Are we seeing a horribly managed free agency? Or something bigger?

Originally posted by NickSh49:

Originally posted by RYPTOUT:

Originally posted by BrianGO:
They are simply not going to overpay for players. I don't see what is so confusing about this.

Its like watching the first part of a marathon and seeing some amateur runner sprint out way far into the lead just so he can be on TV. The webzone would of course cheer him on, saying things like, "Now THATS a winner!", "HE has a commitment to excellence!", "He really CARES about winning!".

Of course, 30 min later, when the Kenyans have their legs warmed up, the tired idiot who sprinted into the lead for short term glory gets passes up by dozens of runners.

UNLESS you feel you have a shot at the Super Bowl, sprinting to the lead while sacrificing the rest of the marathon is simply idiotic. The point is to win the race, not to show off for 30 min and then get passed up by the crowd.

A losing team has to build through the draft, and look for bargains in free agency. When that team makes it to the playoffs, all of a sudden, free agents start to look and think, "Wow, they have really improved." And they are more likely to want to sign with a team on the rise. Then you can overspend, and try to win a championship.

Good post.

Tell this to Jeff Kaplan.

He is the zone version of Cohn.

Originally posted by danimal:

Originally posted by Antix:
its obvious that the plan is to rebuild. The last time we lost this many players was in 03. To me it jut sounds like Baalke and Harbaugh knew that the fans didn't want to hear the word rebuild but now its obvious. Might as well forget this year and hope for next year cuz its a wash now.

Once again I am redeemed after being laughed at. I posted countless times last season that we would begin another rebuild and I was laughed at because that was contradicatory to what the priests said would happen.

Oh my, you mean sometimes people are not honest.

Personally I am glad for the rebuild....and I have no idea why people post things like we "lost" clements, lawson and franklin. "lost" should only apply to good players. Good riddance.

Yeah. This team was built to make a run in the last 2-3 years and failed. Miserably. At some point that's a talent issue and I have no issue seeing them go. This FA class, while plentiful, only had a handful of difference makers. A rebuilding team needn't waste money a guy who will be in decline by the time the team is competitive.

Originally posted by TX9R:

Originally posted by danimal:

Originally posted by Antix:
its obvious that the plan is to rebuild. The last time we lost this many players was in 03. To me it jut sounds like Baalke and Harbaugh knew that the fans didn't want to hear the word rebuild but now its obvious. Might as well forget this year and hope for next year cuz its a wash now.

Once again I am redeemed after being laughed at. I posted countless times last season that we would begin another rebuild and I was laughed at because that was contradicatory to what the priests said would happen.

Oh my, you mean sometimes people are not honest.

Personally I am glad for the rebuild....and I have no idea why people post things like we "lost" clements, lawson and franklin. "lost" should only apply to good players. Good riddance.

Yeah. This team was built to make a run in the last 2-3 years and failed. Miserably. At some point that's a talent issue and I have no issue seeing them go. This FA class, while plentiful, only had a handful of difference makers. A rebuilding team needn't waste money a guy who will be in decline by the time the team is competitive.

AGREED, remember, WE WERE 6-10 with these so called talented players. The culture around here had to change. You will now be rewarded for actually WINNING. Don't 4get, this is a new defense focused more on getting to the QB. We said the coaching pickups were tremendous so they WILL GET TO EARN their salaries as well. TEAM means more than a group of ego inflated players with NO WINNING pedigree and a high opinion of themselves.

Originally posted by danimal:

Originally posted by Antix:
its obvious that the plan is to rebuild. The last time we lost this many players was in 03. To me it jut sounds like Baalke and Harbaugh knew that the fans didn't want to hear the word rebuild but now its obvious. Might as well forget this year and hope for next year cuz its a wash now.

Once again I am redeemed after being laughed at. I posted countless times last season that we would begin another rebuild and I was laughed at because that was contradicatory to what the priests said would happen.

Oh my, you mean sometimes people are not honest.

Personally I am glad for the rebuild....and I have no idea why people post things like we "lost" clements, lawson and franklin. "lost" should only apply to good players. Good riddance.

I have no issue with a team wanting to "rebuild"........nor do I take issue with the players the 9ers "lost".......the 3 aforementioned players were average at best and so is Goldson......but if you unload players, especially starters, you have to replace them......and SF, so far, has made no moves at all to do so......you cant rebuild a team with players who couldn't beat out the marginal ones in the first place.....rebuilding by the draft is all well and good, but you still have to be active in FA to win.....you cant go one way or the other.....the good teams use all resources available.

