Is Ryan Grant going to be at TC?

[ReddManBogieMan]

What is the deal with the Grant situation? I've been hearing the same thing coming from Grant and his agent that they are close to signing his new deal , and how there have been talks from both sides about completing it, yet Training Camp is less than a week away and there seems to be no progress.

Do you think that they will complete it before Training Camp starts?

Do you think that Ted is trying to send a message to all players that by just wanting more money like Grant is doing and like Urlacher/Briggs/Burress/Javon/McKenzie have done in the past, that Thompson is trying to show that even the best people on the team don't call there own shots when it comes to getting a new pay day. I can see this thought coming from Ted's point of view.

I think that the packers should give Ryan a similiar deal to the one that Earnest Graham signed with the Bucs a couple weeks ago, maybe a little more money, but there should also be performance clauses in there so he has to perform up to snuff and be playing in all the games in order to receive the max amount.

But it is positive that Ryan has stayed classy throughout this ordeal, and you can tell he wants this done really soon so he doesn't lose any ground as THE starter to Jackson or Morency or Wynn or whoever.

With all the Brett Favre distractions off the field going into training camp, we don't need another on the field.

[MickeyDavis]

Keep in mind that Grant isn't asking to renegotiate, he doesn't have a contract. Unfortunately (for him) he holds no cards, he's neither unrestricted or a typical restricted free agent. The Packers are leary of handing out big money to someone who has had one partial good season.

But all indications point to a deal getting done this week.

[Neusch23]

What does this have to do with Brett Favre?

[crkone]

http://blogs.jsonline.com/packers/archive/2008/07/25/grant-negotiations-hit-standstill.aspx

Green Bay -- What Ryan Grant's agent thought was a promising beginning to negotiations has become nothing more than a false start and the chances of the Green Bay Packers running back being in uniform for the start of training camp don't look good.

Allen Herman said he has not heard from the Packers since Tuesday and has given up calling them in an attempt to get a long-term deal done for Grant, whose contract expired at the end of last season.

"I've done everything I can to be cooperative," Herman said late Thursday night. "But if you've not had any dialogue there's nothing you can do. Can things change tomorrow or Saturday? Yes. But I have no reason to call them. I've called them so many times."

Grant, whose only options as an exclusive rights free agent are to sign with the Packers or hold out, has made it clear he will not report to camp Sunday if he does not have a new deal. The starting running back attended all of the team's off-season workouts, but he did not take part in the on-field activities because he wasn't under contract.

The Packers have made Grant a required one-year, $370,000 tender offer, but Herman said under no circumstances will he sign it. He said Grant would have taken part in off-season workouts had the Packers agreed to sign him to an injury protection deal, but they would not.

At the Packers' shareholders meeting Thursday, general manager Ted Thompson said the club was trying to sign Grant to a long-term deal, but he did not comment any further.

Herman maintains that Grant is willing to accept a deal that would largely be performance-based and would require him to hit statistical benchmarks in order to get the full value of the contract. He has conceded that Grant has only had one season as a starter, but he maintains the fact that he's entering his fourth year takes some of the risk out of the equation.

Grant spent his first two seasons with the New York Giants, the first as a member of their practice squad and the second on the non-football injury list after slicing up his hand in an off-field accident. After joining the Packers via a trade last year, Grant rushed for 956 yards and eight touchdowns and was the NFL's second leading-rusher over the last eight games.

"We're no closer to a deal than when I made the initial phone call," Herman said. "For the first time, they called me last Friday and I thought we would get started. We're more than willing to compromise. We want to do something fair for Ryan.

"At this point, we're not negotiating. Every time I've offered to come out there or to have (negotiator) Russ (Ball) come out to New York to talk, they've put me off. Ryan is very disappointed. His position is if that's the way it's going to be, he's not coming. That's where we are."

