Retaliation

The Minnesota Vikings may now be sorry they opened up this contract loophole, as the Seahawks retaliated nastily. They signed Nate Burleson to a seven year $49 million dollar contract with the following provisions:

"Sources close to the situation confirmed that Burleson's entire deal would be guaranteed if he plays five games in the state of Minnesota during any one year of the deal. Another unrealistic provision is that if Burleson is paid more per year than all of the team's running backs combined in 2006, all of the deal is guaranteed.

"Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander, by himself, averages just under $8 million under his recently signed contract, already more than the $7 million Burleson would average. For Minnesota, however, the highest-paid running back is free-agent acquisition Chester Taylor, who averages $3.5 million, and their other backs' salaries wouldn't add up to Burleson's $7 million."

I guess this second provision won't really hurt the Seahawks, because Alexander won't be cut in 2006, but if he were to be, then they would have to cut Burleson as well, or guarantee him the entire contract. I guess these contracts really give teams an ability to abuse the system, and the NFL will shut them down. It would be great to see Minnesota actually sign Burleson, renegotiate Taylor's contract to give him a bit more money in 2006 to match Burleson, and then hope Burleson gets injured, or if not, sit him for 3 home games or trade him.

Awesome

The Minnesota Viking's deal with Steve Hutchinson to circumvent the NFL's transition player tag is just that, awesome. The article lays it out clearly, but basically the contract guarantees the entire $49 million if Hutchinson is not the highest paid offensive lineman on the team. Because the Vikings don't have a higher priced offensive lineman, they don't have to guarantee the whole contract. However, because Seattle has Walter Jones under contract for 54 million, for them to match the offer they would have to guarantee the entire $49 mil. So Seattle didn't match the offer, and Hutchinson goes to Minnesota.

The best part is the following part of the article:
" The league thought they had closed a loophole in the transition-player process in 1993. The Indianapolis Colts signed Will Wolford, Buffalo's transition player, to an offer sheet that included a clause guaranteeing he be the team's highest-paid offensive player.

"The Bills already had quarterback Jim Kelly as their highest-paid offensive player. They argued the clause violated the collective bargaining agreement. An arbiter said it did not. The Bills declined to match the offer sheet, and Wolford signed with the Colts to become their highest-paid offensive player.

"After that decision, the league and the union amended the CBA. It now states that no team attempting to match an offer sheet for one of its transition players can be required by a Wolford-like clause to pay that player more than what the offering team would pay him."

So basically the contract skirts the loophole that has already been closed because the contract is not forcing Seattle to pay more than Minnesota. But it opens up an entirely new loophole. Tom Condon, Hutchinson's agent, is a genius! However, you wonder if the player really wanted to go to Minnesota, or whether he wanted a guaranteed contract.