Originally posted by NickSh49:

Originally posted by LA9erFan:

Originally posted by Antix:
its obvious that the plan is to rebuild. The last time we lost this many players was in 03. To me it jut sounds like Baalke and Harbaugh knew that the fans didn't want to hear the word rebuild but now its obvious. Might as well forget this year and hope for next year cuz its a wash now.

The thing is, Franklin & Lawson signed one year deals, and Lawson's salary is only $3M. (dunno about Franklin yet) Spikes signed a 3 year deal, but it was only $3M in guaranteed money, so it wasn't prohibitive in any sense.

Now we have starting positions being handed to guys by default instead of them legitimately earning it at ILB (McKillop or Bowman), CB (Brown? ), & likely FS if Goldson departs. (Smith). Lack of competition is not a healthy framework for younger players.

I keep hearing that we're trying to rebuild, but what exactly is so prohibitive about keeping Lawson, Franklin, & Spikes around while doing that? How would re-signing any of them prevent us from doing that? It's not like they signed cap hindering contracts the way Baas did.

Truth is, this is yet another example of a new regime coming in and wanting "their guys" on the team because they're egotistically married to schemes ahead of talent. People talk about Vic Fangio's "attacking defense", as though that's somehow different than most teams in the league, and ignore the fact that he has a fairly pedestrian track record in the NFL. He's not going to schematically beat the hell out of OC's in this league. We need freakin' talent, for chrissakes.

That last paragraph wasn't directed at you, per se, just a general observation. I've been here a long time and I'm NOT a pessimistic person. But we're seeing a marginally stocked cupboard being stripped relatively bare, and it's not because guys are signing huge contracts elsewhere.

That pisses me the hell off.

Because you can't resign players than have been with you for years to one-year contracts. It's an insult to the player.

Spikes didn't want to stick around cause he wants playoffs. Manny & Franklin are getting "prove it" deals from other teams. The 49ers can't offer "prove it" deals to players that have been with the organization for years. It doesn't work that way.

I disagree that you can't offer 1 year deals to incumbent players. These are guys that play an extremely violent sport under non-guaranteed contracts for a limited amount of time. They need to capitalize their talents during the finite window that they have. They gotta get paid.

There may be the occasional guy that takes less money to go to the right situation, but I believe that the vast majority of the time the highest bidder wins out. Being that we're $30M under the cap, there's no reason for guys like Lawson & Franklin to be walking away from us. I'll give you Spikes, but even there we're projecting his desires, and assuming that $5M in guaranteed money instead of $3M doesn't get him to stay.

Originally posted by NickSh49:

Originally posted by LA9erFan:

Originally posted by Antix:
its obvious that the plan is to rebuild. The last time we lost this many players was in 03. To me it jut sounds like Baalke and Harbaugh knew that the fans didn't want to hear the word rebuild but now its obvious. Might as well forget this year and hope for next year cuz its a wash now.

The thing is, Franklin & Lawson signed one year deals, and Lawson's salary is only $3M. (dunno about Franklin yet) Spikes signed a 3 year deal, but it was only $3M in guaranteed money, so it wasn't prohibitive in any sense.

Now we have starting positions being handed to guys by default instead of them legitimately earning it at ILB (McKillop or Bowman), CB (Brown? ), & likely FS if Goldson departs. (Smith). Lack of competition is not a healthy framework for younger players.

I keep hearing that we're trying to rebuild, but what exactly is so prohibitive about keeping Lawson, Franklin, & Spikes around while doing that? How would re-signing any of them prevent us from doing that? It's not like they signed cap hindering contracts the way Baas did.

Truth is, this is yet another example of a new regime coming in and wanting "their guys" on the team because they're egotistically married to schemes ahead of talent. People talk about Vic Fangio's "attacking defense", as though that's somehow different than most teams in the league, and ignore the fact that he has a fairly pedestrian track record in the NFL. He's not going to schematically beat the hell out of OC's in this league. We need freakin' talent, for chrissakes.

That last paragraph wasn't directed at you, per se, just a general observation. I've been here a long time and I'm NOT a pessimistic person. But we're seeing a marginally stocked cupboard being stripped relatively bare, and it's not because guys are signing huge contracts elsewhere.

