Feverdream
Club Member
We've all been surprised by Grier's march through free agency this year, but maybe we shouldn't have been. Chris has continued his pattern of offering veteran players lower than market contracts, but contracts with larger than market guarantees.
His game seems to be based upon making a bet that a nervous player will sign for less, if he is guaranteed baseline money. It works more than it doesn't. Yes, some players (like OBJ) resist the temptation, but a lot of them sign on the dotted line.
Let's start with today's victim Teair Tart. He signed for what looks to be vet minimum (1.15m) but Grier guaranteed about half of it. So Tart gets paid whether he makes the team or not.
Here's a partial list:
Teair Tart-- 1.15m (but 567k guaranteed)
Benito Jones-- 1.8m (all guaranteed)
Jordan Poyer-- 2m (1m)
Kendall Lamm-- 2.5m (1.6m)
Jeff Wilson-- 2.4m (1.2m)
Braxton Berrios-- 2.1 (1.2)
Siran Neal-- 1.9m (650k)
Robert Jones-- 1.8m (1.2m)
Jack Driscoll-- 1.8m (900k)
Neville Gallimore-- 1.8m (all)
Jonathan Harris-- 1.8m (625k)
Isaiah Wynn-- 1.6m (1m)
Elijah Campbell-- 1.5m (355k)
Anthony Walker-- 1.2m (917k)
There are more, but I think y'all can see the pattern. Vet after vet taking chump change money because (at least partially) of a nice guarantee.
...and Grier has made the same moves with UDFAs after the draft, giving guys like Pili,
Kohou, and Bonner more signing bonus than most teams offer. Upfront money.
Yes, we'll eat some of this when some of these guys get cut, but I'll wager that we'll save more money than we'll lose here.
Now... I wonder how much we'll offer Lawson. Experience shows me about 2 million with about half of that guaranteed.
His game seems to be based upon making a bet that a nervous player will sign for less, if he is guaranteed baseline money. It works more than it doesn't. Yes, some players (like OBJ) resist the temptation, but a lot of them sign on the dotted line.
Let's start with today's victim Teair Tart. He signed for what looks to be vet minimum (1.15m) but Grier guaranteed about half of it. So Tart gets paid whether he makes the team or not.
Here's a partial list:
Teair Tart-- 1.15m (but 567k guaranteed)
Benito Jones-- 1.8m (all guaranteed)
Jordan Poyer-- 2m (1m)
Kendall Lamm-- 2.5m (1.6m)
Jeff Wilson-- 2.4m (1.2m)
Braxton Berrios-- 2.1 (1.2)
Siran Neal-- 1.9m (650k)
Robert Jones-- 1.8m (1.2m)
Jack Driscoll-- 1.8m (900k)
Neville Gallimore-- 1.8m (all)
Jonathan Harris-- 1.8m (625k)
Isaiah Wynn-- 1.6m (1m)
Elijah Campbell-- 1.5m (355k)
Anthony Walker-- 1.2m (917k)
There are more, but I think y'all can see the pattern. Vet after vet taking chump change money because (at least partially) of a nice guarantee.
...and Grier has made the same moves with UDFAs after the draft, giving guys like Pili,
Kohou, and Bonner more signing bonus than most teams offer. Upfront money.
Yes, we'll eat some of this when some of these guys get cut, but I'll wager that we'll save more money than we'll lose here.
Now... I wonder how much we'll offer Lawson. Experience shows me about 2 million with about half of that guaranteed.