LKelley67

i knew mentioning simply the idea of even trading deuce would invoke a hailstorm. let me reitterate, i love him and think he the kind of back that can carry a team a long ways. i do not however think even that player should be retained at ANY price. it is said he wants portis/tomlinson money and the club is offering priest holmes money. port/tom are getting 6mil+ a yr for 8 yrs, 17-21mil guaranteed. i couldnt find holmes numbers but it is thought to be in the top 5 and that it is 10mil guaranteed. corey dillon signed with the pats for 3.8 mil so i guess holmes is 5ish mil 2-3 yrs guaranteed. can this kind of chasm be crossed? possibly. did you know he is still obligated to 2 more yrs on the current contract at 470k a yr? i know he\'ll holdout before doing that. [a side note is that i do have a beef that professional athletes demand a contract redo when their performance exceeds the mkt rate terms of their contract but get to take the money and run if they decide to skate or flake out ala bubblebutt sullivan] this type of scenario is why you see teams franchise a player year after year( ex: w. jones),-usually a top flight player but they cannot come to common ground. it is imperative for success in the cap world to not overpay a player a couple of million a year. that isnt even talking about the 10-20+ mil signing bonus impact either. the team is in the driver\'s seat with deuce. his only negotiating leverage is holding out. reach agreement or the team can throw enough bonus money at him without a contract redo to get him to play and say we\'ll work on it next winter (since another yr on current contract). let him prove he can get in shape and bounce back to \'03 form then sign him to top 5 money. it sounds like if they franchised him he would get less money than what the team is offering. i\'m sorry, it sounds like the team is offering further than what many teams would. my trade scenario was that the idea of being able to get benson, cadillac, or ronnie brown (and have them for 4-5 yrs at 500k) plus a 2nd this year and a first next is a reasonable option to paying a rb 8-10% of an entire teams cap.

shadowdrinker

I think we can all agree that he deserves a raise...He does..He plays well for us...and we need guys like him in order to win games...

They\'l likely resign him..I just hope they can get a fair contract with hard to obtain incentive deals...

Not impossible..but difficult..I mean we are talking hundreds of thousands of dollars..He needs to work for it...and he should have to depend on the team as a whole to help him obtain his personal goals ...Incentives are a great motivator..till about week 12..then it becomes an urgency...
We need all the urgency we can get from this team..

Give him the contract....but..make it hard for him to get the kind of money he thinks he deserves...

All NFL contracts should be incentive based...In my opinion.., and it should be a more universal standard...what I mean is..the same amount should be given to players from any team for the bonuses for which they may be eligible for...

LKelley67

i had to add one note about 1000 yd rushers. i am old enough to remember when it really did mean something. hobbled up deuce behind that line could do it last year. washed up emmitt just missed 1000. in 2004 18 players rushed for over 1000 yds, 5 over 1500, 2003 18 players over and 6 over 1500, 2002 17 players with 4 over 1500. if you just want a 1000 yd rusher you can get a domanick davis or kevin barlow type for a lot less. hell, nick goings would have had a 1000 if he had started a coupla more games. deuce is a lot more special than that but he still must establish himself more seasons before being annoited to the hall of fame.

LKelley67

sorry, one more... i dunno if even hundreds of thousands are that big of a deal shadow if you just got a 20mil signing bonus. like with bubblebutt- we have paid this slug over 9mil already and still counting. to quote randy moss when asked about his 10k fine for the fake mooning-
Reporter: \"Write the check yet, Randy?\"

Moss: \"When you\'re rich, you don\'t write checks.\"

Reporter: \"If you don\'t write checks, how do you pay these guys?\"

Moss: \"Straight cash, homey.\"

Reporter: \"Randy, are you upset about the fine?\"

Moss: \"No, cause it ain\'t sh!t. Ain\'t nothing but 10 grand. What\'s 10 grand to me?\"

cardboardboxer

For what he does on the field, maybe not. But its close. Plus, I saw a problem in the play calling last year- not his fault. Two tight ends....grrrr.....

For how he fills the seats, for how he sells the team, he is worth the money.

The NFL is a business. Sure, its bad to lock up players in long-term contracts. But the Saints have give way worse contracts to undeserving people.

He has a chance to easily be the best Saints RB ever. Its worth the risk.

baronm

mixed feelings-we could get rudy johnson for less than what duece was making last year and he is a 1000 rusher.

If we did keep duece there would have to be workout/weight cluases in there and a health clause. If we had that I wouldn\'t mind keeping him.

I think that in a better offense with a pocket qb duece would be one of the best backs in the game.

TheJudge

we are paying brooks 6 million a year for 6 years....

if he gets money like that, there should be no discussion on whether or not duece should get it.... if he wanted 10 mill a year that would be insane.... if we dont give him AB money, that would be an inssult... and for the record portis is not as good as deuce...

FireVenturi

315? which leg?

CHACHING

fireven.....funny..........Deuce is worth every cent and more...
I put him up there with A. Green and J Lewis.......
Imagine his production with those O lines...