That pisses me the hell off.

Because you can't resign players than have been with you for years to one-year contracts. It's an insult to the player.

Spikes didn't want to stick around cause he wants playoffs. Manny & Franklin are getting "prove it" deals from other teams. The 49ers can't offer "prove it" deals to players that have been with the organization for years. It doesn't work that way.

EXACTLY!

Originally posted by LA9erFan:

Originally posted by NickSh49:

Originally posted by LA9erFan:

Originally posted by Antix:
its obvious that the plan is to rebuild. The last time we lost this many players was in 03. To me it jut sounds like Baalke and Harbaugh knew that the fans didn't want to hear the word rebuild but now its obvious. Might as well forget this year and hope for next year cuz its a wash now.

The thing is, Franklin & Lawson signed one year deals, and Lawson's salary is only $3M. (dunno about Franklin yet) Spikes signed a 3 year deal, but it was only $3M in guaranteed money, so it wasn't prohibitive in any sense.

Now we have starting positions being handed to guys by default instead of them legitimately earning it at ILB (McKillop or Bowman), CB (Brown? ), & likely FS if Goldson departs. (Smith). Lack of competition is not a healthy framework for younger players.

I keep hearing that we're trying to rebuild, but what exactly is so prohibitive about keeping Lawson, Franklin, & Spikes around while doing that? How would re-signing any of them prevent us from doing that? It's not like they signed cap hindering contracts the way Baas did.

Truth is, this is yet another example of a new regime coming in and wanting "their guys" on the team because they're egotistically married to schemes ahead of talent. People talk about Vic Fangio's "attacking defense", as though that's somehow different than most teams in the league, and ignore the fact that he has a fairly pedestrian track record in the NFL. He's not going to schematically beat the hell out of OC's in this league. We need freakin' talent, for chrissakes.

That last paragraph wasn't directed at you, per se, just a general observation. I've been here a long time and I'm NOT a pessimistic person. But we're seeing a marginally stocked cupboard being stripped relatively bare, and it's not because guys are signing huge contracts elsewhere.

That pisses me the hell off.

Because you can't resign players than have been with you for years to one-year contracts. It's an insult to the player.

Spikes didn't want to stick around cause he wants playoffs. Manny & Franklin are getting "prove it" deals from other teams. The 49ers can't offer "prove it" deals to players that have been with the organization for years. It doesn't work that way.

I disagree that you can't offer 1 year deals to incumbent players. These are guys that play an extremely violent sport under non-guaranteed contracts for a limited amount of time. They need to capitalize their talents during the finite window that they have. They gotta get paid.

There may be the occasional guy that takes less money to go to the right situation, but I believe that the vast majority of the time the highest bidder wins out. Being that we're $30M under the cap, there's no reason for guys like Lawson & Franklin to be walking away from us. I'll give you Spikes, but even there we're projecting his desires, and assuming that $5M in guaranteed money instead of $3M doesn't get him to stay.

It is a slap to the 49ers that these guys are leaving for 1 year contracts.

Originally posted by LA9erFan:

Originally posted by NickSh49:

Originally posted by LA9erFan:

Originally posted by Antix:
its obvious that the plan is to rebuild. The last time we lost this many players was in 03. To me it jut sounds like Baalke and Harbaugh knew that the fans didn't want to hear the word rebuild but now its obvious. Might as well forget this year and hope for next year cuz its a wash now.

The thing is, Franklin & Lawson signed one year deals, and Lawson's salary is only $3M. (dunno about Franklin yet) Spikes signed a 3 year deal, but it was only $3M in guaranteed money, so it wasn't prohibitive in any sense.

Now we have starting positions being handed to guys by default instead of them legitimately earning it at ILB (McKillop or Bowman), CB (Brown? ), & likely FS if Goldson departs. (Smith). Lack of competition is not a healthy framework for younger players.

I keep hearing that we're trying to rebuild, but what exactly is so prohibitive about keeping Lawson, Franklin, & Spikes around while doing that? How would re-signing any of them prevent us from doing that? It's not like they signed cap hindering contracts the way Baas did.

