Hittin' Gates...

Waldini:

What do you guys think? Should Antonio Gates reported to work after the team suspended him for the team's season opener? Or do you think he should have continued to hold his ground? Background, dude is paid less than 500K a year and he's one of the top 3 TEs in the NFL today.....

Da Realist:

it doesn't look like he has much leverage. they've suspended him? that's more than philly is doing with TO. is this the last year in the deal? maybe he can use this season to "audition" for other teams.

Gangsta D:

Now they sign a six year deal? Why couldn't they have done this last week and avoided unecessary drama? On the other hand, I'm not too mad because the 'Boys play the Chargers in week 1. We gotta deal with LT, but no Gates and no premier reciever makes the Bolts one dimensional. I'll take that...

Waldini:

You nailed it on the head. this is truly one of the more bizarre stories in football. You hold out, get suspended, rescind your stance, report to camp, sign a one year deal, then sign a 6 year deal 2 days later....I was listening to sports radio about this for the past few days and the majority have ripped Gates and his agent. And of course, they started back with the comparisons to TO's situation and that players need to report, b/c it's good for the game, blah blah blah....

This is Waldini's two cents on the NFL. Unlike the NBA and MLB where contracts AND bonuses are guaranteed, the NFL is not making it easy to slash players when they do not have a good year or are on downsides of their careers. The reason it looks bad for TO, Gates, Cedric Benson, and others is because of their poor timing. Truss if it was the next to last year of their contracts, and they had just come off a career year, folks would be clamoring for the owners to pay these guys.

The NFL is the true hypocrisy of Sports and Revenue Management. And if you are a player and decide to buck the system and management, well get ready to incur the wrath of the media and so-called fans who pay top dollar to watch you play. Nobody ever says that the same thing happens in corporate America. We get evaluated EVERY year. You could have 5 great evaluations in a row but let you have ONE bad one during a cost-cutting situation. Your a$$ is grass holmes :-)....You know what, I am going on strike today and holding out for more guaranteed money :-)

thanks D, you inspired me this morning, lol