Philadelphia Eagles 2015 Mistakes To Avoid – Part II
By Bret Stuter
Dec 28, 2014; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; Philadelphia Eagles running back
LeSean McCoy(25) runs with the ball against the New York Giants in the first quarter during the game at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports
VII. Mishandling Veteran Players
When the season ends, virtually every person who has rooted for an NFL team suddenly has an urge to shed, sign, or renegotiate with virtually every player on the NFL team’s roster. Whether its a normal extension of the fantasy football that has become a cousin to the popularity of the sport itself, or the nearly real world situation of sports video games like Madden. Whatever the reason, it gives fans the momentum to carry rooting for their team during the season, to virtually rewarding or penalizing them in the off season.
To get a handle on this, examine the case where the future of wide receiver Jeremy Maclin has somehow been linked to running back LeSean McCoy accepting a pay cut.
"“I don’t know where everything started, people saying they can’t keep us both,” “I think that’s crazy. As far as what he does with his deal, that’s not my place to comment on that. There’s no reason why you can’t keep us both. That’s one of the most ridiculous things I’ve heard all offseason.”– Maclin in an interview with Comcast SportsNet’s John Clark on Radio Row from Glendale, Arizona."
And so, the contract negotiations for one player are inadvertantly linked in jest to the contract of another player. But to be fair, every contract for every player should be evaluated each year – not just from a standpoint of cut or not cut – but to ensure that the team does not park too much salary cap into one player or position>
But back to the story. We’ve covered the likelihood of where to expect the Eagles to sign returning players in a story a few weeks ago. When we were “ball parking” our contracts, we also looked at some of the top salary contracts to determine if they remained at fair market value. McCoy’s contract is clearly priced at an FMV, particularly in light of his past two years production under Chip Kelly. You can check it out now if you’d like.