Originally posted by English:
Originally posted by oldman9er:
Manny would be committing career suicide by sitting out the year... not gonna happen. He will show up for mandatory practices... he will work hard, and have yet another good but unspectacular season. Then, we will resign him for good, but not ridiculous money. He wants to stay a 49er, and would take a little less to do so.
It's up to the Man. He can price himself out of SF if he wants, or not.
There's a lot to consider here. Some are taking the glass half-full approach b/c they really like Manny and others, not so much.
I think the key factor here is that they (management) already tried to trade him during the draft which was a great move b/c it gave us an opportunity to see if we could package a deal for another draftee AND it helped set the market for how other teams view Manny Lawson's worth. We got NO takers. That, in and of itself puts ALL the bargaining in managements favor. Why are fans ignoring this?
The next factor to consider is the interviews with LaBoy who clearly was a major fan of SF and wanted to play here BUT with the caveat that he'd get a true shot at starting. In the end, his best shot to start was here in SF where both Haralson (played injured last year) and Manny are current starters.
The final factor to consider is Manny's attitude where he blew up after getting benched for Brooks last year on the sideline. His ego was bruised and for the first time in his SF career, he was being challenged for a starting spot. He went on to play the next three games with more passion and motivation and played very well and then tappered off again towards the end of the season while Brooks came on.
My "theory" for why he blew up was b/c he had planned this contract negotiation last year and then Brooks stepped up and has been clearly supported by Singletary in the media as something special and someone to watch out for.
This final piece is that of the handful of veterans who are not here at OTA's, Manny is the only one the coach has not talked to personally (and for a long time). Both MB & MM have alluded to the fact that the coaching staff is not happy with him. Singletary will say the P.C.-thing and state he believes Manny will be here come mandatory meetings but truly, he has no idea w/o talking to him.
Manny holds very few cards, if any at all in these negotiations. He's just a 1st and 2nd down run-stopping SAM who b/c of his lack of pass rushing skills, makes our defense very predictable. He was completely insignificant in coverage last year and we were still destroyed in covering RB's out of the back field and screen passes (yes, on Manny's side too...a lot!).
Then there is the "assumption" that b/c he sets the edge well and plays run defense well, that another LB can not do that...even as an every down LB. This is a BIG assumption and Manny's ONLY true bargaining chip.
From a management standpoint (Nolan speaking here), Manny is last on the list of contract negotiations, doesn't fit the 3-4 well, we have Brooks, LaBoy, Long and Briggs waiting in the balance, he holds little value across the league, is seen as only a 1st and 2nd down LB anyways in the 3-4 and he isn't communicating with his coaching staff during this negotiation process. So, now we have questions on his decision-making, character and certainly motivation and ego along with the concept of "team" during his absence at OTA's when other players are signing waivers to be here or at least, have communicated with Singletary on their workout routines.
If you were management, honestly, what would you offer Manny right now given our current state of contract negotiations with other players/needs. Clearly, in my mind, management holds ALL the cards here.
IMHO, if Manny REALLY wants to earn a big contract, he needs to be here, prove he's an every down SAM, become a complete OLB who specializes in getting to the QB FIRST and create a permanent place on the bench for Brooks/LaBoy.
For you pro-pay-Manny fans, honestly, take managements standpoint and give me some real reasons why we should pay Manny in the 30-40 million area.
And back that up...don't give me "he lead the team in sacks at 6.5" when none of those sacks mattered like almost all of Brooks' did (QB sacks that lead to fumbles and turnovers in big games). Brooks also had to do it on very predictable downs and almost exclusively from the SAM spot where the QB could see him coming. He also got the same number of sacks as Manny in 1/3 of the snaps that Manny got. Manny had NO excuses this year - he was 100% healthy, in great shape and was informed at the beginning of the year that he would exclusively be rushing the passer for the whole year (like when he was a WILL in his rookie year).
There seems to be just a handful of pro-pay-Manny fans left so I just wanted to know from a management standpoint, what are you seeing that makes him so valuable and irreplaceable to the point that we should negotiate a 30-40 million dollar deal just to retain him despite the long list of others we need to sign as well?
[ Edited by NCommand on May 18, 2010 at 9:48 AM ]
lol