Asked if Grant was prepared to hold out as long as it takes to get what he wants, Herman said: "He's a very, strong-willed guy. He's very intelligent. He understands the nature of what's going on here."

Maybe the Pack like what they have in BJax and aren't worried about Grant showing up to camp in time. Or Grant is just holding out for a ridiculous deal that the Pack won't offer. I hope BJax is ready this time around.

[EastSideBucksFan]

The only RB who rushed for more yards in the 2nd half of the season was LT.

Why we don't want to lock of Ryan Grant when we're sitting on $30M+ of cap space is beyond me.

Especially when we're handing out 4 year deals to Poppinga (who sucks in coverage)

[humanrefutation]

The thing is, the Packers might feel like Grant is more of a product of the ZBS than his own talent. Sure, he's good, but they might not think he's worth the money when they can plug a reasonably good athlete into the system and watch them succeed. ex. Broncos with Davis, Gary, Portis, Anderson, etc.

[crkone]

The thing is, the Packers might feel like Grant is more of a product of the ZBS than his own talent. Sure, he's good, but they might not think he's worth the money when they can plug a reasonably good athlete into the system and watch them succeed. ex. Broncos with Davis, Gary, Portis, Anderson, etc.

That's what I thought. But didn't they go away from the ZBS more at the end of the season?

[LUKE23]

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=776889

Doesn't sound good. I like TT as a GM, but Jesus H, get this guy signed.

[humanrefutation]

I think Grant needs to realize that three good games don't equal 4/40.

[eagle13]

Doesn't Grant deserve a bonus at least equal to Poppinga?

[TheGhostDog]

Well, the good news is that after signing up a slew of their draft choices to contracts this last weekend, the Packers financial guys should now be able to devote a lot more time to Ryan Grant. That's it for the good news though. Well, maybe there's a bit more. Or not (gulp).

The big holdup seems to be about guaranteed money. Grant's agent keeps mentioning Poppinga's $3 million signing bonus and Devin Hester's guaranteed $15 million, which is a pretty wide range. The Packers want to lock up Grant for a few years, but Grant's people realize that because he's already 25 years old, any 3+ year contract he signs now may prove to be the biggest he'll ever see.

Unless Grant's agent is demanding Hester money, I really don't want TT to poison the well with Grant by hardballing him here. While Grant's one-cut running style is ideally suited to the ZBS, he is really, really good at it. Realistically, 1,500 yards next season good. Some TT detractors on this board say TT defenders like myself think he does no wrong, but if TT doesn't get this Grant issue settled I think it could wind up being the equivalent of Ron Wolf's mistake with Bryce Paup, maybe bigger considering how much it could affect the offense at this critical juncture (transitioning to Rodgers).

There are larger forces at work here, however. I think the Packers are quite concerned with their cash reserves heading into a future where the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is in flux (a good synopsis of the situation is here http://www.620wtmj.com/sports/25855854.html ). My hope is that, if and when the Packers can move Favre in a couple days and save themselves a $12 million expense, they will feel better about giving Grant a $5 million signing bonus.

Many people only look at how far the Packers currently are under the salary cap and forget to consider their longer term financial situation. The Packers currently have about $150 million in cash reserves, which sounds like a lot, but consider that it has taken years to build, yet Favre's $12 million salary, an afterthought to many at this point, represents 8% of that. The CBA is not a given -- a frightening prospect for a publicly-held team like the Pack with no deep-pocketed owner to bail them out if their 5-year revenue plans are rendered obsolete -- and an uncapped salary season may be coming in 2010. The conspiracy theorist in me thinks an uncapped 2010 is nearly a given; Dallas hosts the 2011 Super Bowl and I worry Cowboy owner Jerry Jones will recruit a large enough voting bloc of like-minded rich owners (Daniel Snyder and four others) who want to buy a championship and will block a new CBA long enough to get at least one uncapped season.

So, please forgive me for cramming a CBA discussion into a Ryan Grant thread, but I think this issue is providing an undercurrent to the ongoing Favre and Grant sagas.

