Pushed by newer owners, the NFL will soon be reconsidering certain details of the master agreement that created league-wide revenue sharing -- the one business decision that folks in the sports business say was the smartest thing late commissioner Pete Rozelle ever did.
As Eric Fisher of the Washington Times explains:
NFL owners next month will vote on the future of the NFL Trust, the master business agreement that maintains that shared national revenue structure. It is unlikely the entire agreement will be scrapped in favor of the more chaotic market-based system prevalent in baseball and particularly hockey. But several owners
I think if you have the chance to grab a top-five-in-the-league running back, especially one who’s 22 years old, you go for it. I couldn’t believe it when I heard about this trade- how often do you see a player-for-player deal in the NFL?
I try not to over-analyze these deals in the moment, and at first glance a Bailey-plus-pick-for-Portis deal seems reasonable. I don’t take the position that we should bemoan Bailey’s departure. Not because he’s not a great corner (and a great corner still beats a great running back, if you ask me), but beacuse Bailey clearly doesn’t want to remain in Washington. He could have locked up a long-term contract with Snyder before Arrington
I’m not sure that Portis’ performance isn’t more a function of the Broncos’ ability to put together a running game that excels almost regardless of who the featured back is. The usual argument is that Denver has a knack for scooping up these gems–Terrell Davis, Olandis Gary, Mike Anderson–in the late rounds; yet who knows if they can duplicate their numbers under different schemes? The only example so far is Olandis Gary, who hasn’t come close to his 1,159-yard rookie season (granted, he’s had to run behind Detroit’s lousy o-line, but still).
Given that, I think trading as valuable a commodity as Bailey for Portis is too risky. If I were the ‘Skins, I’d rather go for high-round picks, as boring a deal as that would be.
I just got into town and was shocked to hear this. You just don’t let someone like Portis get away. Period. Maybe he’s persona non grata in Denver now whining about not getting paid enough, who knows? I think Washington is getting a steal if they pull this off. Mike Ditka traded his whole draft for Ricky Williams, so Joe better close on this before he gets into a bidding war with a lot of teams that need a RB, like Chicago, New England, New York, Tampa Bay, or Pittsburgh.
Still, Portis benefited greatly from Denver’s O-line and no matter how fast he is, if the Redskin’s O-line doesn’t get a lot better fast I’m pretty sure 2000 yards is a pipe dream in Washington.
What I found much stranger, from the Redskin’s perspective, was signing Brunell for a lot of money. Has Joe given up on Patrick Ramsey?
Charles: unlike many well-paid folks in the national media, I think Gibbs actually hasn’t given up on Ramsey at all. The Brunell deal is actually smaller than it looks, given that it’s all spread out. Next year, the entire salary expenditure on the QB position for the Skins (assuming it’s Brunell, Ramsey, and Hasselbeck) will be about $4 million, an average amount for the league. Gibbs would never bench one guy for another just because of money, and if Patrick gets in there and lights it up early on, Gibbs won’t pull him.
I read this as more of a depth/motivation issue than anything else. Could be wrong, but I think this really will be a QB contest.