Jump to content
[[Template core/front/custom/_customHeader is throwing an error. This theme may be out of date. Run the support tool in the AdminCP to restore the default theme.]]

Another Reggie Bush blurb


Recommended Posts

Also from www.profootballtalk.com:

 

SEGAL SETTING REGGIE UP FOR A HOLDOUT?

 

Agent Joel Segal has a problem.  His highest-profile client, Reggie Bush, knows that he can't afford to come off of as greedy regarding the extent to which his guaranteed football money exceeds $20 million, since many of the Loozianans who'll be cheering from him come September are still pooping in plastic pots.  But Segal is at the same time notorious for not doing a first-round deal until his client is bracketed by the packages paid to the player in front of him, and behind him.

 

So with Bush recently declaring that he doesn't want to be a holdout, Segal is doing his best to foment a little resentment between Reggie and the Saints.

 

In a spoon-fed interview to ESPN.com's Len Pasquarelli (who only beats the bushes after dropping a cheeseburger into them), Bush lays the foundation (perhaps unwittingly) for a contract rhubarb by proclaiming that, while he doesn't want to miss training camp, "we have to have a fair offer, one that meets our expectations."

 

So which is it, Reg?  Because whether the offer is "fair" and whether it "meets [your] expectations" are two very different propositions.

 

Also included in Pasquarelli's article is a suggestion that Bush wants to start the process of negotiating his contract now.  The only problem with this statement is that it isn't attributed to Reggie as a direct (or indirect) quote.

 

Our guess is that the concept of premature negotiation was planted by Segal, who knows full well that the Saints aren't inclined to sign Bush any time soon.  First of all, teams typically don't have the kind of cash flow in May or June that is necessary to support the issuance of big checks.  This reality applies even more forcefully to the Saints, who are run by one of the cheapest owners in all of sport.  Second, most teams prefer to push the process of signing draft picks into July, with work beginning in earnest after the annual celebration of an nation-building exercise that turned out far better than our current efforts in that regard.

 

What does Segal gain through this approach?  It makes it easier for him to argue to Bush that the team isn't participating fairly and adequately in the process.  "Reggie," Joel might say in the near future, "we made it clear to the Saints that we want to work something out now, and they're dragging their feet."

 

It also might make it easier for Reggie to win the looming P.R. battle if a holdout ultimately is required, since Reggie can then supply a stream of sound bites supporting the notion that it was the team, not Segal, that forced the holdout by delaying the commencement of the process by two months.

 

Our advice to the Saints?  Call Segal's bluff.  Send him a letter inviting him to the table right now, and say all the right things aimed at making Bush believe that the team is willing to work hard in the short term to get a deal done. 

 

In response, Segal will sputter.  He'll stall.  He'll freeze.  Because there's no way in hell that Segal will allow Bush to do a deal until Vince Young inks a contract at No. 3 with the Tennessee Titans.

 

Why, you aks?  Because Segal is sufficiently insecure about his ability to negotiate a solid deal that he'll be paralyzed by the fear that Young will end up getting a better contract than Bush despite being picked one spot lower.

 

The other intriguing dynamic at play here is that, while Segal is most likely willing to tolerate a holdout, Bush's marketing agent, Mike Ornstein, most likely isn't.  If Bush misses time and then loses the P.R. war, his potential for off-field earnings will take, at a minimum, a short-term hit.  And that, in turn, will affect Ornstein's booty.

 

Our guess is that, for now, Segal and Ornstein are on the same page as to the approach.  Things will get very interesting, however, if the Saints react by making objectively "fair" offers, since it most likely will prompt Segal to stick his head in the sand.

 

 

I just thought that was an interesting tidbit on the pre-negotiating/public-relations element of rookie contracts.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information