[News] Late For Work 7/15: Agent Says Justin Tucker Vows Not To Re-Sign With Ravens If He Plays On Tag

[BR News]

What happens when NFL greats leave the franchises that made them famous? No players selected in 2016 NFL Supplemental Draft.

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[bioLarzen]

Cue in all the couch GM fans who are sure Ozzie, DeCosta and Dick Cass have no idea how to navigate a contract negitiation...

The mike is yours, hit it guys!

[Bat-mite]

Please don't misinterpret what I am about to write below. I love Justin Tucker. He is a phenomenal player, a true Raven, and should be here for life. I would love to see him surpass every record set by Matt Stover. He is a great guy with much to offer on and off the field.

But...

I can't see spending oodles of money on a kicker. Yes, I know a good kicker can win a game in the clutch; but with a great offense and defense, you need to rely on the kicker less and less. Yes, Tucker had a huge leg and can put the ball thru the end zone on every kickoff, but lots of guys can do that.

I hope they get this worked out and lock him up. But if push comes to shove, I wouldn't cave on his demands.

Okay, if you really feel like you have to thumb me down, so be it.

[rmcjacket23]

2 minutes ago, Bat-mite said:

Please don't misinterpret what I am about to write below. I love Justin Tucker. He is a phenomenal player, a true Raven, and should be here for life. I would love to see him surpass every record set by Matt Stover. He is a great guy with much to offer on and off the field.

But...

I can't see spending oodles of money on a kicker. Yes, I know a good kicker can win a game in the clutch; but with a great offense and defense, you need to rely on the kicker less and less. Yes, Tucker had a huge leg and can put the ball thru the end zone on every kickoff, but lots of guys can do that.

I hope they get this worked out and lock him up. But if push comes to shove, I wouldn't cave on his demands.

Okay, if you really feel like you have to thumb me down, so be it.

Its never going to be oodles. At best, he would make $5M a year, and the floor for him is probably $4M a year.

They are haggling over less than $1M a year. Its mind blowing to me.

[jravens1313]

Agents gonna Agent

[AvianBrain]

I'm sure that I am worth another $1 million per year, but would be happy with $10K...I love watching football and hate what the crazy money has done to the game as I watch hometown favorites leave for big money. They deserve it for the physical pounding they take every year, so I just have to roll with it.

Seriously, if you don't think Tucker is worth big money just ask Minnesota how their playoff game ended last year. One kick away from advancing...how much is that worth?

[CQ1]

From a fans stand point-thats a shame if thats the case- just as many others. Its too bad that fans don't have a voice- other than by continuing to show up.
ALL sports are way out of control- as much as I enjoy them.

[PurplenBlackFan2392]

From a fans stand point-thats a shame if thats the case- just as many others. Its too bad that fans don't have a voice- other than by continuing to show up.
ALL sports are way out of control- as much as I enjoy them.

Dude I agree with you 1000%! Sports are out of hand...I don't get or understand why these Stars or athletes cry so much when they're making more money than I'll ever make in my Lifespan on this planet

[b93333]

Sure is too bad that negotiations have turned this nasty... turns a fan off. I guess we forget sometimes, it's just a business in the final analysis.

[757RavensFan]

I really hate that it has come to this.  5 hrs and he's franchised.  I cant ever recall a player stating they would never re-sign w/ their current team. Especially a team and city that he genuinely seems to like playing for.  

Edited July 15, 2016 by 757RavensFan

[surfdude]

With that attitude LET HIM WALK. What precedent is set when a team gives into a players threats ? Look at Von Miller just as an example. Football is the ultimate team sport and it takes a lot of moving parts just to execute a play. Tucker didn't have a good season last year SO I think the Ravens want a show me year , but Tucker is like forget last year just pay me or I walk. With that attitude I would say thank you for your service there's the door don't let it hit you on the way out. Good riddance !

[757RavensFan]

3 minutes ago, surfdude said:

With that attitude LET HIM WALK. What precedent is set when a team gives into a players threats ? Look at Von Miller just as an example. Football is the ultimate team sport and it takes a lot of moving parts just to execute a play. Tucker didn't have a good season last year SO I think the Ravens want a show me year , but Tucker is like forget last year just pay me or I walk. With that attitude I would say thank you for your service there's the door don't let it hit you on the way out. Good riddance !

Tucker still had a great season IMO.  Maybe not as great as previous seasons, but great nonetheless.  

He missed ONE FG under 50 yards.  All his other misses were 50+.  Stop relying on a kicker to CONTSTANTLY bail out the offense b/c they can't get closer than 50+ yard attempts. 

