Could this be Saints/Sullivan????

BillyCarpenter1 · 07-28-2003, 02:13 PM

Around the league

A gentleman's agreement and, quite honestly, the fear of retribution, precludes us from identifying the franchise currently involved in this situation: Seems the team, which had a top-10 selection in the first round of this year's draft, felt it had a tacit agreement "on the clock" with the agent representing the prospect it chose. During the 15-minute time limit for exercising first-round selections, the team faxed the agent a "letter of understanding," detailing the parameters of a contract. The agent initialed the letter and faxed it back to the team, whereupon the club then chose the player, in part because it was confident there was now a foundation for a contract relatively similar to the one awarded the player who had been chosen in the commensurate slot last year. Fast forward three months now and, surprise, the agent is backing off the letter of understanding. A high-ranking club official for the franchise in question declined to use the term "renege" this week when asked about the agent's reversal. "Technically, I guess what we did on draft day was to come to a long-distance handshake," said the official. "There was nothing binding about it but, hey, there's even honor among thieves sometimes, you know? We essentially said back on draft day, 'Look, we know we can't get an agreement finished in 15 minutes, so we'll give you last year's deal and tweak it some, all right?' And the agent and, I presume the player as well, agreed that was fair. Now it's like they're playing dumb about the letter and, I'll tell you what, it's going to hurt negotiations. We don't feel like we can trust (the agent). Can you blame us?" For years, the Dallas Cowboys used to strike deals "on the clock," at least on rough contract numbers, and there was never a situation where it blew up in Jerry Jones' face. At least none of which we are aware. But for the team in question here, it has exploded, and what management felt would be a facile negotiation figures to be rancorous now.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/columns/pasqu...n/1582445.html

07-28-2003, 02:13 PM	#1
BillyCarpenter1 Banned Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 2,209	Could this be Saints/Sullivan???? Around the league A gentleman's agreement and, quite honestly, the fear of retribution, precludes us from identifying the franchise currently involved in this situation: Seems the team, which had a top-10 selection in the first round of this year's draft, felt it had a tacit agreement "on the clock" with the agent representing the prospect it chose. During the 15-minute time limit for exercising first-round selections, the team faxed the agent a "letter of understanding," detailing the parameters of a contract. The agent initialed the letter and faxed it back to the team, whereupon the club then chose the player, in part because it was confident there was now a foundation for a contract relatively similar to the one awarded the player who had been chosen in the commensurate slot last year. Fast forward three months now and, surprise, the agent is backing off the letter of understanding. A high-ranking club official for the franchise in question declined to use the term "renege" this week when asked about the agent's reversal. "Technically, I guess what we did on draft day was to come to a long-distance handshake," said the official. "There was nothing binding about it but, hey, there's even honor among thieves sometimes, you know? We essentially said back on draft day, 'Look, we know we can't get an agreement finished in 15 minutes, so we'll give you last year's deal and tweak it some, all right?' And the agent and, I presume the player as well, agreed that was fair. Now it's like they're playing dumb about the letter and, I'll tell you what, it's going to hurt negotiations. We don't feel like we can trust (the agent). Can you blame us?" For years, the Dallas Cowboys used to strike deals "on the clock," at least on rough contract numbers, and there was never a situation where it blew up in Jerry Jones' face. At least none of which we are aware. But for the team in question here, it has exploded, and what management felt would be a facile negotiation figures to be rancorous now. http://espn.go.com/nfl/columns/pasqu...n/1582445.html
BillyCarpenter1 Banned Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 2,209