Tarell Brown skips workout program-voids $2M salary escalator, holdout coming?

Originally posted by Joecool:

Originally posted by TruNinerFan:
I am really torn on this situation. Part of me wants the team to tell TB to screw off, that mistake helps our cap situation. But, it was an obvious mistake. Not sure if it was TB's fault or his agents. Nobody would walk away from 2 million dollars for a voluntary workout. Do you guys think that this makes our front office look bad to the team and potential future FA's if they don't bend a little on this matter?

I think it makes them look bad if they don't do anything for TB about it. If not giving it to him, they should at least give him a high probability of earning it.

Agreed, it would be smart if the FO gave him some incentive based contract additions. Hopefully there is someone there to tell him this when he signs the dotted line again lol.

Originally posted by dugo:
The F.O. or the coach has no responsibility in this...In Article 101.49 of the clause "readurpuckencontract" it states if your signature is on the bottom of all them words your a$$ must adhere to what them words say.. No agent, no head coach, no front office, should of had to tell a full grown professional NFL player how to make his money. He signed his contract ,,and he's trying to say he didn't know ??? WTF thats a couple of million and with that kind of money on the line he himself should of scrutinized that contract before he signed it..

Although I agree with that in general, most players do not have the attention span or the time to read over every detail of their contracts, which is why they hire agents to take care of that aspect of their lives. And the agent does have a duty to make sure his client is fully informed of all provisions of his contract. When Tarrell Brown indicated that he was not going to take part in the voluntary workout program with the team, the agent could have easily called him and said "hey dude, you do realize you will lose $2 million dollars if you don't go, right?" That was a major blunder on the agent's part.

Originally posted by VaBeachNiner:

Agreed, it would be smart if the FO gave him some incentive based contract additions. Hopefully there is someone there to tell him this when he signs the dotted line again lol.

needs Hammer TBPH IMHO....

Originally posted by Hopper:

Originally posted by LA9erFan:

Originally posted by 9erfanAUS:
It sets a bad precedence.

How so?

Eric branch spoke with a former agent that brought up the possibility it doesn't set a good precedence.

"Teams are always concerned about setting a precedent," Corry said. "And that would be their justification for not doing anything: 'We don't want to set the precedent that when someone doesn't adhere to their contract that we reward them.' … They could take the position of 'You know what? That's your fault. You should have shown up during the offseason."

http://blog.sfgate.com/49ers/2013/07/26/whats-next-ex-agent-weighs-in-on-tarell-browns-contract-snafu/

I'll also add in it's ridiculous to blame the Niners. Not there responsibility to tell a player to show up for the offseason workout program considering it's voluntary.

Of course it's not the Niners fault.

But I can't believe how many people can't see the big picture here. It's not like Brown missed a performance clause. It's abundantly obvious that this was an honest mistake. Do they have to give him that money? Of course not. Would giving him that money buy you a whole lotta cache both in your locker room and around the league? Hell yes it would. Is that worth the $2M that you were planning on giving to him anyway? Seems like a no-duh decision for the Niners. Being considered about setting a precedent when players don't adhere to their contract is a much broader definition than these actual circumstances warrant.

What would Eddie D. do?

Originally posted by real9erfan:
Although I agree with that in general, most players do not have the attention span or the time to read over every detail of their contracts, which is why they hire agents to take care of that aspect of their lives. And the agent does have a duty to make sure his client is fully informed of all provisions of his contract. When Tarrell Brown indicated that he was not going to take part in the voluntary workout program with the team, the agent could have easily called him and said "hey dude, you do realize you will lose $2 million dollars if you don't go, right?" That was a major blunder on the agent's part.

Yeah totally fault the agent here. The agent's job is to provide all the significant details to his client. A $2 bonus (2/3s of his salary) is a major detail that should have been talked about months leading up to the date. Highlight that on Brown's calender. Remind him again one week before, tell him again 1 day before. I can't see how anyone can fault the player. Those contracts with the fine print are tough to sort through and that's why agents are hired. To read and understand the fine print, then interpret that to the player.