[bucks59]

I have always thought that the CBA was part of the reason why Thompson has been cheap. Granted, he likes to build the team through the draft, but at the same, he could have added a piece here and there that would cost more. I have always thought that one of the reasons the Packers have stayed so far under the cap is so that they can save money in case there is an uncapped season.

Though I also remember a post by either MD or GAD that depicted the scenario of an uncapped season, and it seems there are a lot of rules inplace to prevent a team from buying a superbowl.

As per the Grant situation, hopefully this gets resolved quickly, though I guess he didn't wasn't here during TC last year and had a good season. He needs to make sure he is in shape and ready to go, and it seemed that he has been working out from other articles I have read. It seems like a 4 year contract worth $12 million plus $3-5 million guranteed seems about fair.

[TheGhostDog]

When ESPN's John Clayton comes out and says the Packers are lowballing Grant, things are not good.
http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/in ... ayton_john

Clayton writes "the Packers are only willing to give Grant a $1.75 million signing bonus and a $370,000 base salary on a six-year deal." Unless there are some spectacular incentive clauses in there that Grant's agent is omitting (which is possible - he is an agent after all) that is an ugly, ugly contract offer. A six-year deal would take grant to 31 - that's his entire remaining NFL career as a starter, in all probability, and for $370k base per year?! I know because of Grant's unusual no-contract-but-not-a-free-agent status the Packers are trying to take advantage of his lack of leverage, but this is offer is mean and worse yet, short-sighted. We need Grant more than the money at this point.

But as usual, there is a silver lining: this is my 500th post. I'm now a senior, and that means one thing - senior discount at Denny's !!!

Woohoo I'm going to Denny's!

Woo! Hasta luego, beetchez!

[El Duderino]

Well, the good news is that after signing up a slew of their draft choices to contracts this last weekend, the Packers financial guys should now be able to devote a lot more time to Ryan Grant. That's it for the good news though. Well, maybe there's a bit more. Or not (gulp).

The big holdup seems to be about guaranteed money. Grant's agent keeps mentioning Poppinga's $3 million signing bonus and Devin Hester's guaranteed $15 million, which is a pretty wide range. The Packers want to lock up Grant for a few years, but Grant's people realize that because he's already 25 years old, any 3+ year contract he signs now may prove to be the biggest he'll ever see.

Unless Grant's agent is demanding Hester money, I really don't want TT to poison the well with Grant by hardballing him here. While Grant's one-cut running style is ideally suited to the ZBS, he is really, really good at it. Realistically, 1,500 yards next season good. Some TT detractors on this board say TT defenders like myself think he does no wrong, but if TT doesn't get this Grant issue settled I think it could wind up being the equivalent of Ron Wolf's mistake with Bryce Paup, maybe bigger considering how much it could affect the offense at this critical juncture (transitioning to Rodgers).

There are larger forces at work here, however. I think the Packers are quite concerned with their cash reserves heading into a future where the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is in flux (a good synopsis of the situation is here http://www.620wtmj.com/sports/25855854.html ). My hope is that, if and when the Packers can move Favre in a couple days and save themselves a $12 million expense, they will feel better about giving Grant a $5 million signing bonus.

Many people only look at how far the Packers currently are under the salary cap and forget to consider their longer term financial situation. The Packers currently have about $150 million in cash reserves, which sounds like a lot, but consider that it has taken years to build, yet Favre's $12 million salary, an afterthought to many at this point, represents 8% of that. The CBA is not a given -- a frightening prospect for a publicly-held team like the Pack with no deep-pocketed owner to bail them out if their 5-year revenue plans are rendered obsolete -- and an uncapped salary season may be coming in 2010. The conspiracy theorist in me thinks an uncapped 2010 is nearly a given; Dallas hosts the 2011 Super Bowl and I worry Cowboy owner Jerry Jones will recruit a large enough voting bloc of like-minded rich owners (Daniel Snyder and four others) who want to buy a championship and will block a new CBA long enough to get at least one uncapped season.

