Quote:
Originally Posted by painekiller
It's not about money? That's not what is being reported. NFL Network had reports up that AJ had talked to the coaches and was ready to come in after a week of sitting out. It is reported, that he asked for his $1M offseason work out bonus and the team told him no way, he missed a week worth of workouts and he did not earn the bonus, and the team is also said to have told him not to come in. The report goes on to say AJ then demanded to be traded.
So if these reports are true then it's about the money, as much as anything.
Also if true this is another case of Rick Smith messing up a negotation.
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Blaming Rick Smith for AJ missing training camp is stupid.
AJ has not made a single sound about a new deal. He skipped summer workouts because he wanted to play for a winner. He is one of the highest paid WRs in the league and has 3 more years left on his deal. If we let him out of the deal he would make less not more (both short term and long). This is not a money issue. This is about him not wanting to spend his last year of relevance fielding ground balls from Ryan Fitzpatrick.
The request for the return of the bonus was a sign of Andre giving in and coming to work. Us saying no is a sign we want to make an example of this situation. I would imagine that is far more about BOB than Rick Smith (like Chuck said, BOB is a tough guy). Smith has never handled any negotiation like that. And even if it was Smith, I have no problem with how anyone has handled this on either side. One guy wants out, one team doesn't want him out. Just because 2 sides disagree doesn't mean we have to assign blame.