Ward now looking worse it seems.....

[CC]

LOL, the guys that sit on the bench would be dead broke.

[Mudd]

Yeah, I guess you'd have to work in a base +, kinda like what I get. A base salary plus commission. The guys that are in the game would get rewarded with performance based incentives.

I kinda like this idea actually, roo bad it doesn't matter what I think.

[Redskins Win]

I think there's more to this than just money, there's security and the need to know you'll be living where you have made yourself compfortable for the past 4 years, and it is not going to change. Ward's a good dude probably doing a lot of good community things too. i think he will get paid. I'm glad my drafts are in late August and early Sept.

[Goatwhacker]

Ward has one year at $1,668,750 remaining on his deal. If he holds out, the Steelers could play tough and demand he repay them $500,000, the one-year prorated portion of his signing bonus, and fine him $6,000 daily.

I hope the Steelers do this, if Ward wants to play hardball then so should they. I'm sick of players asking for money up front then backing out later. I like Ward a lot and hope they make a deal but these players know what they're getting into when they sign the contract. If Ward wants to hold out fine but no whining when the Steelers want their half-mil back.

[Cornbread Maxwell]

I think there's more to this than just money, there's security and the need to know you'll be living where you have made yourself compfortable for the past 4 years, and it is not going to change. Ward's a good dude probably doing a lot of good community things too. i think he will get paid. I'm glad my drafts are in late August and early Sept.

There is no such thing as security in the NFL. I have no idea why players want long term "contracts" since the team is under absolutely no obligation to honor their end of the "contract". He could sign a 5 yr deal and get cut next yr and the team would only have to pay a fraction of what they promised - business as usual.

If Im a player in the NFL, my biggest concern is the signing bonus. Pay me the league minimum as salary - I could care less - just make sure the majority of my contract is in the signing bonus.

Welcome to the NFL.

[maddog60]

Ward can play hardball all he wants, it didnt work for Walker, TO, Edge, all of them. The owners and management is not caving in, and it seems to be a league wide policy, because if one caves in, who knows how many players will decide a hold out can work after that.

Ward deserves to get paid, and he turned what seemed to be a very good contract, now the Steelers are going to play hardball.

[Firemoth]

Could someone link (or post) an NFL contract? (ANY contract, not necessarily Ward's or even one that hasn't expired yet.) I've never seen one.

I'd like to read what they say about the obligations of both parties.

[Azrael]

He needs to get paid. The Steelers promised him last year that they would take care of him.

He's also in a little bit of a different situation than TO and Javon. The eagles did it without TO before and the Pack still have Ferguson and Driver.

Given that Burress is gone and then you take away Ward, the Steelers could be challenging for the worst WR corps in the league. Plus consider that they think they want to make a run at the SuperBowl again, they need him.

[benm3218]

Sorry to revive an old thread, but new info:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05225/553553.stm

Saturday, August 13, 2005

By Gerry Dulac, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette



Despite their stance of not negotiating with players who are not in training camp, the Steelers continue to have discussions with the agents for holdout receiver Hines Ward and have talked directly to the four-time Pro Bowl performer.

Nonetheless, the Steelers are no closer to resolving their differences with Ward, who is seeking a contract extension, and are now being led to believe he eventually will report later in the season merely to play out the final year of his contract and become an unrestricted free agent.

Ward would have to report to the Steelers by the 10th week of the regular season and be on the 53-man roster for the final six games to be credited with fulfilling the final year of his contract.

Once he does that, he can become an unrestricted free agent and is free to sign with another team.

Ward's agent, Eugene Parker, could not be reached for comment.

A report on ESPN Thursday night said Ward is resigned to sitting out the first six games of the season before reporting. When asked yesterday about the report, coach Bill Cowher said, "I don't want to comment on that."

The Steelers management are stubborn idiots.

[moochman]

There is no such thing as security in the NFL. I have no idea why players want long term "contracts" since the team is under absolutely no obligation to honor their end of the "contract". He could sign a 5 yr deal and get cut next yr and the team would only have to pay a fraction of what they promised - business as usual.

If Im a player in the NFL, my biggest concern is the signing bonus. Pay me the league minimum as salary - I could care less - just make sure the majority of my contract is in the signing bonus.

Welcome to the NFL.

I think the only reason that players go for long term deals is because that is the only way they can get teams to give them bigger signing bonuses. And the bonus is the contract. So if they wanted to sign a two year deal the team may only offer a few million dollar bonus, whereas if he were to sign a five year deal his bonus could be ten mil.

It's the sucky part of football that needs to be changed soon.