Witherspoon Hasn’t signed yet.

[sutz]

Concern, sure. Panic, not remotely yet.

 

[CalgaryFan05]

The article brings up Kam and Earl.. except when they held out or made "requests/demands" they were known and proven Vets.. this kid is just currently a college "all star" and hasn't proven sh!* until he step foot on that field and plays on game day.

THIS!

Jesus between the 'rest for the hammy' and the 'rest for the knees' - and 'how much fing guaranteed money can we shovel your way' - how much can we coddle the picks?

Oh, I don't know - WHY DON'T WE PLAY A DAMN SNAP OF FOOTBALL FIRST before the team has to prove to you that you're worthy of being here.

Christ. Get the F to work, and stop fiddling with your jewelery, your hair, your wardrobe, your contract, and everything else - you can get tips from Kyler Murray if you make the freaking bye week!

I mean, I get it to a certain extent - there's a move to fully guarantee as much as humanly possible in the sport - like baseball. I just think you need some chops before you start pulling this shit.

But c'mon man.

 

[scutterhawk]

Sure. We know it's all about what percent of the upfront money he's going to get at the signing of his contract. Three of the four picks in front of him are getting 100% of it. The Hawks are offering, I think, 75% of that, as is their custom. Witherspoon and his agent want 100% of it like those three players picked in front of him.

Is it more the agent or Witherspoon who is currently more in the driver's seat about that? I don't know. We'll likely find out soon enough.

75% of that money is roughly $15,000,000 (a lot of money) and if the Seahawks didn't cave to Russ, Kam & Earl when they were squawking for it, why should they make an exception for DW??

 

[KinesProf]

Without being privy to the details of the negotiations I am more inclined to think that one team picking in the top 5 has attempted to diverge from the norm; rather than one player of the 259 drafted unliterally decided to have atypical contract demands.

 

[KinesProf]

75% of that money is roughly $15,000,000 (a lot of money) and if the Seahawks didn't cave to Russ, Kam & Earl when they were squawking for it, why should they make an exception for DW??

Derick Hall got 85%; Will Anderson 85%; Stroud, Young and Richardson 100%. If I am Witherspoon or his representatives I am not sure that I'd be willing to be the outlier.

 

[morgulon1]

This is a bad sign for me personally.

I wonder if the lad is trying to squeeze every last nickel he can from the team that had faith in him because there's something wrong physically and he knows he won't be around long.

Of course this is pure speculation on my part!

He better play like Polumanu /Sherman/Thomas hybrid to come that hard at the front office without ever playing a down for Seattle. My gut feeling is he will be injury prone.

 

[jammerhawk]

At this point a lot of what we think is very speculative in terms of guaranteed $ % payouts or whatever. It could be just as simple as the player needing to establish a WA residency prior to getting his guaranteed money so he doesn't get screwed on state income tax.

Of course it could be that the Hawks are simply unwilling to pony up all the guaranteed money right now, before the player has even played a down as a Seahawk.

 

[scutterhawk]

Derick Hall got 85%; Will Anderson 85%; Stroud, Young and Richardson 100%. If I am Witherspoon or his representatives I am not sure that I'd be willing to be the outlier.

Sounds like he's not on board with anything less than 100%...Like I said $15 Mil. is a lot of up front money...Just seems TO ME, like kind of a petty look to be one of the last of "259" Draftees to hold out.

 

[bsuhawk]

Does anyone know how much of his signing bonus JSN got up front?

 

[KinesProf]

Sounds like he's not on board with anything less than 100%...Like I said $15 Mil. is a lot of up front money...Just seems TO ME, like kind of a petty look to be one of the last of 270+ Draftees to hold out.

Could be. We can't really know for sure.

If he's looking for a higher % than Will Anderson then I would think that he and his reps are in the wrong. If he and his reps are unwilling to capitulate to a % less than Derick Hall or Will Anderson, that's on the team.

 

[rcaido]

This could be like the Bosa situation in which it lasted near the end of August.

Some key dates-
- August 8 would be the last day to trade an unsigned rookie, can only be signed by the team that drafted him up to Nov 14
- Nov 14, if he does not sign, we lose Witherspoons rights and he can go back to the draft next year

 

[Year of The Hawk]

In the end this is just business. This has nothing to do with anything else really. I don’t blame any player for trying to extract whatever they can. He could have a career ending injury his first practice play. So why wouldn’t he want to set himself up as much as possible. I always wondered why people took the teams side on these things. Don’t get me wrong I want him at training camp and I want an all pro performance from him but it is nothing to take personally.

 

[QWERTY]

I believe that if the Hawks Organization pay him the 100% signing bonus, then what happens after year 3 or year 4 when he doesn't make as much money?

Would be another holdout....

