Antonio Brown time?

[Monster]

So he is going to the Pats. Probably so he can stick it to all the pundits, his old teammates in Pitt. Etc. Brady, who takes less than he should, essentially is a way of cheating. He should be the top 2-3 paid, but he doesn't want money., he wants to win, so he takes less to stack the deck. Thus they can sign more talent then others.

If Brown wants to go there to stick it too everyone else, it'll probably work. If he thinks he can get away with what he normally does, he'll be cut again, soon. We'll see. I'm sure he knows he can't screw around in NE.

Yeah I hate that Drew Brees guy taking less money what a cheater...

Did he too? What if he played for free? Or vet min? The salary cap was made to even the playing field, so when a couple players take less, yes it does not level the playing field. Call it cheating, whatever. We do know that the Pats got caught cheating deflating footballs, stealing coaches signs, etc also.

You can be OK with it but they don't play by the rules. Brady taking less money isn't against the rules, but it does help him win. So call it what you want.

I get where you are coming from. There is not rule that a player has to play for the absolute highest amount of money they can make. Seems like a calculated risk to me. For example what kind of financial benefits could you have by increasing your chances of winning another super bowl but say 20% (just throwing out a number) by taking 10 million less? What's the point of making another 10 million of you already made over 200 million just in salary and know you will have it come in for years? Smart people surround themselves with smart and or talented people. IMO this is no different. The guys that want as much as they can get...I generally have no problem with that either. Like a friend of mine said she tells her kids consequences aren't bad (or good) they are the outcomes of what happens sometimes because of a decision you make. These guys can choose to pay for enough less to have opportunities to build around them especially in their later years.

I will say you are right playing for free I would agree would not be allowed under the rules. :) These guys are still making over 20 million this year. They aren't playing for the vet min.

Anyway fun back and forth it's interesting to see differences in how we view things.

[Wolvesfan21]

What is interesting is that I'm sure AB had no contact discussing a contract with the Patriots before he stated his release demands. ;)

Not any chance they would collude would they? Patriots only play by the rules.

[Wolvesfan21]

Whats weird is a guy like Cousins. The guy takes the max he can make, (I assume more than Brady) but he doesn't spend a dime hardly. I mean, why not just take less to help the team out. It's his right of course to take the max he can make, but it also doesn't make any sense if you never spend it. It's like some of those Billionaires who hardly spend anything, what is the point of the money? Really, is it just so you can pad your ego and look at those digits on the bank statement.

Your point about guys already making 200 million just got me thinking monster. I can't even imagine trying to spend that much. Without buying a yacht or private jet. Or pro sports team (if you made a lot more).

[Monster]

Whats weird is a guy like Cousins. The guy takes the max he can make, (I assume more than Brady) but he doesn't spend a dime hardly. I mean, why not just take less to help the team out. It's his right of course to take the max he can make, but it also doesn't make any sense if you never spend it. It's like some of those Billionaires who hardly spend anything, what is the point of the money? Really, is it just so you can pad your ego and look at those digits on the bank statement.

Your point about guys already making 200 million just got me thinking monster. I can't even imagine trying to spend that much. Without buying a yacht or private jet. Or pro sports team (if you made a lot more).

I've kinda decided that it's nearly pointless to try and get into the minds of athletes. GQ had a recent cover that said "Inside the mind of OBJ" and I was afraid to read it. Lol i'll Say this about Cousins...Washington didn't exactly treat him like they wanted him around. Sure he got plenty of money when he was franchise tagged all all that but I think getting that 3 year contract fully guaranteed maybe it was kinda sticking it to them a bit. I'd guess with 3 years guaranteed money he wanted a team to commit to him for more than a year or 2 after going year to year for a while without a Washington.

Cousins is getting paid well but he is getting paid closer to market value than what people thought at the time "84 MILLION OMG!!!!" Now that other guys have signed their deals. Remember that SUPPOSEDLY the Jets actually offered him more money and he turned it down.

What is Cousins going to do with the money? Idk it's a fair question. Remember a lot of that money goes to taxes and Cousins has spent a fair amount of his own money working on his own craft too. He probably hasn't raked in loads of cash in endorsements etc. IF...things go well this year I could see him doing an extension with the Vikings that has his cap number more in the mid or high 20's instead of 30+. By doing that it would help keep guys around him on both sides of the ball. The Vikings ponied up a pretty nice contract for him initially that probably helps their case and if they give him a large chunk of guaranteed money again that could keep the number down. Even if things go fairly wel this year it could still end up being a mistake and he could end up being just averag-ish which for some teams isn't all that bad...there were years a QB like Cousins would have taken this team a lot farther than guys that were at the helm...although they were paid a lot less.

