Skins offer Champ 14.75 signing bonus.

[Rat_Boy]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11722-2003Aug18.html

The Washington Redskins have made a contract proposal to Pro Bowl cornerback Champ Bailey that includes a signing bonus of about $14.75 million, sources familiar with the negotiations said yesterday. The deal would make Bailey the highest-paid cornerback and one of the highest-paid defensive players in the NFL.

I would play hard ball with him at this point. Sign this deal or get the tag.

No way we should got a penny higher.

[rskinsfan10]

If his goal is to be the highest paid then that should do it. Snyder shouldn't have to offer him $18mil on the bonus. He needs to also think about the team being able to comfortably keep the neccesary talent around to make a serious run.

[PennSkinsFan]

Best point to be made Kenny. Where is the concer of these guys for a competitive team. Wander what the contract years are at?

[Rat_Boy]

I bet Champ says nope to this. He has left total control with his agent.

I would rather have a stud DE and a lesser CB to be perfectly honest.

But I don't make the decisions 'round here.

[CarMike]

Kenny, excellent points. Rat Boy, you too.

I'm not afraid of Champ saying know. We've all seen his dedication to the team. He was quoted earlier in TC that he could have sat out and demanded a new contract before he reported. But he said that he didn't want to let the team or the fans down. He said thats not the kind of person he is.

Now his lawyer on the other hand is going to try to squeeze every last penny he can out of Snyder. Thats what has me worried.

[Seebs]

ecverybody will stay reasonable, i think. Can't see the bonus higher than 15.5M$.

[Patrick]

14.5 offered and Champ wants 18. Middle point is 16.75
Kenny you make a good point (as usual) but let's take it a step further and apply it to all those who feel they are el-primo types. Bottomline, too many players have only themselves to consider. ... The whole salary thing has gotten way out of control and the only ones to blame are the owners.

[AGibbsGirl]

You can already see from this article that others are going to get pressure to reduce their pay in order to keep Champ. We already know this from Big D's exit. Will it hurt our team in the long run? We'll see, I lov Champ, he's worth the money but he better turn in another Pro Bowl year if he gets the dough.

[RedskinRyan]

i have no problem with letting trotter go if its what we have to do to keep champ. i want #24 to retire as a skin, and have a fantastic career. these are the people i want to see retire as skins

champ bailey
fred smoot
lavar arrington
jon jansen
chris samuels

[Rat_Boy]

Well, I don't care if we have to let Trotter go.

But looking at your list:

champ bailey
fred smoot
lavar arrington
jon jansen
chris samuels

We will lose one of those guaranteed, especially if we cave in and give Champ his 18 million.

And honestly, of all the players you listed, my guess is that either Champ, Smoot, or LaVar will no be a Redskin past their initial contract. Maybe even two of them walk.

Do we want a good team, or a mediocre one with a few stars on it?

If the bonus goes over 16 mill, let him walk, period.

[TexSkin]

Well they showed Bailey respect by not trying to low ball him...he better perform now.

[PennSkinsFan]

Originally posted by Rat_Boy
Well, I don't care if we have to let Trotter go.

But looking at your list:

champ bailey
fred smoot
lavar arrington
jon jansen
chris samuels

We will lose one of those guaranteed, especially if we cave in and give Champ his 18 million.

And honestly, of all the players you listed, my guess is that either Champ, Smoot, or LaVar will no be a Redskin past their initial contract. Maybe even two of them walk.

Do we want a good team, or a mediocre one with a few stars on it?

If the bonus goes over 16 mill, let him walk, period.

I agree Ratty, except a $18 mil bonus will most likely cuase us to leave TWO of those guys go, not ONE. Jansen is thinbk is pretty safe. With his long term deal, it is affordable over the near liong term. BUT, Samuels and Lavar are concerns. They are getting into the later years of there contracts where cap hits become much larger.

I also agree Ratty with your point of, where is the high level. I have a Champ jersey, he is my fav skins by far, yeah even better than Lavar, but bottom line is, how high can you go with one gusy without hurting SEVERAL positions. Is Champ worth $18 mil even if it means creating problems with tow or three other roster position because of cap cuts? How does the team contineu to buiold and stay competitive?

[RichardBradley]

Champ will get more than that either here or somewhere else

[Hailyeah]

Why all the skepticism in this thread? Negotiations are going on and the Skins FO fired out a reasonable bonus figure. This is good news in the effort to resign our very best player. Clearly, the Patriots are able to field a very solid ballclub while forking over comparable money to a lesser CB in Ty Law. I don't know if we can conclude that this or that player will be lost. Smoot is not in the same category as our Pro Bowl players BTW. Clearly, Lavar and Samuels need restructured any which way you cut it. Phase #1 is to sign Champ though and that's exactly what appears to be happening.

[hail2skins]

For some reason, I believe Snyder has a signing bonus figure in mind and it's higher than what was offered. They offered enough where it wouldn't be considered a low ball figure (IE. Jets). I saw Sonny and George interview Champ and he said he would have to consider what's best for his family. He didn't mention the team at all. I can easily see his bonus being between $15-16 million

[Skinzaholic]

Champ showed great character his first four years in the league. Played for MUCH less money then he was worth, and refused to sit out like lmost every other player would have done. Alhough I agree that paying him a high bonus will make things more difficult in the future... I say give it to him... reward the players who are talented and mature... stop giving away our money to over the hill gangs or whiney babies.

[Skinzaholic]

Originally posted by PennSkinsFan
I have a Champ jersey, he is my fav skins by far, yeah even better than Lavar,


Mark, I was sure you said Ramsey was your favorite? How many of those do you have????:)

[JoeDaSchmoe]

I expect the final bonus to be around $16 million. If the contract is at least seven years long, that's doable. It's slightly more than $2 million per year in cap space, plus whatever the base salaries are. We'd probably be able to squeeze at least five years out of it before either renegotiating or being forced to release him.

[CarMike]

Actually, doesn't the players actual pay check for the year thrown in as well under the salary cap? Say if he made 2 million in SB and then his yearly pay check was 2.1 million dollars for that year, wouldn't he count 4.1 million against the cap in that year?

Not sure but I think thats how it works...

[SkinsKY]

That is how it works, but it would only raise his current cap hit by about a million for the first couple of years since he already counts $2-3mil already.

[Skins57]

I love Champ Bailey, and I want that to be said first. Second I want him here forever. BUT do NOT tell me that you are doing what is best for your family. If your family can 't survive on a 14.75 SB well then maybe you need to get some people to take care of your money for you ( like me :D) I understand wanting to be paid and even being paid the most but do not tell me your kids and wife NEED the extra 2 million signing bonus. This is one thing that makes me mad. Call it a serious pet peeve ( along with Red lights that change as you get there and no one is coming the other way)..

Sorry done with my rant now

[JoeDaSchmoe]

That's how it works, Mike. Luckily, the contract numbers are usually pretty small until the final couple years of the contract.

[Chief Seeway]

I hope our offer doesnt go much higher. The current offer is fine, there will eventually be a CB who gets more. Champ is a very good corner. Champ is not a complete offensive shutdown player, no corner is. Unless this deal is many years, at least 7(I prefer 10), it will hurt the team more then it helps.

[hail2skins]

Or did they offer him half of that. According to ESPN sources, they believe the offer was about half of the 14 million reported.

Read about it.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/news/2003/0819/1598886.html

[JoeDaSchmoe]

That's not good. We don't want to lowball Champ and get him riled up.

[hail2skins]

I don't know JDS, this doesn't sound right. Everybody else has been reporting the same amount. I guess only time will tell.