Update on Ratliff and Perry

[Kirkendall]

GEORGETOWN, KY. - Day Five of Bengals training camp yielded no Chris Perry or Keiwan Ratliff sightings as the team’s top two draft picks continued their holdouts. Is it time to send a message to Perry?

“He knows what we told him,” head coach Marvin Lewis said Tuesday. “Our offer (5 years, $7 million) was very much in line with what occurred around him, and that offer was there a week ago.

“I’ve seen the numbers. Everything fits. We’re not going to change. I’m not going to encourage our people to do that. In fact, I’m going to discourage that."

Bengals executive vice president Katie Blackburn is handling negotiations with Perry’s agent, Eugene Parker, while club vice president Paul H. Brown is dealing with Ratliff’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus.

Perry’s father, Raymond, said his son couldn’t be reached for comment because he lost his cellular telephone in Las Vegas.

Lewis said Perry and Ratliff “have a road to hoe when they get here — if they get here. Chris is a fine football player and that’s why we drafted him. More importantly, he’s a great kid. He’s a very hard worker and a learner. What we liked so much about him is his ability to make people miss."

[jjakq27]

I heard Dave Lapham on the radio last night and he said the difference was less than $100K for Perry and that the offer is in line with the people before and after him and a raise over the same spot last year.

[JPW]

I heard Dave Lapham on the radio last night and he said the difference was less than $100K for Perry and that the offer is in line with the people before and after him and a raise over the same spot last year.

His agent is an A**-Wipe to be keeping him out.

Training camp is important especially for a rookie but this will all work within the next few days.

[WhoDeyNow]

Ugh...Ratliff's agent is Drew Rosenhaus? That's really annoying.

[jditty47]

Its the agents fault for putting it into the players head that they can get more but its the players fault for listening. Perry needs to be the bigger man here and prove that he can play and get out there and stop with the nonsense....ratliff too.

[LABengalsFan09]

By holding out, I think Eugene Parker is failing to notice that Kenny Watson is emerging as the Bengals #2 running back, and is going to leave Perry in the dust if he doesn't report soon.

Ratliff just needs to sign already, he's a second rounder for cryin out loud.....

The NFL needs to have a rookie salary cap like the NBA, enough of this record money to players who have yet to play a down as a professional. It takes money out the pockets of the more deserving veterans.

[wookie]

The NFL needs to have a rookie salary cap like the NBA, enough of this record money to players who have yet to play a down as a professional. It takes money out the pockets of the more deserving veterans.

I agree that rookie salaries ought to be leveled off. A system that would prevent players from demanding more money than last years draft class and getting more money than Pro Bowl players or 7 year veteran starters. Really, who can say that Eli is going to be better or do more for the Giants than Palmer is going to do for the Bengals? Why should he expect to get more money? 1st rounders should expect to make more than a 7th rounder, but only for the 1st 2 or 3 years until the players can prove themselves on the field.

[chrishcovga]

I agree, a Rookie Salary Cap should have been in place a long time ago !

It shouldn't have been to hard to argue for it, especially after the NFL did away with the double digit drafting rounds. - It shouldn't be this hard to sign ( 7 ) players... should it..?

[HoosierCat]

The NFL already has a rookie salary cap; it's called the rookie pool. The trouble is, any time, in any industry, that you put a cap on what people (in this case, the players) can charge, they will find a way around it. Thus all the Rube Goldberg salary machinery that both teams and agents have created -- voidable years, two-tiered bonues, salary vs. signing bonuses, roster bonuses, workout bonuses, yadda, yadda, yadda.

IMHO, what really needs to be developed is a standard rookie contract that's implemented uniformly over the whole league. It's based on the round in which you were drafted, and is subject to mandatory renegotiation as soon as certain levels of play are achieved. This prevents teams from being screwed, cap-wise, by top-round busts, yet also forces them to reward good play. Obviously, there's about a billion details to be worked out, not the least of which are injury issues, but it seems to me that's the only real solution.

[chrishcovga]

The NFL already has a rookie salary cap; it's called the rookie pool. The trouble is, any time, in any industry, that you put a cap on what people (in this case, the players) can charge, they will find a way around it. Thus all the Rube Goldberg salary machinery that both teams and agents have created -- voidable years, two-tiered bonues, salary vs. signing bonuses, roster bonuses, workout bonuses, yadda, yadda, yadda.

IMHO, what really needs to be developed is a standard rookie contract that's implemented uniformly over the whole league. It's based on the round in which you were drafted, and is subject to mandatory renegotiation as soon as certain levels of play are achieved. This prevents teams from being screwed, cap-wise, by top-round busts, yet also forces them to reward good play. Obviously, there's about a billion details to be worked out, not the least of which are injury issues, but it seems to me that's the only real solution.

Then it's really the NFL Owners commitees fault for the high salaries, not the Agents, because it was them that guaranteed that the rookie pool be adjusted to a 5-10 % raise per year/per draft selection ! Meaning the guy that was drafted 26th overall in the 2004 draft is already guaranteed to make 5-10 % more than the guy drafted in the same position in the 2003 draft.

- They created the situation, which is why NFL players don't have guaranteed contracts except for signing bonuses! -

[HoosierCat]

Then it's really the NFL Owners commitees fault for the high salaries, not the Agents, because it was them that guaranteed that the rookie pool be adjusted to a 5-10 % raise per year/per draft selection !

You'll get little argument from me there. The owners agreed to a sliding scale that increased by a set percentage each year, but didn't insist on some kind of base deal! Talk about handing the opposition a club with which to beat the snot out of you!