Edit: About the money and what would I know what to do with it. Honestly I think to some extent $300,000-$500,000 would be pretty life changing for me. No debt, a new car a nicer house that's completely paid for...I'd still have to work and all that but having over $700 less to pay for because I had no debt would be pretty damn amazing. I could see Cousins as a guy that invests and or does some business venture on his own when he is done. I could see him doing a bunch of charity work. I think a lot of people that have all this money do more charity work than is public but not many probably do the amount of things of a guy like Gorgui Dieng.

Speaking of people with a ton of money I listened to the espn 30 for 30 podcast "The Sterling Affairs" recently and it was very interesting. It's 5 parts but I thought it was worth the time. Part of what I thought was interesting is looking at how various people with lots of money operated their lives. One interesting tidbit was one of the reasons Doc Rivers wanted to be POBO was because he wanted to have power because he knew all about Sterling from being a player there. He wanted to be able to make basket all moves that made sense and also try and protect his players...yeah there was some crazy stuff.

[Wolvesfan21]

More then the money the contract validates what they think they are worth. I didn't mind the deal at the time for Cousins and still don't. It's hard to find a solid QB and even though Keenum had a great year, I chalked up a lot of it to Sherman who did a ton with very little. The OLine was terrible both last season and the prior, well for the last decade for the most part. It was going to be hard for Keenum to replicate what he did with a new offense. I think Cousins did well last year. The running game and defense did not hold up their ends of the team. It's just going to be hard to score a ton when the running game is so poor. (Vikes finished 30th in the NFL in rushing yards per game) If I remember correctly.

[Monster]

More then the money the contract validates what they think they are worth. I didn't mind the deal at the time for Cousins and still don't. It's hard to find a solid QB and even though Keenum had a great year, I chalked up a lot of it to Sherman who did a ton with very little. The OLine was terrible both last season and the prior, well for the last decade for the most part. It was going to be hard for Keenum to replicate what he did with a new offense. I think Cousins did well last year. The running game and defense did not hold up their ends of the team. It's just going to be hard to score a ton when the running game is so poor. (Vikes finished 30th in the NFL in rushing yards per game) If I remember correctly.

I completely agree with your post. I will add that Berger was better than any offensive lineman Cousins had last year but obviously that wasn't a good line either. The funny thing is Cook and Murry both averaged over 4 yards per carry last season and Cook the couple games he played his rookie year was the only guy to do that but they ran for nearly 2000 yards. they also had McKinnon that season.

[bleedspeed]

hey overpaid for him. AB needs the Patriots more then the Patriots needed him. It will be interesting who will have a bigger season for the Patriots. Josh Gordon or Antonio Brown. I am betting on Gordon. I don't think Antonio Brown works out in New England. You read it here first.

Think how awesome Moss would have been in this era.

[Wolvesfan21]

hey overpaid for him. AB needs the Patriots more then the Patriots needed him. It will be interesting who will have a bigger season for the Patriots. Josh Gordon or Antonio Brown. I am betting on Gordon. I don't think Antonio Brown works out in New England. You read it here first.

Think how awesome Moss would have been in this era.

I'm going to bet on AB. I'm thinking that many of his antics were to get out of Oakland and to the Patriots. So if he truly wants to play there, then he will probably humble himself. Be on time and show up. Then having Brady and that offense, well, he'll score a ton. I'll say he leads the NFL in TD's for WR's. How about that.

[bleedspeed]

Love it. It doesn't explain him leaving the Steelers though.

AB isn't a Randy Moss or Gronk type talent. I am not sure he is better than Josh Gordon when he is mentally healthy. Gordon has never played a full season with a good QB as Brown has his whole career. It will be interesting how it develops. Gordon has an edge in already having spent time with Brady. If AB isn't the top WR there will he be able to handle that?

[Wolvesfan21]

Love it. It doesn't explain him leaving the Steelers though.

AB isn't a Randy Moss or Gronk type talent. I am not sure he is better than Josh Gordon when he is mentally healthy. Gordon has never played a full season with a good QB as Brown has his whole career. It will be interesting how it develops. Gordon has an edge in already having spent time with Brady. If AB isn't the top WR there will he be able to handle that?

I thought him wanting out of Pittsburgh was him wanting a pay raise? I think it was. Anyways, he's getting money and now he can stick it to the Steelers and pundits too. So I'll say his motivation takes him to the top. Gordon is a greater talent, but AB is a far harder worker, no addictions to substances (other then his own ego). So I'll bet on AB. Before I was thinking he was just a nut case, but I think it was all planned for the most part. He wanted out of Oakland and to a contender.