[jravens1313]

  10 minutes ago, surfdude said:

With that attitude LET HIM WALK. What precedent is set when a team gives into a players threats ? Look at Von Miller just as an example. Football is the ultimate team sport and it takes a lot of moving parts just to execute a play. Tucker didn't have a good season last year SO I think the Ravens want a show me year , but Tucker is like forget last year just pay me or I walk. With that attitude I would say thank you for your service there's the door don't let it hit you on the way out. Good riddance !

Tucker still had a great season IMO.  Maybe not as great as previous seasons, but great nonetheless.  

He missed ONE FG under 50 yards.  All his other misses were 50+.  Stop relying on a kicker to CONTSTANTLY bail out the offense b/c they can't get closer than 50+ yard attempts. 

Agreed. You can't fault tucker for missing 55+ yarders before the half. He had maybe 1 bad game last year and that is rare. He still followed it up with 3 game winners.

[sami]

I'm sure that I am worth another $1 million per year, but would be happy with $10K...I love watching football and hate what the crazy money has done to the game as I watch hometown favorites leave for big money. They deserve it for the physical pounding they take every year, so I just have to roll with it.

Seriously, if you don't think Tucker is worth big money just ask Minnesota how their playoff game ended last year. One kick away from advancing...how much is that worth?

you don't have to ask Minnesota, it happened to us.

[fusuymada]

I think Ozzie knows the truth about what Tucker thinks. If this is what Tucker thinks, then his disillusionment with the process isn't going to change and he might as well not sign and go somewhere else. Last thing I would think a public Tucker, who goes to Patterson Park with fans and kicks, is to have an angry fan-base that doesn't want him around or to play a season in a city that will inevitably turn on him if he chooses that tact. Typically, this is where a player calls his agent and tells him to shut up. We had Cundiff who was a league leading kicker but choked. We found Tucker and gave him an opportunity. Once thing Ravens scouts can do is find special teams players, so if he wants to go, then we won't change his mind, but I can't imagine he will be happy with the fan backlash, as much as he likes to interact with the fans. Could get pretty ugly at Patterson Park and he may choose to kick privately in an undisclosed location. Hey, its his choice, but fans have a choice as to how they respond to his agent's (and Tucker's) bullying tactics.

[descent into the maelstrom]

If I recall correctly, the only sub-50 yarder he missed was when he sunk into the turf in San Francisco. There's nothing anyone could have done about hitting that, so he's essentially perfect from less than 50.

While I hate the tactics of his agent, letting him go only risks having someone who can't hit 32 yarders under pressure deciding games for us.

[RavensBaltimore]

  1 hour ago, Bat-mite said:

Please don't misinterpret what I am about to write below. I love Justin Tucker. He is a phenomenal player, a true Raven, and should be here for life. I would love to see him surpass every record set by Matt Stover. He is a great guy with much to offer on and off the field.

But...

I can't see spending oodles of money on a kicker. Yes, I know a good kicker can win a game in the clutch; but with a great offense and defense, you need to rely on the kicker less and less. Yes, Tucker had a huge leg and can put the ball thru the end zone on every kickoff, but lots of guys can do that.

I hope they get this worked out and lock him up. But if push comes to shove, I wouldn't cave on his demands.

Okay, if you really feel like you have to thumb me down, so be it.

Its never going to be oodles. At best, he would make $5M a year, and the floor for him is probably $4M a year.

They are haggling over less than $1M a year. Its mind blowing to me.

I'm guessing it has more to do with the length of the contract and amount of guaranteed money than the amount per year.

[robbie29]

The fact that the Ravens have recently had some solid talent that they failed to retain doesn't exactly leave me with a whole lot of optimism about this situation with Tucker.

[Minionhunter]

I don't know it this is true or not, but this is ripped directly from a commenter on Florio's trash heap. It sounds like a packers fan or a FF nerd supporting the reasoning for Crosby comparison. I still think they should just pay him, but it makes no sense for Tucker not to play franchise tag for at least two years. I can't beleive he wouldn't sign it.

All the NBA contracts, taken out of the fewer players so larger slices of the pie contect, really infected NFL players agents thinking on contracts.

Ravens, I hope you pay the man, but 2 franchise years (backed up/ with a kicker UDFA signed after the draft next year in camp so he can't threaten not to sign the tag) would be fine too. Tucker/Tucker agent, if true, not a good plan to threaten Ozzie if Tucker wants to stay in Baltimore.

The stats quote:

[Tucker had]
"Lower % of kicks made last year compared to Mason.
Shorter longest kick made last year compared to Mason.
WAY lower % of kicks made 50+ than Mason.

Both were the same on PAT – tho Mason had to kick a few more of them as the Packer’s O scored more often than the Ravens."