Truth is, this is yet another example of a new regime coming in and wanting "their guys" on the team because they're egotistically married to schemes ahead of talent. People talk about Vic Fangio's "attacking defense", as though that's somehow different than most teams in the league, and ignore the fact that he has a fairly pedestrian track record in the NFL. He's not going to schematically beat the hell out of OC's in this league. We need freakin' talent, for chrissakes.

That last paragraph wasn't directed at you, per se, just a general observation. I've been here a long time and I'm NOT a pessimistic person. But we're seeing a marginally stocked cupboard being stripped relatively bare, and it's not because guys are signing huge contracts elsewhere.

That pisses me the hell off.

Because you can't resign players than have been with you for years to one-year contracts. It's an insult to the player.

Spikes didn't want to stick around cause he wants playoffs. Manny & Franklin are getting "prove it" deals from other teams. The 49ers can't offer "prove it" deals to players that have been with the organization for years. It doesn't work that way.

I disagree that you can't offer 1 year deals to incumbent players. These are guys that play an extremely violent sport under non-guaranteed contracts for a limited amount of time. They need to capitalize their talents during the finite window that they have. They gotta get paid.

There may be the occasional guy that takes less money to go to the right situation, but I believe that the vast majority of the time the highest bidder wins out. Being that we're $30M under the cap, there's no reason for guys like Lawson & Franklin to be walking away from us. I'll give you Spikes, but even there we're projecting his desires, and assuming that $5M in guaranteed money instead of $3M doesn't get him to stay.

...maybe guys like Franklin, Laboy, Baas, & Spikes want to win?

Lawson... I think the front office was over him. Aldon is the future. So you kind of have an argument there.

But otherwise, I stick to my original statement.

What are you guys all freaking out over? Which of the players that we "lost" were actually anything that anybody wanted to keep around? Which of them did we really even make a serious attempt to resign?

How many of the guys that aren't here anymore ended up having to take 1 year deals? That's not the sign of a sought after player....it's the sign of a guy who couldn't get the money the wanted from any team and is hoping he can have a big year and cash in next year. It's usually something that a vet who was injured or had some other big question mark just before his contract came up.....not a bunch of guys who had been starting the year before and we're in trouble.

The reason they're having to take these deals is because they just aren't that good.

We're in a new era and we're cleaning out the old Nolan/Singletary guys and we'll be better off for it. We're going with youth and we're going to find out what we've got in these guys and replace the ones that need replacing. This team couldn't win the weakest division in football...couldn't get intot he playoffs when the division winner didn't have a winning record. This team was very bad and the guys that left were part of the problem.

Originally posted by boomer49er:
What are you guys all freaking out over? Which of the players that we "lost" were actually anything that anybody wanted to keep around? Which of them did we really even make a serious attempt to resign?

How many of the guys that aren't here anymore ended up having to take 1 year deals? That's not the sign of a sought after player....it's the sign of a guy who couldn't get the money the wanted from any team and is hoping he can have a big year and cash in next year. It's usually something that a vet who was injured or had some other big question mark just before his contract came up.....not a bunch of guys who had been starting the year before and we're in trouble.

The reason they're having to take these deals is because they just aren't that good.

We're in a new era and we're cleaning out the old Nolan/Singletary guys and we'll be better off for it. We're going with youth and we're going to find out what we've got in these guys and replace the ones that need replacing. This team couldn't win the weakest division in football...couldn't get intot he playoffs when the division winner didn't have a winning record. This team was very bad and the guys that left were part of the problem.

They are good. Spikes and Franklin were solid players for us and we couldn't get them to stay to the point where they left for short term contracts. We are 30 million under the cap and can't match a 1 year offer?

Originally posted by Joecool:

Originally posted by boomer49er:
What are you guys all freaking out over? Which of the players that we "lost" were actually anything that anybody wanted to keep around? Which of them did we really even make a serious attempt to resign?

How many of the guys that aren't here anymore ended up having to take 1 year deals? That's not the sign of a sought after player....it's the sign of a guy who couldn't get the money the wanted from any team and is hoping he can have a big year and cash in next year. It's usually something that a vet who was injured or had some other big question mark just before his contract came up.....not a bunch of guys who had been starting the year before and we're in trouble.

The reason they're having to take these deals is because they just aren't that good.

We're in a new era and we're cleaning out the old Nolan/Singletary guys and we'll be better off for it. We're going with youth and we're going to find out what we've got in these guys and replace the ones that need replacing. This team couldn't win the weakest division in football...couldn't get intot he playoffs when the division winner didn't have a winning record. This team was very bad and the guys that left were part of the problem.

