Originally posted by Quest4six:
Lol at Vernon thinking he is smarter than Baalke
In all seriousness though, I do want VD back at camp.
People talk about how Crabs is Kaeps security blanket, I think VD might be pretty close to the same thing. I think this is going to end up ugly for VD, but its a shame because the man can still play.
Any ideas on what he wants from his contract? I hope he isn't trying to be the top paid TE again...
I have no idea what he actually wants, but I agree with you that he is badly miscalculating the situation if he thinks Baalke is going to give him more money for playing his position. As a GM, Baalke has to look at the cost/benefit trade-off for the team when negotiating any contracts with players. There's no doubt that Vernon has a lot of value for the team, but if Baalke begins paying any player position at the top or beyond the payment curve for a particular position, then that has to be made up by lowering the investment in some other position(s). Because of the cap, a team can only afford to have a few elite level contracts to stay competitive over the long haul and even then, the elite level contracts need to still be below the top of the payment curve. So... is Vernon's production on the field worth more than he is paid - there's a very good argument to be made that it is. But... if Vernon wants to get paid at the top or beyond for his position, then for Baalke it becomes a question of whether or not it might just be better for the team to have Vernon play out his contract (two more years), draft a high round TE next year and let Vernon hit free agency at the end of his contract. You can't replace Vernon, but if you can get a drafted player that costs 10% the cost of keeping Vernon and getting 80% of the production, then that may be worth it if you can keep guys like Boone and Staley with the money saved by not paying Vernon top or beyond the curve for his position.
To me, it looks like the leverage is much more on Baalke not giving in if he doesn't want to - I don't know, maybe he does feel like Vernon is worth it. I suppose Vernon could not play well and that could give him something like leverage, but I doubt that's what he wants to do and it would be a dumb move in practical terms. Maybe he could force a trade somehow.
I sure hope this doesn't develop into a game of chicken centered around the prospect of winning a Super Bowl - with Vernon thinking that the 9ers can't go the whole way without him and daring the team to call him on it. He might be right, but his actions in making the case may screw up the chance of winning it no matter how the contract negotiations turn out.