[Keith]

More... these have mysteriously gone missing since it was posted, btw. And yes, Alan is correct, Justice wrong, but you already knew that, didn't you?

No, actually I'm not a professional journalist. I don't have a credential and can't get one. I do what I do in my spare time because of the lousy local coverage we get for the Texans. To use a Paul Kuharsyism, I cover the coverage, which at times (like this) is brutal at best.
So let's sum up here. First you said the only guaranteed money in the NFL is signing bonus, which is not correct. Then you said no one had reported that Dunta had received Gamble money - which was wrong. Now you throw jr. high girl-like hissy fits and insults my way for some reason.... yep, Houston sure is lucky to have 'journalists' like you.

[The signing bonus is the only guaranteed money. Now the first-year salary and sometimes second-year salary can be represented as guaranteed money because of the salary cap hit, but it's not written into the contract as guarantee money. So you're wrong about that. Second, no one has reported the Texans' offer to Dunta Robinson. I've seen ''in the neighborhood of,'' but that doesn't tell you what the offer is. NFL contracts are complicated documents. The publicly reported figure frequently isn't accurate. I know agents that love leaking numbers to reporters when the actual value is far different. They're not lying exactly. They're spinning. Third, you represent yourself as a journalist, but you don't actually do any work other than read what others have and comment on it. Pretty good gig.--Richard]
Posted by: aj at April 6, 2009 06:36 AM

_____________________________________________

Re [RJ said]: "Now the first-year salary and sometimes second-year salary can be represented as guaranteed money because of the salary cap hit, but it's not written into the contract as guarantee money"
fyi, there are two lines on the Player Contract Information Form on the standard NFL player contract that show guaranteed base salary (in writing).
One line shows the amount of the Paragraph 5 salary guaranteed, if any, and another line shows the amount guaranteed, if any, relative to skill, injury or both. Both amounts are specifically written into the contract and are separately accounted from (but included in) the specified yearly cap amount.
I'm not a journalist, and I can't say that particular career path ever crossed my mind. I'm just a fan blogger that's followed the NFL and Houston sports for a long time and I do what I do in my spare time. btw, your flippant and condescending remarks make you look really bad, but none of that bothers me so I'm not sure what you're gaining by any of that. I'm actually quite shocked that you engage readers in such a way.
Looking forward to the information you promised on the Texans offer to Dunta so I can comment on it. Get to work, will ya?

[I spoke to Dunta's agent this morning. I'm sure you know him well in doing your research. Oh wait, you don't do any research. You steal from others and call it research. Nice gig. As for your understanding of a player contract, it's basically 100 percent wrong. There are specific guarantees written into contracts, but those are very unusual except for quarterbacks and some free agents. However, if the signing bonus is large enough, the contract essentially is guaranteed for the first year or so because of the cap hit. All I know for sure is that Dunta is ticked off at how this has been handled and doesn't plan on showing up.There are zero negotiations going on at the moment, and then it comes down to how far does he push it. Would he be williing to miss a game check because he's mad at the GM? A smart GM would be continuing a dialogue, but Rick Smith may not be smart.--Richard]
Posted by: aj at April 6, 2009 01:11 PM