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When the Baltimore Ravens applied the franchise tag to Terrell Suggs, they described him as a linebacker. But Suggs claimed that he’s actually a defensive end, which would have resulted in a higher one-year salary for the 2008 season.
The difference was more than $800,000.
So Suggs filed a grievance. And the grievance has been resolved via the creation of a new designation for franchise tag purposes – defensive end-linebacker.
We like the idea, and we think it’s fair to both sides.
May 13th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
Wow, it’s rare to see such Reason being used in the course of negotiations, leave it to Ozzie Newsome. Thats fair to both the player and team, since he is neither a full time d-end nor a full time linebacker. Good stuff.
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Rating: 4 / 5 with 6 rating(s)
May 13th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
I am also really surprised with the amount of reason used in this matter. That is a fair middle ground. Kudos to everyone involved.
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May 13th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
But wait - what five players are used to determine the average of them?
Or is it (DE tender+LB tender)/(2)
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
May 13th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
Any info on how the franchise tender amount is determined? is it the average of the tenders for the two positions? Is it based on the salary of other people who split between the positions? For future purposes, how would the position be defined - who else fits the criteria?
It’s good to see them working together towards a compromise, but this seems to raise more question than it answers, at least with as little detail as the Great Gazoo is providing to us in that report.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
May 13th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
This makes sense. He would not have made 2 probowls as a DE, but he does rush the passer a lot more than most LBs. Not more than Merriman or Ware, but a lot.
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May 13th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Unless this is the average of the defensive end and linebacker franchise tenders, anyone else get the feeling this could be significantly lower than what Julius Pepper was due to receive as a linebacker?
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May 13th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
Ozzie Newsome rules!!
I only hope that they get a Loooooongggg term deal worked out with Suggs!!
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May 13th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
Mmm I’d say Demarcus Ware, Greg Ellis, Anthony Spencer, Shawn Merriman and Adalius Thomas would fit the criteria, although Thomas plays DT as well sometimes….
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May 13th, 2008 at 9:38 pm
So much for the Cowboys designating Tony Romo as a Long Snapper.
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May 13th, 2008 at 10:01 pm
not long snapper. place holder for kicks…
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May 13th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
It sounds like a smart compromise that avoided a long, protracted arbritration. Maybe the fact that Ozzie & Suggs’s agent voluntarily and creatively worked it out bodes well for some sort of long contract beyond just the franchise tag. At the very least, it should assure that Suggs is there at the start of training camp.
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Rating: 1 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
May 14th, 2008 at 12:25 am
The position was invented by Bill Walsh for Fred Dean and made famous by Lawrence Taylor. It is called an Elephant. It is an hybrid OLB-DE typically used for pass rushing. He can be standing or have knuckles on the ground. The reason Fred Dean is going into the Hall of Fame this year is the impact he had in changing the game with the addition of this position. It also helped his cause that the 49ers would not have won their first two Super Bowls without Dean at Elephant.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
May 14th, 2008 at 3:53 am
I don’t like it. It’s like a gateway drug, what’s next? A WR/TE mix, a FB/RB mix or a DE/DT like Justin Tuck? if Vick were still around a RB/QB mix…
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May 14th, 2008 at 8:30 am
DeMayan: Your use of silly examples undermines your argument… I mean, come on, Vick as part QB???
Seriously though, you bring up a good point. I’m surprised the NFLPA gave in on this because, even though it helps suggs in this case, the greater segmentation of the positions will result in a lot of overall lower franchise tag numbers unless they are just taking the average of the two tags.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
May 14th, 2008 at 8:55 am
fair would be to add the #of snaps at each position and pay for the position he played most….
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May 14th, 2008 at 9:34 am
So who are the top 5 players? Are they other hybrids or is it like the top 2 DEs and the top 3 LBs?
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May 14th, 2008 at 9:48 am
so make it work appropriately:
(# Snaps as a DE / Total # of Snaps) * DE Tender + (# Snaps as a LB/ Total # of Snaps) * LB Tender
That’s better than an average because it takes into account whether Suggs played more snaps as a DE vs LB. And could be used appropriately for other players as well (i.e. Ware, Merriman)
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May 14th, 2008 at 10:18 am
Wait a minute - if the franchise tag gets you the average of the top guys at your position, and Suggs is the only guys designated as a DE/LB, does that mean he gets the same salary as last year? You’re right Ravenmaniac, Ozzie is some kind of genius!
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May 14th, 2008 at 10:23 am
it isnt an issue that suggs got an answer. how does the suggs answer affect the next hybrid de/lb or de or lb that comes along? where do they get their 5 other players’ salaries from for averaging? a true de or lb cant use a hybrid player’s #.
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May 14th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
fair would be to add up the number of snaps at each position and pay for the position he played most…
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May 15th, 2008 at 9:59 am
Thanks goodness. Now Suggs will be able to feed his starving family.
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