Dee Ford, DE

Originally posted by jackburton1:

Originally posted by Giedi:
Personally, I don't think playing in the NFL is even a right. I mean if you aren't 6'0" and 190 - I doubt you'd even get looked at by college let alone any NFL team just on the size alone. Short fat guys that run 5 minutes in the 40 will never have a *right* to play in the NFL.

I'm saying just on a legal level, I have the right to declare for the draft. At which point, GMs would say "who the f-ck is jackburton1?" and hit delete, but I still have that right.

As far as privilege goes, you could also say that it is a privilege for owners to have use of your services as a player. Each side is an equal party to the contract, so one side isn't granting more than the other.

Tell' em, Jack.

Originally posted by jackburton1:

Originally posted by Giedi:
When you are a monopoly, There are a lot of monopolistic anti-competitive practices that negate a lot of *rights.*

For sure, teams have more power in negotiating than the players' union. But that doesn't negate rights, just leads to the players agreeing to waive them. Same as any company using arbitration or NDAs. And when owners try to strip too much, the union pushes back, so there are very clear limits.

The league is not a true monopoly, though, because there are other professional sports that athletes can play. Kyler and Mahomes and others opted for football over baseball. The NFL would plummet in popularity and power if its potential stars chose other sports. That's not a far-fetched possibility, as high school football participation is declining. This is why I'm saying the privilege goes both ways. Players don't have to bow in gratitude to their masters because they have a ton of power too. The owners are plenty grateful to have these guys be the faces of their franchises.

I think the NFL *is* - in practical terms - a monopoly otherwise why do they have all these anti-trust exemptions? High ticket prices high television fees, are all signs of a monopoly as far as I'm concerned. CFL, college football, XFL aren't really competitors to the NFL the way AMD and Intel are competitors with each other. Baseball, Basketball, Soccer- I dont think - are really competitors to the NFL. I think most folks just don't care that it is a monopoly. Personally I'm OK its a monopoly. I just face the reality that it *is* a monopoly and am resigned to my fate of high ticket prices and high television prices and call it a day.

NFL players are underpaid compared to MLB and NBA players. Not only do MLB and NBA players get bigger and longer contracts but their money is nearly always guaranteed. Obviously it's because of the brutal nature of the game that can end a career so suddenly but NBA and MLB players can have career ending injuries too. Pitchers can have arm problems and NBA players often have knee or foot problems that keep them on the bench or force them to retire. They still get all their money.

I just hope there is a way that Ford passes a physical prior to April 1, thus we can cut him, and save lots of money going forward, and not guarantee him 11+ million this season, basically not to play like he has been doing for us since coming over from KC.

Maiocco was saying something on his podcast to the effect of, in order for Ford to fail his physical, the doctors have to conclude that he's incapable of playing football not just on April 1st, but for the entirety of the season. If this is true, that does give us some hope at least as far as the April 1st date goes. If Ford can't pass that, I hope we begin discussing injury settlements at that point.

I just hope he is able to pass it, so we can just cut him, take the dead money hit, and move on. It would be funny if we sign Mack with the savings for cutting Richburg, and if we sign Hyder with the savings for cutting Ford. Both moves give us capable replacements, while also allowing us to take the dead money cap hits this year, by cutting Ford+Richburg.

Originally posted by Giedi:
I think the NFL *is* - in practical terms - a monopoly otherwise why do they have all these anti-trust exemptions? High ticket prices high television fees, are all signs of a monopoly as far as I'm concerned. CFL, college football, XFL aren't really competitors to the NFL the way AMD and Intel are competitors with each other. Baseball, Basketball, Soccer- I dont think - are really competitors to the NFL. I think most folks just don't care that it is a monopoly. Personally I'm OK its a monopoly. I just face the reality that it *is* a monopoly and am resigned to my fate of high ticket prices and high television prices and call it a day.

I'm just focusing on the relationship with the players. Pro sports and antitrust law, in terms of consumer protection, is a pretty deep rabbit hole and I don't really know a lot about it. The NBA and MLB have the same antitrust exemption, however, and I think they operate as cartels instead of monopolies. For the player, more options would be great, but until pro sports as a whole cease to exist there will always be a market for their services. As long as they can get paid somewhere else, the NFL needs them as much as they need it.

