FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Drew Rosenhaus is apparently mad as hell, and he's not going to be constrained by Twitter's 140-character limit. The Twitter-happy NFL superagent, who stopped by the owners meetings at the Ritz-Carlton here Tuesday to meet with some teams about some clients, doesn't give the impression of a man who believes those meetings went especially well.Usually, Rosenhaus uses his Twitter account as a way of putting out 140-character fluff press releases about his clients: "______ is in great shape and is going to have a huge year for the ______s in 2009." Something like that. But this morning, he fired off a series of tweets venting about NFL owners who don't spend all the way up to the salary cap and the double-standard that allows teams to cut players but doesn't let players renegotiate deals in progress.
"Kudos to the Miami Dolphins for spending the most cash over cap this yr. It's really disappointing that so many teams are way under the cap." -- is how it started, a little before 11 am Eastern.
"How can a team legitimately say that they are committed to winning & then still be millions of dollars under the salary cap?" -- followed a moment later.
"The NFL owners complain about escalating player costs and yet so many of these owners don't spend up to the salary cap." -- it continued. These came in rapid-fire succession.
"Why is there so much controversy when a player who out-performs his contract asks for a increased deal? NFL teams release players everyday.." -- immediately followed by:
"...who have several years left on their contracts. It's an unfair double standard that teams can cut players before they finish their deal" -- using ellipses to skirt the 140-character rule. Very deft.
"and players who ask for a raise are criticized. The system needs to work both ways. There is nothing wrong with players getting their worth"
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New England Patriots veteran outside linebacker Kenny Smith (92) stretches during football practice at the team's training facility in Foxborough, Mass., Wednesday morning, May 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)
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New England Patriots rookie safety Patrick Chung, foreground, stretches during football practice at the team's training facility in Foxborough, Mass., Wednesday morning, May 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)
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New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick rubs his eye as he watches his team during at football practice at the team's training facility in Foxborough, Mass., Wednesday morning, May 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)
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New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft watches his team as he walks the sideline during football practice at the team's training facility in Foxborough, Mass., Wednesday morning, May 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)
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New England Patriots backup quarterback Kevin O'Connell drops back to pass during football practice at the team's training facility in Foxborough, Mass., Wednesday morning, May 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)
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New England Patriots rookie wide receiver Julian Edelman pulls in a pass during football practice at the team's training facility in Foxborough, Mass., Wednesday morning, May 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)
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New England Patriots tight end David Thomas (86) carries the ball during a drill at football practice at the team's training facility in Foxborough, Mass., Wednesday morning, May 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)
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New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick watches his team practice at their football facility in Foxborough, Mass., Wednesday morning, May 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)
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In this Friday, May 15, 2009 photo, Randy Moss, second from left, listens as David Dollar, left, Mike Skinner, second from right, and Tyler Malsam, right, look on during a news conference at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. From rule-breaker to rule-maker, the New England Patriots receiver is enjoying success as owner of Randy Moss Motorsports, which fields two entries in the lower-tier NASCAR Truck Series. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)
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In this Friday, May 15, 2009 photo, Randy Moss is shown before the NASCAR Truck series North Carolina Education Lottery 200 auto race at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. From rule-breaker to rule-maker, the New England Patriots receiver is enjoying success as owner of Randy Moss Motorsports, which fields two entries in the lower-tier NASCAR Truck Series. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)
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That's how it all ended. His next couple of tweets were about how Abram Elam and Atari Bigby were going to have huge years for the Browns and Packers, respectively. But that little series of rants made you wonder if he got a hard-line stance from the Jets when he met with them to discuss Thomas Jones on Tuesday. Jones had been skipping the Jets' voluntary off-season workouts because of dissatisfaction with his contract, and then all of a sudden Tuesday afternoon Rosenhaus tweeted that Jones would attend the Jets' OTA next Wednesday. There's no indication that the Jets agreed to modify Jones' contract, which would explain Rosenhaus' frustrations, especially if he had to go back and tell his client that it was time to report to camp under his current deal.
Personally, I think Rosenhaus has a point -- in general -- about the double-standard on NFL player contracts. In the specific case of Jones, who made $13.1 million the past two years and is slated to make $900,000 this year, I think he's overreaching. $14 million over three years seems about right for Jones, and it's not the team's fault he wanted the bulk of it up front. But in general, he's right about the inequity of a system that allows teams to cut players who underperform but provides no mechanism by which a player can ask for more money if he overperforms.
I would love to talk to Rosenhaus about this and other issues. Lest you think that I'm doing all my reporting via Twitter, I assure you that I have called and e-mailed him several times seeking comment. (Drew, if you're out there, please be assured that I am a real journalist seeking information and that I don't enjoy writing about people without talking to them.) But he has not responded, nor has he been quoted widely in other outlets, which leads one to believe he now sees Twitter as the best way to get his message out.
In that case, maybe this post qualifies me as an enabler. But I thought it was funny and/or interesting enough anyway. And who knows? Maybe someday I'll get the chance to ask Rosenhaus about his Twitter habits. That's a story I'd enjoy doing.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-20-2009 @ 3:56PM
legionsb said...
That probably contained the dumbest quote in history:
"The NFL owners complain about escalating player costs and yet so many of these owners don't spend up to the salary cap."
Think about that one for a second. Try not to let your brain melt.
Ask yourself, if you were an NFL owner and were getting stung by rising player salaries, where would your payroll be in relation to the cap? Would you be spending as *much* as you're allowed? Because Rosenhaus thinks that's exactly what cash-strapped teams should do, and it's somehow hypocritical to do otherwise.
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5-21-2009 @ 7:34AM
Styles said...
Ask drew if his clients will sign contracts that pay them based on how they perform... bonuses and what not for hitting certain bench marks... yards... pro bowl... games played.... if the team makes the playoffs.... and so on. boo hoo I play a game and get paid millions get over it.
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5-23-2009 @ 10:21AM
Kevin said...
Drew Rosensatan and agents like him are a huge part of what's wrong with the NFL, and pro sports in general.
There's no such thing as "outperforming your contract"! If a player and his greedy agent agree to perform a service for some agreed-upon price, then go do it!
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