Now, I certainly don't have much sympathy for the millionaire owners...after all, you can suck forever and still make astronomical amounts of money in the NFL (see http://www.cincypost.com/2004/08/04/stad080404.html ). So if Perry wants to bend Mikey over a desk for his extra $100k, I say go to town! On the other hand, that attitude leads inevitably to the kind of salary insanity you see in baseball and basketball...all the NFL owners is delay its arrival.

I've always agreed to a large extent with Mikey on he subject of "pay for performance," which is why I like the idea of a fixed rookie contract with clauses that bind both sides. Again, the biggest issue is one of injury -- what do you do if you are a top pick but get some career-ending injury in year one with a presumably smaller fixed deal? -- but a pool could be set up to deal with such situations, I think.

[wookie]

Again, the biggest issue is one of injury -- what do you do if you are a top pick but get some career-ending injury in year one with a presumably smaller fixed deal? -- but a pool could be set up to deal with such situations, I think.

NFL teams currently negotiate injury settlements with players who are in that type of situation. I'm not sure how it effects their salary cap numbers,if at all. If it works with current contracts wouldn't it work with fixed rookie salaries? I'm not going to pretend to understand everything that goes into these types of deals, but it seems to me that if you have a fixed salary contract with performance escalaters and bonuses then you could forcast what a player could earn over the life of his contract and give him a certain percentage of that as a settlement. It would be on a case to case basis and shouldn't impact the cap too much. I don't know that you'd even need a pool for something like that.

Really good idea, though. If you are drafted in the 1st round number 1 then your salary would be $$$ amount, 31st overall and its $$ amount...2nd round $ amount and so on. Sounds great, and if your rookie of the year, here's your bonus, start this many games, make the Playoffs, Pro Bowl and so on. Definitely would be better than holdouts every year and teams dumping proven veterans to make room to sign potential busts.

[Chad Johnson]

I just want to see Keiwan in freaking camp!

Perry wil sign soon I think its gonna happen real soon

[HoosierCat]

Sounds like Ratliff's holdout is drawing to a conclusion. From bengals.com:

CLOSING IN?

The holdout of second-rounder Keiwan Ratliff could be nearing an end. He is the only remaining unsigned draft pick represented by the Rosenhaus brothers of Miami and indications are Drew Rosenhaus is headed to Georgetown College.

Get'r done.

[Barbarian]

Like I said before, expect Perry to be a Bungle by week 6-8 of the regular season. Ratliff will probably sign before camp closes.

Same ole Bungles.

[HoosierCat]

Same ole Bungles.

No, it isn't. Perry wants more money than Jackson, even tho he was drafted two spots later. That isn't how it works. Perry's being the ass, not Mikey.

[jjakq27]

The rookie pool is a good thing but they need to do something about the bonuses. I think we are still paying off Akili's bonus as part of our cap and that really sucks.

The problem started back in 1993(?) when the 49ers signed Deion Sanders and Paul T. allowed the bonus to be spread out over the life of the contract rather than take the hit up front. That might have been a good idea then but it is now a way to skirt the system when people are getting $20M to sign a contract. The player gets the money and the teams screw themselves down the road. But I guess they are the ones handing out the money.

[jjakq27]

Like I said before, expect Perry to be a Bungle by week 6-8 of the regular season. Ratliff will probably sign before camp closes.

Same ole Bungles.

Hey Barbarian...can you adjust the width of your avatar. I am sure she is sweet, whoever she is (Britney S.?) . But the picture is stretched and her legs look as wide as mine. Just a friendly request.

[HoosierCat]

Hey Barbarian...can you adjust the width of your avatar. I am sure she is sweet, whoever she is (Britney S.?) . But the picture is stretched and her legs look as wide as mine.

Waitaminute, ya mean that fat blonde isn't Conan? I always assumed it was; our Barbarian certainly b*tches & whines like a chick...

(...ok, I apologize in advance for that but it was too wide an opening not to take... )

[Kirkendall]

Hey Barbarian...can you adjust the width of your avatar.  I am sure she is sweet, whoever she is (Britney S.?) .  But the picture is stretched and her legs look as wide as mine.

Waitaminute, ya mean that fat blonde isn't Conan? I always assumed it was; our Barbarian certainly b*tches & whines like a chick...

(...ok, I apologize in advance for that but it was too wide an opening not to take... )

Man Joisey, you just went off on him.

[Barbarian]

Hey Barbarian...can you adjust the width of your avatar.  I am sure she is sweet, whoever she is (Britney S.?) .  But the picture is stretched and her legs look as wide as mine.

Waitaminute, ya mean that fat blonde isn't Conan? I always assumed it was; our Barbarian certainly b*tches & whines like a chick...

(...ok, I apologize in advance for that but it was too wide an opening not to take... )

LOL!!!

That's actually funny, Joisey!!!

That was a pretty good one.

--And I'll see what I can do about that avatar--thanks for the advice!!!

It really IS a sweet pic too--Here's one word I did when I saw it for the first time:

"Shhhhhhhaaaaaa-Wing!!!!!!!!"

-Wayne and Garth, Wayne's World

If only I could cut the badass looking bodyguard out of it....

[HoosierCat]

Who says barbarians don't have a sense of humor? (I'm sure I'll pay for that crack eventually, anyhow!)

The chick definitely looks better in non-squished mode. Re the big badass bodyguard, ya think he's available for duty at DT? Looks like he could stuff the run...

[jjakq27]

Who says barbarians don't have a sense of humor? (I'm sure I'll pay for that crack eventually, anyhow!)

The chick definitely looks better in non-squished mode. Re the big badass bodyguard, ya think he's available for duty at DT? Looks like he could stuff the run...

That's not Gilbert Brown back there is it?

Anyway...thanks for sharing the wealth, B.