I hope the 49ers do the right thing and somehow allow Brown to earn it back. I agree that not allowing him to make it back can weigh on his mind and effect his on field play, which I think we can all agree we do not want. Doing the right thing will go far towards creating an image that the 49ers are a class organization. Many players' eyes will be on this issue and how it gets dealt by the front office.

The 49ers are not responsible for Brown's mistake. The only way Brown should recoup this $2 million from the 49ers is if it is added to another contract. Yes it really sucks to lose that much money but the NFL is a business. There are two people who are responsible here and need to be held accountable and they are Brown and his agent, not the 49ers front office. The 49ers don't owe Brown anything.

Originally posted by AZ9erfan520:
The 49ers are not responsible for Brown's mistake. The only way Brown should recoup this $2 million from the 49ers is if it is added to another contract. Yes it really sucks to lose that much money but the NFL is a business. There are two people who are responsible here and need to be held accountable and they are Brown and his agent, not the 49ers front office. The 49ers don't owe Brown anything.

The Niners don't owe him any favors. Business is business.

If this were A.J. Jenkins or Anthony Dixon no one would even care.

Originally posted by LA9erFan:
What would Eddie D. do?

I'd be surprised if Jed hasn't spoken to him already

Originally posted by AmpLee:
I agree with this. It's the right thing to do and buys a lot of clout (more than the 2 mil is worth today). My hope is they can parlay this gift into a nice bonus in an extension with the team.

That is the only way it makes any sense to give him that 2 million back. Smart business by the 49ers would be to work that 2 million into a multi year contract extension. It will make the FO look really good and retain Brown.

I can't believe that anyone is saying that Brown is at fault here. If he had the time to negotiate and keep track of every clause in his contract then he wouldn't be paying an agent 10% to begin with

Originally posted by Joecool:

Originally posted by TruNinerFan:
I am really torn on this situation. Part of me wants the team to tell TB to screw off, that mistake helps our cap situation. But, it was an obvious mistake. Not sure if it was TB's fault or his agents. Nobody would walk away from 2 million dollars for a voluntary workout. Do you guys think that this makes our front office look bad to the team and potential future FA's if they don't bend a little on this matter?

I think it makes them look bad if they don't do anything for TB about it. If not giving it to him, they should at least give him a high probability of earning it.

I don't really buy that at all

Originally posted by Bodhi:
I can't believe that anyone is saying that Brown is at fault here. If he had the time to negotiate and keep track of every clause in his contract then he wouldn't be paying an agent 10% to begin with

You hire specialists (agents) to cover the difficult areas, but you are still a lunk head if you don't read and understand your own contract to some degree. This is not a very complicated issue--work out = +2 million dollars; no work out = no 2 million dollars. Would you sign a paper worth 2.9 million dollars without asking your agent/lawyer to explain every detail? The good news (?) will be if the agent loses $200,000. If he does then he is more the idiot for not explaining this to his client. Some agents do not stay in touch with their charges, good ones do.

And...just how busy is Brown that he doesn't have time to read his contract?

Originally posted by dtg_9er:

Originally posted by Bodhi:
I can't believe that anyone is saying that Brown is at fault here. If he had the time to negotiate and keep track of every clause in his contract then he wouldn't be paying an agent 10% to begin with

You hire specialists (agents) to cover the difficult areas, but you are still a lunk head if you don't read and understand your own contract to some degree. This is not a very complicated issue--work out = +2 million dollars; no work out = no 2 million dollars. Would you sign a paper worth 2.9 million dollars without asking your agent/lawyer to explain every detail? The good news (?) will be if the agent loses $200,000. If he does then he is more the idiot for not explaining this to his client. Some agents do not stay in touch with their charges, good ones do.

And...just how busy is Brown that he doesn't have time to read his contract?

contracts are not spelled out in layman terms.