They are good. Spikes and Franklin were solid players for us and we couldn't get them to stay to the point where they left for short term contracts. We are 30 million under the cap and can't match a 1 year offer?

It may not have been just about money. Maybe Harbaugh/Baalke wanted to give Bowman and McKillop more playing time so they can further develop. Or they believe in Ray McDonald as a starting DE and Soap as an NT.

Originally posted by Joecool:

Originally posted by boomer49er:
What are you guys all freaking out over? Which of the players that we "lost" were actually anything that anybody wanted to keep around? Which of them did we really even make a serious attempt to resign?

How many of the guys that aren't here anymore ended up having to take 1 year deals? That's not the sign of a sought after player....it's the sign of a guy who couldn't get the money the wanted from any team and is hoping he can have a big year and cash in next year. It's usually something that a vet who was injured or had some other big question mark just before his contract came up.....not a bunch of guys who had been starting the year before and we're in trouble.

The reason they're having to take these deals is because they just aren't that good.

We're in a new era and we're cleaning out the old Nolan/Singletary guys and we'll be better off for it. We're going with youth and we're going to find out what we've got in these guys and replace the ones that need replacing. This team couldn't win the weakest division in football...couldn't get intot he playoffs when the division winner didn't have a winning record. This team was very bad and the guys that left were part of the problem.

They are good. Spikes and Franklin were solid players for us and we couldn't get them to stay to the point where they left for short term contracts. We are 30 million under the cap and can't match a 1 year offer?

exactly idk where u guys are getting the idea that Franklin sucks? just because he held out of TC last year? he was solid and was probably a big reason why we finished the season 5th in defending the run.

Originally posted by danimal:

Originally posted by Negrodamus:

Originally posted by faithful49erfan:
For all those saying free agency is overrated, please cue the 1994 season.

from NFL.com. #5. 1994 49ers
The 49ers' dynasty went into decline when Steve Young replaced Joe Montana as quarterback in the early 1990s, punctuated by consecutive NFC Championship Game loses to the Dallas Cowboys in 1992 and 1993. The following year, the 49ers broke the bank to bring in big names Ken Norton Jr., Gary Plummer, Richard Dent, Rickey Jackson and, the centerpiece, Deion Sanders to win in Super Bowl XXIX. But at what cost? The 49ers have not returned to the Super Bowl since.

Thats a ridiculous implication. Yes we traded short term cap health for the 94 Title and that was and will always be worth it. The failures of this past decade have absolutely nothing to do with the 93' off season signings.

But how often does breaking the bank for FAs get you a super bowl? Based on the recent SB winners, they won mostly because of homegrown talent and finding their QB.

Originally posted by 49ersRednGold:

Originally posted by Joecool:

Originally posted by boomer49er:
What are you guys all freaking out over? Which of the players that we "lost" were actually anything that anybody wanted to keep around? Which of them did we really even make a serious attempt to resign?

How many of the guys that aren't here anymore ended up having to take 1 year deals? That's not the sign of a sought after player....it's the sign of a guy who couldn't get the money the wanted from any team and is hoping he can have a big year and cash in next year. It's usually something that a vet who was injured or had some other big question mark just before his contract came up.....not a bunch of guys who had been starting the year before and we're in trouble.

The reason they're having to take these deals is because they just aren't that good.

We're in a new era and we're cleaning out the old Nolan/Singletary guys and we'll be better off for it. We're going with youth and we're going to find out what we've got in these guys and replace the ones that need replacing. This team couldn't win the weakest division in football...couldn't get intot he playoffs when the division winner didn't have a winning record. This team was very bad and the guys that left were part of the problem.

They are good. Spikes and Franklin were solid players for us and we couldn't get them to stay to the point where they left for short term contracts. We are 30 million under the cap and can't match a 1 year offer?

It may not have been just about money. Maybe Harbaugh/Baalke wanted to give Bowman and McKillop more playing time so they can further develop. Or they believe in Ray McDonald as a starting DE and Soap as an NT.

I like shake-ups, especially when the team has sucked for 7 years but I'm more concerned about our depth than I am about our starters.

What if Bowman goes down? McKillop has only shown that he can't keep up well against the pass. He's a question mark all around.

