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To no surprise, disgruntled Jets tight end Chris Baker bailed on the first day of voluntary workouts. The so-called OTA sessions will continue until the middle of June.
Baker can’t be fined or disciplined, since the workouts are technically voluntary. Some teams have temporarily demoted players who stayed away from voluntary workouts (e.g., the Bears in 2006 with Thomas Jones and Lance Briggs), but even that is prohibited, technically, by the CBA.
If Baker stays away from a mandatory minicamp in June, he’ll be subject to fines in excess of $14,000 per day.
Baker claims that the team promised to re-do his contract during his strong 2007 season. The team denies making any such promises.
Baker is the third Jets veteran in two years to claim that the team reneged on a promise to adjust his pay.
May 13th, 2008 at 10:32 am
So much for Mangenious having control of his locker room… This will be he and Tannenbaum’s final year with the Jets… Good like to Mangini finding another coordinator’s gig after next season… He may be out of football for a while…
That’s what you get when you cross Bill B.
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Rating: 2 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
May 13th, 2008 at 10:40 am
And to think all of this is coming from a guy who will be lucky to be the second string TE once the season starts. I’m still unsure why he thinks he had a “strong” season last year. Some people are just delirious.
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Rating: 3 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
May 13th, 2008 at 10:58 am
Get real Baker.
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Rating: 2.65 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
May 13th, 2008 at 11:01 am
Yeah, Casanova, god forbid he not placate a lower-tier player undeserving of a raise who can’t take care of his own finances, so he took half of this years salary as an advance last year, and is now complaining about this year’s salary. He needs to take control of his locker room and give this guy whatever he wants! You are an idiot.
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Rating: 4.6 / 5 with 5 rating(s)
May 13th, 2008 at 11:12 am
Well clearly, if he had control of his locker room, the Jets wouldn’t have had this situation w/ Baker or the situation w/ Kendall last year.
Also, Coles was bitching for a while as well until they placated him.
Enjoy another sub .500 season Jets fans!
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Rating: 2.85 / 5 with 6 rating(s)
May 13th, 2008 at 11:17 am
Yet another NFL player who thinks he’s worth more than the contract he signed of his own free will ……
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
May 13th, 2008 at 11:42 am
Mangini is a rat who turned on the very man who helped him go from a ball boy to HC in the NFL.
His best days are behind him (professionally speaking).
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Rating: 1 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
May 13th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Oh please, spare me the morality lecture, “DirtyWatah.” What a short memory you have. I seem to remember Cheatin’ Bill turning on the very man who turned HIM from scrub to star. Nobody remembers how he left Parcells (then the GM of the Jets) high and dry without the slightest warning?
And let’s not forget that without Mo Lewis knocking Bledsoe out of the game, Bill B. would probably still be riding Parcells coat tails in Miami as their DC.
Let he who is without football sin cast the first stone.
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Rating: 1 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
May 13th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
the baker situation is a lot different than the situation with kendall/coles
coles wanted a new contract or a guarantee the previously signed contract will stay intact because of the toll he has taken on his body. he plays reckless for the jets, constantly putting his body on the line. he was getting up in age and needed to have less worries in the upcoming year/ year 2
kendall did sign a new contract a year before he claimed jets promised him more. he originally was brought here with no guarantee. he renegotiated his contract to get a guarantee and stay with the team- one year later he wanted to get a bigger contract. the whole issue was a mess and jets gave him his wish.
the baker situation is garbage. he never outperformed his contract. he is a backup at best. when he became a free agent, he had no offers from other teams. jets signed him to a multi-year deal even though he was terrible, especially in his contract year. then last year, jets were nice enough to move majority of the salary from 2008 (this current season) to last year- they gave him an advance of $700,000.
so last year he played for about 2.2 million (1.5 base blus 700,000 advance)
this year he is playing for about 800,000
this is why he wants a new contract
he is a selfish below average player.
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May 13th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
baker skipped a voluntary… who cares.
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May 13th, 2008 at 6:40 pm
I love Baker…he’s been a solid player for the Jets. But let’s face it, he’s no Antonio Gates, Tony Gonzalez, Winslow or Shockey. The guy is an average player making average money. How many teams were looking to sign him to a long-term deal when he was a free agent? Exactly one…the NY Jets. And all this crapabout him being the 3rd hightes paid TE on the team is just ridiculous. He should be ashamed to even play that card. He got more than half of his 2008 salary up front so that’s why he’s only scheduled to make approximately $635M this year. This all seems so ridiculous to me. If you want to negotiate, you have to have some kind of leverage…and Baker has none.
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May 13th, 2008 at 9:25 pm
very well put “simon sez” all these other posters (the Jet haters) are clueless. Baker is a decent player, he would make a nice backup TE on most teams. The Jets and Jets fans will not even realize Baker is missing with Bubba Franks & Dustin Keller on the field. The Jets should never let a player act like Baker, to bad they already fronted his 2008 money in 2007…lesson learned!
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