to sign free agents? Or would they allowed to be over the cap during that process?

 

[Boffo97]

Wouldn't the Rams need his $12 million to sign free agents? Or would they allowed to be over the cap during that process?

Yeah. The "cut Bradford just before the season starts" scenario, in addition to being fairly petty, would hurt the Rams still more than Bradford.

The only difference in how the cap works during the offseason is that only the top 51 (I think) contracts count against the cap, and Sam's is well within that limit.

 

[LACHAMP46]

It's not supply and demand.

I believe it is supply and demand...there are 32 teams....most do NOT have good QB play...that's a fact.

his contract is not guaranteed

Sam's contract isn't guaranteed? You sure about that? I believe that almost $13 million is guaranteed...Spottrac should be able to solve this..

 

[-X-]

I think we're overlooking the obvious here. Bradford hasn't agreed to anything, because he hasn't been presented with anything yet. Contracts are worked out (100% of the time) between player agent and the Organization. I'm sure, if presented with the option of incentivizing his contract to help the team, that Bradford probably won't have a problem with it. And there's also the point that was brought up by a few already, that Wilson is still likely going to be paid the most of any QB in the league when all is said and done. Bradford's contract extension (if so elected) won't be in alignment with a contract of that scope, so the OP's point about Bradford isn't really applicable to Wilson's situation.

 

[ChrisW]

I think we're overlooking the obvious here. Bradford hasn't agreed to anything, because he hasn't been presented with anything yet. Contracts are worked out (100% of the time) between player agent and the Organization. I'm sure, if presented with the option of incentivizing his contract to help the team, that Bradford probably won't have a problem with it. And there's also the point that was brought up by a few already, that Wilson is still likely going to be paid the most of any QB in the league when all is said and done. Bradford's contract extension (if so elected) won't be in alignment with a contract of that scope, so the OP's point about Bradford isn't really applicable to Wilson's situation.

Also, we need to expect that Snead is doing due diligence in exploring trades for Bradford. If he gets something that blows him away, he may not be back.

 

[-X-]

Also, we need to expect that Snead is doing due diligence in exploring trades for Bradford. If he gets something that blows him away, he may not be back.

Fairly likely, but he better have a good plan A in place if he does.

 

[ChrisW]

Fairly likely, but he better have a good plan A in place if he does.

Right. I have to think the deal would have to give us a chance to draft a top guy, or position us to trade for a QB.

But, now that I've typed it out. There aren't many, if any, options better than Sam out there, even in a trade.

 

[-X-]

Right. I have to think the deal would have to give us a chance to draft a top guy, or position us to trade for a QB.

But, now that I've typed it out. There aren't many, if any, options better than Sam out there, even in a trade.

Yeah, therein lies the problem. It's either run with who you have and get (yet another) veteran backup, or sink a substantial amount of your resources into getting the best one in this draft.

 

[dieterbrock]

I believe it is supply and demand...there are 32 teams....most do NOT have good QB play...that's a fact.

Sam's contract isn't guaranteed? You sure about that? I believe that almost $13 million is guaranteed...Spottrac should be able to solve this..

How's that sportrac working out for you? His contract isn't guaranteed.

 

[LACHAMP46]

How's that sportrac working out for you? His contract isn't guaranteed.

I believe and could be wrong, but he's gonna get $12,985,000 in base salary. Now is that guaranteed? Not sure, but it might as well be, since we all know he'll NEVER BE CUT.

http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/st.-louis-rams/sam-bradford/

 

[dieterbrock]

I believe and could be wrong, but he's gonna get $12,985,000 in base salary. Now is that guaranteed? Not sure, but it might as well be, since we all know he'll NEVER BE CUT.

http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/st.-louis-rams/sam-bradford/

His salary is not guaranteed. If cut before game #1 he gets $0

So the Rams can wait all pre season to negotiate. They don't need to do anything right now.

 

[Boffo97]

His salary is not guaranteed. If cut before game #1 he gets $0

So the Rams can wait all pre season to negotiate. They don't need to do anything right now.

Except when they need the cap room for free agent signings. Then waiting is going to hurt them far, far worse than it does Bradford. And I don't think playing around with other people's contracts to try to get around that is a smart plan for the team in the long term.

Trust me, there's no way the Rams are going to try to wait Bradford out with this.

 

[dieterbrock]

Except when they need the cap room for free agent signings. Then waiting is going to hurt them far, far worse than it does Bradford. And I don't think playing around with other people's contracts to try to get around that is a smart plan for the team in the long term.

Trust me, there's no way the Rams are going to try to wait Bradford out with this.

Of course they may have to wait. There is the issue of seeing how he is physically as well. Theres no reason to rush to a signing unless both teams reach an accommodating middle ground.
Which I believe they will unless one side is unreasonable.
Each side has leverage but if both sides want to make it work, leverage is irrelevant.

As for the other poster who believes that sportrac will show that bradford'a 13 mill is guaranteed, I wonder how that's going

 

[Boffo97]

Of course they may have to wait. There is the issue of seeing how he is physically as well. Theres no reason to rush to a signing unless both teams reach an accommodating middle ground.
Which I believe they will unless one side is unreasonable.
Each side has leverage but if both sides want to make it work, leverage is irrelevant.

As for the other poster who believes that sportrac will show that bradford'a 13 mill is guaranteed, I wonder how that's going

The waiting I'm talking about is the scenario where the Rams spitefully wait until the beginning of the season to release Bradford because negotiations weren't working. That's not happening. Yes, it would hurt Bradford, but it would hurt the Rams so much worse not having any money freed up from him.

Honestly, I feel whatever leverage the Rams had evaporated due to the QB scarcity this year.

Assuming Sam can go, this can be illustrated thusly... let's suppose things totally break down between Sam and the Rams and he's cut.

Sam's absolutely going to be fine. He's going to get a lot because there'll be a bidding war for him. There's a health risk to it, sure, but a healthy Sam is so much better than anyone else out there, it's ridiculous.

As for the Rams... they're not going to be fine. They have no other QBs on the roster right now as both Hill and Davis are unsigned free agents. So they'd have to start one of the mediocre at best free agents... or a rookie.

 

[StevenG-BR]

If Bradford doesn't agree to a substantial pay cut or restructure, I feel the team will cut ties. As they should.

This "leverage" talk is odd and kind of funny. Let's be honest...Bradford hasn't accomplished anything of real substance and has spent the last two seasons on IR. That's not a QB with leverage. If his camp feels that way, let them take his "leverage" to another city then. Save $16 mil in the process. It's not like his actual production is that far off from a Mark Sanchez, Mike Glennon or Nick Foles... so I'm not sure where this "OMG he sooo irreplaceable God help us!?@" talk is coming from. Those possible replacements might not have Bradford's ceiling (a ceiling I don't think he'll ever reach), but they can certainly match up nicely with the Bradford of 2010-2013.

Having said that, I'm sure a team-friendly extension gets worked out (with little to no guaranteed money), as I'm convinced this "leverage" so many speak of is actually non-existent and I think Bradford wants to play for Fisher or the Rams. And that would make me happy, because I'd like to see Bradford work towards bouncing back... as long as there's a solid contingency plan in place.