[rmcjacket23]

1 hour ago, PurplenBlackFan2392 said:

Dude I agree with you 1000%! Sports are out of hand...I don't get or understand why these Stars or athletes cry so much when they're making more money than I'll ever make in my Lifespan on this planet

Gotta keep things in perspective.

If you were him, you'd do exactly what he's doing. No person in his position is going to look at it and say "well gee I make more than most people, I'll just take whatever my employer offers me because I'll be rich regardless". No rational person would think that way.

You would say to yourself "This person is as good as me at my job and he makes X... I should be paid right around X". And when your employer offers you Y, which is less than X, you wouldn't just take it. You'd negotiate.

[Minionhunter]

The value of Tucker IMHO is his clutch kicking, not the distance kicking. He does not appear to get rattled and thrives in the situations of highest pressure, seeming to deisre them. That is what NE paid Gostkowski for, not his distance kicks. This is also the skill that is seemingly the toughest to evaluate new kickers for. At the end of the day I think they should pay him well and keep him. I'm not worried if they tag him this year and have to tag him again, but the eventual deal he will get will keep going up. If it were me, I would pay him now, rather than wait when the total cost of the deal will keep rising due to increased cap. Don't pull what the O's did to Musina.

[Minionhunter]

I was thinking, maybe they had to pay Gostkowski to keep him quiet about the K balls up in NE.

[January J]

Man before today I thought that a deal would get done regardless. Now I'm thinking he plays under the tag for the next two years then walks. Which isn't so bad, esp if he keeps having  seasons like last year. If he plays this year under the tag though and balls out making 99% of his kicks and nailing almost all 50+ yarders and we offer him to be the highest paid kicker in the league do we really think he won't sign? Im sure he would , this is just a ploy. I don't like it either. I think its disrespectful to the organization and even if he felt that way it should've been said behind closed doors. As much as it pains me to say it, tucker can be replaced. Let's hope all of this Is irrelevant and something gets done. Gonna have to be quick-deadline is about 3 hours away and  quickly approaching. I don't see it happening in that amount of time even though its happened before up until the last few minutes.

 

[budman]

I don't see Tucker signing a new deal now. Since the agent said what he said, the Ravens are in a spot here. They can in no way seem like they cave to his demands. They do that, then that opens up the whole can of worms for others when it is their turn. I think the Ravens may have signed him at the 11th hour before the agent spoke, but now I think he just cost his client some money and a good side of the Front Office. Everyone knows that we are 1 of the teams that you just do not give ultimatums. What was he thinking.

[rmcjacket23]

2 minutes ago, budman said:

I don't see Tucker signing a new deal now. Since the agent said what he said, the Ravens are in a spot here. They can in no way seem like they cave to his demands. They do that, then that opens up the whole can of worms for others when it is their turn. I think the Ravens may have signed him at the 11th hour before the agent spoke, but now I think he just cost his client some money and a good side of the Front Office. Everyone knows that we are 1 of the teams that you just do not give ultimatums. What was he thinking.

He's in a risk-free spot to be honest. He gets at least one year, maybe two years, of elite pay for his position under the franchise tag, and if he sticks to his promise, he can easily to go the open market and get top dollar from many teams next season or the year after if he maintains his performance.

Really actually quite a brilliant decision by Tucker to be honest.

[Tdot.to.Bmore]

With that kind of attitude i would tag him this year and pick up a kicker next year in the draft. It would save us money moving forward and he would at least get his payday for the year.

[budman]

11 minutes ago, rmcjacket23 said:

He's in a risk-free spot to be honest. He gets at least one year, maybe two years, of elite pay for his position under the franchise tag, and if he sticks to his promise, he can easily to go the open market and get top dollar from many teams next season or the year after if he maintains his performance.

Really actually quite a brilliant decision by Tucker to be honest.

The only way it's "Brilliant" is if he has a good year while playing under the tag. Yes he will get paid but if he has another down year, he will have a very hard time finding a team that wants to pay him as the top kicker in the league.

[rmcjacket23]

Just now, budman said:

The only way it's "Brilliant" is if he has a good year while playing under the tag. Yes he will get paid but if he has another down year, he will have a very hard time finding a team that wants to pay him as the top kicker in the league.

We don't know that he's asking to be THE top kicker in the league right now. Chances are, the hang up is over years and guaranteed money.

He will get somewhere between $4-$5M a year on the open market this year or next year, assuming he doesn't have a horrible season. Basically, if he performs as he has the last four years, his value doesn't drop at all.

[CodeSpyder]

Ravens, offer 4 years at 18 million total, making him the highest paid kicker in he NFL.

[stixfix69]

Tuck just needs to relax, the FO has always been fair in paying players they want, and i bet the issue is the guaranteed money......He just wants security that comes with that guaranteed check.....:)