Bryant DIDN'T make progress

[COB]

This should be a pretty open and shut thing. It is undoubtedly in the contract, either he can be cut under a given set of circumstances, or he can't.

Bryant's agent might be in for a surprise. If he's been listening to the chorus of voices through the years who claim Mike Brown is some kind of idiot (media and ex players, and especially media who are ex players), he's probably in for a surprise. Anyone think Mike Brown can't read/write/understand contracts?

[BengalszoneBilly]

Anyone think Mike Brown can't read/write/understand contracts?

Last I checked he graduated law school. He better be able to.

[HoosierCat]

This should be a pretty open and shut thing. It is undoubtedly in the contract, either he can be cut under a given set of circumstances, or he can't.

Well, from my admittedly limited understanding of injury settlements, they actually aren't in the contract. The whole point of the grievance process is to keep a team from "illegally" breaking a contract due to an injury.

As I understand it, there are a couple of issues involved:

1. Was this a pre-existing injury, in which case I believe Bryant would be basically screwed, or was it something suffered/reinjured etc. after he signed, in which case he has a case. So Bryant has to show that he was OK when he was signed but subsequently got hurt or reinjured. The fact he was signed in the first place and presumably passed a physical is pretty strong evidence in his favor, I would think.

2. How long is the expected recovery period? If injury X has a recovery period of, say 4, weeks, then the player would get 4 weeks worth of salary in an injury settlement. In Bryant's case, his side claims he will be ready to play in a month. That would suggest what they are angling for in arbitration is the $1.55m roster bonus, plus a pro-rated portion of salary equal to about a quarter of the 1.55 m salary, so about $1.925 overall.

[DC_Bengals_Fan]

1. Was this a pre-existing injury, in which case I believe Bryant would be basically screwed, or was it something suffered/reinjured etc. after he signed, in which case he has a case. So Bryant has to show that he was OK when he was signed but subsequently got hurt or reinjured. The fact he was signed in the first place and presumably passed a physical is pretty strong evidence in his favor, I would think.

Which, interestingly, would put Mikey in the position of having to claim that his medical staff are incompetent, and thus simply missed the injury. Here's a fun one - wonder if he can try to see if other teams gave him a physical and failed him? Even better, as a defense Mikey should get AB's prior medical records.

[HairOnFire]

Was this a pre-existing injury, in which case I believe Bryant would be basically screwed, or was it something suffered/reinjured etc. after he signed, in which case he has a case.

Yeah, but ask yourself which side has an easier case to prove? I'm guessing Bengals, not Bryant.

How long is the expected recovery period? If injury X has a recovery period of, say 4, weeks, then the player would get 4 weeks worth of salary in an injury settlement.

I think the bigger question to be faced is can Bryant ever fully recover, not can he play in a month if the team keeps him on the roster, but doesn't require him to practice....as he was suggesting.

[HairOnFire]

Which, interestingly, would put Mikey in the position of having to claim that his medical staff are incompetent, and thus simply missed the injury.

That's utterly ridiculous, as usual. That Bryant was injured when signed is a given so there's no possibility of either side claiming the injury was missed. And Brown doesn't have to claim his doctors were incompetent....only that the recovery period of a pre-existing injury was far longer than previously believed.

Even better, as a defense Mikey should get AB's prior medical records.

I'd be stunned if he didn't already have them.

[DC_Bengals_Fan]

That's utterly ridiculous, as usual. That Bryant was injured when signed is a given so there's no possibility of either side claiming the injury was missed. And Brown doesn't have to claim his doctors were incompetent....only that the recovery period of a pre-existing injury was far longer than previously believed.

That's so sweet, you cute little naive kid. Maybe you've never had the misfortune of interacting with lawyers, but what you take as a given may in fact be contested. Put another way...if his injury being pre-existing is a given, why are we talking about this injury settlement? I bet you the lawyer claims that AB 're-aggrevated' the injury during whatever team activities he participated in. I mean hey, Andre Smith busted his foot in 5 minutes, right?

Even better, as a defense Mikey should get AB's prior medical records.

I'd be stunned if he didn't already have them.

I have a feeling that in this case Bryant might just not have forked over all the evidence that would go against his injury settlement.

[HairOnFire]

Maybe you've never had the misfortune of interacting with lawyers, but what you take as a given may in fact be contested.

Contested is one thing. Proving is another.

I bet you the lawyer claims that AB 're-aggrevated' the injury during whatever team activities he participated in.

Re-aggrevated is just another way of saying pre-existing.....which works in Mikey's favor.

Put another way...if his injury being pre-existing is a given, why are we talking about this injury settlement?

Because his agent has no reason not to try.

I have a feeling that in this case Bryant might just not have forked over all the evidence that would go against his injury settlement.

So you think Bryant is withholding medical evidence directly relating to his injury AND you also fault the Bengals medical staff for failing to correctly diagnose his condition?