Harbaugh is cleaning house with the old veterans or Goldson who thinks he's god's gift to Safety but we have the worst pass defense. Manny wasn't producing so he's out. Spikes and Franklin were the only two guys I wish we would have kept. They are both professionals and set a great example for younger players.

We will see but I'm not liking our depth.

Originally posted by NickSh49:

Originally posted by LA9erFan:

Originally posted by NickSh49:

Originally posted by LA9erFan:

Originally posted by Antix:
its obvious that the plan is to rebuild. The last time we lost this many players was in 03. To me it jut sounds like Baalke and Harbaugh knew that the fans didn't want to hear the word rebuild but now its obvious. Might as well forget this year and hope for next year cuz its a wash now.

The thing is, Franklin & Lawson signed one year deals, and Lawson's salary is only $3M. (dunno about Franklin yet) Spikes signed a 3 year deal, but it was only $3M in guaranteed money, so it wasn't prohibitive in any sense.

Now we have starting positions being handed to guys by default instead of them legitimately earning it at ILB (McKillop or Bowman), CB (Brown? ), & likely FS if Goldson departs. (Smith). Lack of competition is not a healthy framework for younger players.

I keep hearing that we're trying to rebuild, but what exactly is so prohibitive about keeping Lawson, Franklin, & Spikes around while doing that? How would re-signing any of them prevent us from doing that? It's not like they signed cap hindering contracts the way Baas did.

Truth is, this is yet another example of a new regime coming in and wanting "their guys" on the team because they're egotistically married to schemes ahead of talent. People talk about Vic Fangio's "attacking defense", as though that's somehow different than most teams in the league, and ignore the fact that he has a fairly pedestrian track record in the NFL. He's not going to schematically beat the hell out of OC's in this league. We need freakin' talent, for chrissakes.

That last paragraph wasn't directed at you, per se, just a general observation. I've been here a long time and I'm NOT a pessimistic person. But we're seeing a marginally stocked cupboard being stripped relatively bare, and it's not because guys are signing huge contracts elsewhere.

That pisses me the hell off.

Because you can't resign players than have been with you for years to one-year contracts. It's an insult to the player.

Spikes didn't want to stick around cause he wants playoffs. Manny & Franklin are getting "prove it" deals from other teams. The 49ers can't offer "prove it" deals to players that have been with the organization for years. It doesn't work that way.

I disagree that you can't offer 1 year deals to incumbent players. These are guys that play an extremely violent sport under non-guaranteed contracts for a limited amount of time. They need to capitalize their talents during the finite window that they have. They gotta get paid.

There may be the occasional guy that takes less money to go to the right situation, but I believe that the vast majority of the time the highest bidder wins out. Being that we're $30M under the cap, there's no reason for guys like Lawson & Franklin to be walking away from us. I'll give you Spikes, but even there we're projecting his desires, and assuming that $5M in guaranteed money instead of $3M doesn't get him to stay.

...maybe guys like Franklin, Laboy, Baas, & Spikes want to win?

Lawson... I think the front office was over him. Aldon is the future. So you kind of have an argument there.

But otherwise, I stick to my original statement.

Everyone wants to win, but putting that well ahead of finances is something that fans do when discussing someone else's money. These guys don't have long to make their coin and need to make it when they can.

Franklin? This is a guy who's NEVER gotten a big deal in the NFL. He held out last year with the hope of signing an extension with us. His agent was negotiation with us this year. He wanted to win? No, just like most of the NFL, he wanted to get paid.

Baas signed a contract to become one of the highest paid centers in the league. And I'm fine with us letting him go for that reason.

Laboy? Another guy who's never gotten a big deal. He's going to be out of the league in the next couple of years and it's unlikely that he'll get the chance to make this kind of money in another profession. He's going to whomever pays him.

Lawson left us to go to the Bengals, of all Godforsaken franchises, certainly not to win.

As much as fans want to ignore it, this is these guys' jobs. Sure they want to win, just like every Joe Sixpack wants to work for a successful company, but at the end of the day Joe is going to follow the money, and these guys are no different. And heck...Joe has a lot longer window to make that money, but is still likely to take the job that's offering an extra $20K a year. And you think these guys are routinely passing up jobs that are offering hundreds of thousands to millions more?

Maybe one guy, but not all of 'em.