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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers seem to have more than their fair share of players who are unhappy with their contracts.
Quarterback Jeff Garcia has made no secret that he thinks he’s underpaid, and running back Earnest Graham was hinting at a holdout until he got a new deal.
The next round of complaints could come from defensive end Greg White, who had an excellent season as a first-year player on a one-year contract in 2007, but got just a $370,000 offer after the season as an exclusive-rights free agent.
In April White’s agent said he would aggressively pursue a trade. Jim Trotter reported today on ESPN First Take that the current plan from White and his agent is to play the 2008 season on the one-year deal if the Buccaneers don’t offer him a raise, but White is not happy with the status of contract talks. According to Trotter, White will not play for the Bucs in 2009 if they haven’t given him a much better deal by the end of 2008.
But the problem for players like White and Packers running back Ryan Grant is that players just don’t have any leverage until they’ve been in the league long enough to become true free agents, not just exclusive-rights free agents. The Bucs know that White’s options are either to play for them or not to play at all, and that means they’re in no hurry to give him a better deal.
July 7th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
If White has as good a year in ‘08 as he did in ‘07, then he should have
no problem getting a good contract. The Bucs are not playing hard ball, they just want to see if he is more than a one-year wonder/fluke.
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July 7th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
Here is the world’s funniest joke. I was thinking I would sit on it to see if happened to make the NFL affordable again. The commish is now getting involved in the rookie pay scale argument… and chances are that the rookies WILL have to earn their money in the not-so-distant future and not get it all up front… and then there is this collective bargaining thing, with the chances that the league goes to the free-for-all concept in a couple of years but players not being eligible until completing 6 years of service… player salaries will go down radically, except for the few that at the age of 28-30 who reach free agency as the best in the game.
I personally want to see it, it could make the NFL far more affordable for the fans, on the other hand the owners have never been beyond scraping up every penny they can find.
Anyways, what it will come down to is the old haves and the have-nots but with one major difference, teams that draft well will always be competitive and free agency has NEVER gotten a team a Super Bowl title in the past, it won’t happen now, it will then come down to who drafts the best.
I’m hesitant to submit this comment as the media may jump on it and the players, agents and Upshaw get wise to it and it screws things up, because personally, I like the way things are heading.
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July 8th, 2008 at 12:06 am
Just tell him no, he will either play or go back to the Orlando Predators, i think he will play.
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