12/21/24
March 13, 2004
Ty Law says he wants out.: The Patriot cornerback is miffed the organization has rejected his offer of a long-term deal, and says he doesn't ever want to wear the New England uni again. Whose side are you on?
Last month Law called the Patriots' four-year, $26 million offer "an insult" and "a slap in the face." "I'll go to training camp. I've got bonuses for going to training camp. I'm just saying it won't be a comfortable working atmosphere. It's not a reason to hold out. I get $1 million just to show up. Who wouldn't show up for $1 million? The money ain't the thing, because I have that. Then again, I'm not going to sit here and say I don't want $7 million, either. That's stupid. Hell, we all gotta eat." "I'll go out there and play my game. I'm not saying I'm going to be the best guy to be around or your favorite guy to talk to. But I'm not going to hurt my teammates and I'm not going to hurt myself." This reads like a parody of a self-absorbed athlete. Ty must be eating a lot of Big Macs if he needs $7 million to feed himself. I wish a reporter would follow up and ask him what it is about if it's not the money?
posted by Mike McD at 02:48 PM on March 13, 2004
I love Ty Law the player. Loved Ty Law outside the game too, up until now. He said all the right things during the Lawyer Milloy Affair, said all the right things during the season, about how he trusted Bellicheck and if coach cut him, he'd agree with it because Bellicheck was so smart. Now this. And this. Thankfully both of those articles aren't written by the Globe's beat guy, Ron Borges. When his article comes out tomorrow, you can bet it will be full of what the Pats are doing wrong by not copying the Bills or Redskins or whomever. I'm suprised that Ty Law isn't more understanding, given what his cap number (especially next year) looks like. That said, 4 years @ 26 million was a low-ball ofer. I just don't get Ty's thought process though: is Champ Bailey's contract that problematic? What do you do with the next ten million? Ty's in a bad position. He has to play to get the next contract. If somehow his wish gets granted, he'll be run out of town and be the butt of jokes about Ecstacy or whatever in a matter of minutes. Don't cry for the Patriots though: moving Eugene Wilson to corner and adding John Lynch at safety might keep the team above water.
posted by yerfatma at 03:48 PM on March 13, 2004
Law's right; he is the best cornerback in the league and it is perfectly reasonable to want to be paid that way. However, the Patriots have him for another year or two and he's gonna be 32 when his contract is up. That's getting kind of old. If he doesn't cash in now, he's not going to cash in. Belichick is also right. The Pats don't need Law at the price he wants. So... nobody wins. Law actually offered to buy out his contract, but that'd deprive the Patriots of a year of relatively cheap cornerback services. Messy.
posted by Bryant at 04:31 PM on March 13, 2004
Hell, we all gotta eat. I really hope that was a joke.
posted by justgary at 04:42 PM on March 13, 2004
i know he's good, but is he replaceable though? the panicky red sox fan in me says "sign him, we'll never find someone else to do that he does!" and the passive satisfied still-learning patriots fan says "hey, who else can Belichick get?" i'm tired of the whining in contract negotiations.
posted by jerseygirl at 04:55 PM on March 13, 2004
He's totally replaceable. Not that we're gonna find another Ty Law, but Belichick will figure something out. Eugene Wilson will probably move back to corner -- you gotta figure there's some potential there, given how quickly he picked up the safety position.
posted by Bryant at 05:18 PM on March 13, 2004
Yeah. In baseball terms, he's not replacable in that you couldn't find another Pedro, but he is replacable in that you could spend the money on 3 more very, very good pitchers. I realize the analogy sounds blasphemous, but football has a lot more players on the field.
posted by yerfatma at 05:38 PM on March 13, 2004
I'm sorry to see things go down like this...but giving Law what he wants would completely trash the Pats Formula. Let him go.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 08:18 PM on March 13, 2004
Law's right; he is the best cornerback in the league and it is perfectly reasonable to want to be paid that way. but giving Law what he wants would completely trash the Pats Formula. Let him go. I don't understand Bryant's thinking. Law signed a contract that made him the best paid corner in the league a couple years ago. Now that the market has gone up he wants to break the contract. To me it's not the same situation as a guy like Portis where he's got a contract for $600,000 and his market value is $5 million. Law is getting $7 million and he's basically mad that he's not getting $10 million. Law should honor his contract or only sign one year deals. If you really believe you're that good only sign one year deals. Brown Bat, you're missing the point. The Patriots don't have to do anything for at least two years. Law is under contract. Rather than let him go the Pats just need to make him play.
posted by Mike McD at 11:33 PM on March 13, 2004
He's probably thinking "Hm, the Patriots can cut me any time they want; why shouldn't I be able to negotiate any time I want?" I really like non-guaranteed contracts, and I like the effect they have on the game, but I don't think that they're in any way equitable to the players.
posted by Bryant at 07:58 AM on March 14, 2004
What Bryant said. I love how flexible non-guaranteed contracts make my favorite football team (as opposed to watching some stiff DH for a few years because your team picked him up when they thought he was a hot commodity), but it's hard to blame players for trying to get all they can before they get old or hurt.
posted by yerfatma at 09:44 AM on March 14, 2004
Neither. Whiny over-paid athlete on one side. Greedy rich bastards on the other. Let them fight it out in a cage match.