So, please forgive me for cramming a CBA discussion into a Ryan Grant thread, but I think this issue is providing an undercurrent to the ongoing Favre and Grant sagas.

I don't think the Packers war chest of cash in reserve or the CBA have anything at all to do with Grant's contract negotiations or why Ted is inactive in free agency. Even with Green Bay being the smallest market in the NFL, they are in the upper half of total team revenues. Not that i want Ted to do this, but they could give Grant a 12 million dollar signing bonus and still not have to dip into their cash reserves. A team like the Vikings give out big bonuses every year and they are near the bottom in overall team revenues.

The reason the Packers are lowballing Grant is because they have all the leverage, plain and simple. Grant isn't a restricted or unrestricted free agent, he's an exclusive rights free agent which means he can't negotiate with any other team. I'd like to see the Packers lock him up long term because i believe that Grant is the real deal, but i'd also only do it if the contract is very team friendly because Grant is in no position to demand a big player friendly contract given how the CBA is currently written for players with such little service time.

I do like the idea of a contract for Grant being heavy on incentives, but as with any incentives built into a contract, the devil is in the details. Incentives can be set up to be very easy to reach and lucrative, or just the opposite.

[eagle13]

TT & M3were all excited by Bjax last year and he sucked. OK he had a great off season. Wow he lifted wieghts and ran. Now he may be much improved or not. I hope he is but Grant did it for real.

Give the guy $3-4 mil bonus and then small base with tons potential $$$ in incentives. If he sux or gets hurt your only out bonus.

Support your QB and have Grant & Jax back there.

[ReasonablySober]

Jackson might not ever amount to anything, but he's very young (three years younger than Grant) and he got better as the season went on. He averaged over 5 yards per carry in December. Prisco likes him as well, listing him as one of 30 breakout players:

28. Brandon Jackson, RB, Green Bay Packers: I know Ryan Grant is the starter and he played well last season. But Packers coaches really like Jackson. With a year under his belt in terms of picking up blitz packages, he will be on the field more in his second season. He did rush for 113 yards on 20 carries in the season finale after not doing much when he started the first three games of the season.

[El Duderino]

Jackson might not ever amount to anything, but he's very young (three years younger than Grant) and he got better as the season went on. He averaged over 5 yards per carry in December. Prisco likes him as well, listing him as one of 30 breakout players:

28. Brandon Jackson, RB, Green Bay Packers: I know Ryan Grant is the starter and he played well last season. But Packers coaches really like Jackson. With a year under his belt in terms of picking up blitz packages, he will be on the field more in his second season. He did rush for 113 yards on 20 carries in the season finale after not doing much when he started the first three games of the season.

I'm also hoping that last game is a sign that Jackson can be a quality backup to Grant, but i can't just completely gloss over that it was only one game and against a miserable defense in the last game of the year which Detroit had nothing to play for.

What i did like though in that game was the power he ran with. Jackson doesn't look to have the burst and vision to be the big play back that Grant is, but hopefully he can be productive in spelling Grant and maybe prove to be more effective than Grant in the 3rd and 1 or 4th and 1 situations.

If Wynn has toughened up at all, i really like those three talent wise as a stable of tailbacks.

[Ayt]

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=779147

This seems awfully excessive from Grant's side.

As of last weekend, a source said Grant was seeking a signing bonus of $500,000 and a roster bonus of $4 million this season, in addition to a minimal base salary. In 2009, the source said the proposal included a $3 million roster bonus and a base salary of about $1 million.

That's pretty much guaranteed money the next two years when they have no leverage.

[ReasonablySober]

6 years, 40 million? For a half season's worth of work?

Wow.

[MickeyDavis]

Glazer is reporting a deal has been reached and we'll move over to the new thread.