I see your point about players not being entitled to a spot on a roster. I just think it's a distinction without a difference because there is no job in the world that a person is literally entitled to. More importantly, it's one of the hardest jobs to acquire, can be taken away at a moment's notice, and they eat/sleep/breathe competition. I don't see a player with a hardcore entitled attitude lasting more than a few months in the league, let alone reach Ford's level.

Originally posted by IGSXIII:
Maiocco was saying something on his podcast to the effect of, in order for Ford to fail his physical, the doctors have to conclude that he's incapable of playing football not just on April 1st, but for the entirety of the season. If this is true, that does give us some hope at least as far as the April 1st date goes. If Ford can't pass that, I hope we begin discussing injury settlements at that point.

Thats doesn't make much sense. April 1st is 5 months away from the start of the season.

Originally posted by lamontb:

Originally posted by IGSXIII:
Maiocco was saying something on his podcast to the effect of, in order for Ford to fail his physical, the doctors have to conclude that he's incapable of playing football not just on April 1st, but for the entirety of the season. If this is true, that does give us some hope at least as far as the April 1st date goes. If Ford can't pass that, I hope we begin discussing injury settlements at that point.

Thats doesn't make much sense. April 1st is 5 months away from the start of the season.

The April 1 date is in his contract, it's the norm for the 49ers to have a April 1 Guarantee date, Kittle has them, a bunch have/had them.

Still no word on the exact injury. Any more knife work to be done or has been done? What a bum. What has he been doing for rehab.

Originally posted by brodiebluebanaszak:
Still no word on the exact injury. Any more knife work to be done or has been done? What a bum. What has he been doing for rehab.

Playing the piano.

Originally posted by brodiebluebanaszak:
Still no word on the exact injury. Any more knife work to be done or has been done? What a bum. What has he been doing for rehab.

It's his back, Lynch has talked about it, I can tell you back injuries can be very serious, my Mom had surgery when I was in HS on her back/neck, it doesn't get better, I think Dee would be best off calling it a career, not worth further damage, and anyone saying he did this on purpose have no clue what happened, he didn't just decide to not play in 2020. You need to give him some slack, injuries happen, is he injury prone? Maybe, he didn't have a big injury issue, like some said, in KC, he miss 5 games in 2019, he played all playoff games, over 100 snaps. But honestly, every one is prone to getting injured, for gods sake the game is the most brutal game in the world, our bodies weren't meant to take this punishment, I hope Dee does what he feels is best for his future, I'd like to see him do something similar to what Brees did, but lower his base salary to league minimum, he stays on the team till June 2nd when he officially retires, it's a win-win, the 49ers would likely, in exchange, not go after his signing bonus prorations for 2021-2023.

"it's his back." Doesn't that sound a little vague after 6 months?

Ok. I hear what you are saying thank you for the information.

Basically, he's done. And there's an exit strategy for both parties in place.

Love dee sorry it had to end like this.

What are our savings for 2021 and what it cost us in 2022 and 2023?

Also, if he retires, do we have his rights in case there is a mirablu dictu comeback of some kind.

Thank you for your thoughts.

They need another ER opposite of Bosa. He absolutely must be replaced. He can't be counted on to ever play again and he's at a premiere position. It's not a matter of getting him back healthy, they need to draft his replacement. Cut ties with this money pit and keep the dominant d line coming.

Originally posted by brodiebluebanaszak:
"it's his back." Doesn't that sound a little vague after 6 months?

Ok. I hear what you are saying thank you for the information.

Basically, he's done. And there's an exit strategy for both parties in place.

Love dee sorry it had to end like this.

What are our savings for 2021 and what it cost us in 2022 and 2023?

Also, if he retires, do we have his rights in case there is a mirablu dictu comeback of some kind.

Thank you for your thoughts.

Yeah it sounds vague, but it could be anything.

As for savings, I'd like to see the 49ers do what the Saints with with Brees, but a little different instead of converting money in bonus, Dee cuts his $15.15M base to $1.075M, save $14.075M, then he retires we could agree to not go after his signing bonus prorations remaining in his deal.

If he retires, and can come back we own his rights, like if Calvin Johnson decided he wanted to come back in the past the Lions own his right, Colts own Luck's rights, etc...