 

[rcaido]

In the end this is just business. This has nothing to do with anything else really. I don’t blame any player for trying to extract whatever they can. He could have a career ending injury his first practice play. So why wouldn’t he want to set himself up as much as possible. I always wondered why people took the teams side on these things. Don’t get me wrong I want him at training camp and I want an all pro performance from him but it is nothing to take personally.

This is guarantee money, he gets it no matter what. Its just the amount of getting earlier in this case he wants it all now 100% if the rumors are true. So even if he plays one game or his 4 year contract he gets the same amount.

Schneider wants as much money to play and shuffle to be more flexible w/ the salary cap. Witherspoon might want all that money upfront for investments to possibly earn more or whatever FU money to spend on.

What they dont know is that, the fans are already starting to turn on Witherspoon. Expectations are now going to be higher. Witherspoon will be bitter if he doesn't get his way. Very silly start by both sides.

 

[Lagartixa]

This is a bad sign for me personally.

I wonder if the lad is trying to squeeze every last nickel he can from the team that had faith in him because there's something wrong physically and he knows he won't be around long.

I guess you missed the rest of this thread.

Witherspoon is NOT negotiatiing the value of his contract. The amount of the contract ($31.86M) is set by when he was picked (5th overall in the draft), as is the amount that's signing bonus. And the full amount of that contract will be fully guaranteed at signing. The only issue, according to the sources feeding the media stories, is when the signing bonus (the value of which is also fixed, at $21.17M, the accounting of which on the cap will be four years at $5,292,500 per year) will actually be paid.

The three QBs taken ahead of Witherspoon in the draft had their whole signing bonuses paid up-front. The other player in the top four picks, Will Anderson, had 85% of his signing bonus paid up-front, with the remaining 15% to be paid later.

So, no, Witherspoon is not trying to "squeeze every last nickel he can" from the team. The amount of his contract is not negotiable.

The amount of compensation is not being disputed, and neither is its breakdown neither is any cap-related issue. The only issue is how much of the signing bonus the Seahawks will actually pay up front, and how much will be deferred.

 

[morgulon1]

I guess you missed the rest of this thread.

Witherspoon is NOT negotiatiing the value of his contract. The amount of the contract ($31.86M) is set by when he was picked (5th overall in the draft), as is the amount that's signing bonus. And the full amount of that contract will be fully guaranteed at signing. The only issue, according to the sources feeding the media stories, is when the signing bonus (the value of which is also fixed, at $21.17M, the accounting of which on the cap will be four years at $5,292,500 per year) will actually be paid.

The three QBs taken ahead of Witherspoon in the draft had their whole signing bonuses paid up-front. The other player in the top four picks, Will Anderson, had 85% of his signing bonus paid up-front, with the remaining 15% to be paid later.

So, no, Witherspoon is not trying to "squeeze every last nickel he can" from the team. The amount of his contract is not negotiable.

The amount of compensation is not being disputed, and neither is its breakdown neither is any cap-related issue. The only issue is how much of the signing bonus the Seahawks will actually pay up front, and how much will be deferred.

Hi.

 

[QWERTY]

It's basically the same way for normal people to claim # on taxes.

Do you want to pay your taxes now, and get a refund during tax season?

Or do you want to pay less taxes and pay a greater amount of tax during tax season.

 

[BASF]

In the end this is just business. This has nothing to do with anything else really. I don’t blame any player for trying to extract whatever they can. He could have a career ending injury his first practice play. So why wouldn’t he want to set himself up as much as possible. I always wondered why people took the teams side on these things. Don’t get me wrong I want him at training camp and I want an all pro performance from him but it is nothing to take personally.

It is interesting that you believe it is taking the teams' side. I look at it as taking the person's priorities into account. It is a lot easier going broke if you are paid the lump sum than if you spread the bonus out over a few years.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

If your draft pick thinks he deserve the same amount of bonus upfront(85%) as the guy that got picked before him, just give him the money. Its 1.2 million that's going to be spread out for 4 years. That is some petty stuff by Schneider.

Now if Witherspoon wants 100% of the bonus like the top 3 but not the 4th pic, then this dude or his agent is going to be a problem.

Either way, this a bad look. Not good way to start Training Camp.

1. Not sure they can. I think the slotted salaries are pretty rigid.

2. Why would you set this sort of precedent for not only your organization, but the entire league by breaking the slotted guidelines?

I get everyone wants Witherspoon in camp, but if he and his agent are being unreasonable then let him miss a week's worth of salary that'll probably be more than whatever bonus he's asking for.

 

[QWERTY]

1. Not sure they can. I think the slotted salaries are pretty rigid.

2. Why would you set this sort of precedent for not only your organization, but the entire league by breaking the slotted guidelines?

I get everyone wants Witherspoon in camp, but if he and his agent are being unreasonable then let him miss a week's worth of salary that'll probably be more than whatever bonus he's asking for.

You really think the Hawk's organization will start charging him $$ for missing TC?


Eventually when Witherspoon comes back, they will waive all the fines just like how any organization does.