Reading between the lines in the Jets' statement about Martin's restructured deal, which is believed to slash his cap number roughly in half (from $8 million to $4 million), the team seemed to be sending a message to quarterback Chad Pennington, who has been asked to accept a steep pay cut to stay with the team. "Curtis places the accomplishments of the team ahead of his personal goals and is willing to sacrifice in all areas of the arena for the New York Jets," general manager Mike Tannenbaum said in the statement. "He has set aside what may be in his best short-term interest for the immediate and long-term goals of this organization." Martin, whose streak of 119 consecutive regular-season starts ended with a knee injury requiring surgery last season, said he believed he "let our team down" and added, "There are a lot of things more important than money." "I wanted to resolve the matter quietly and never felt like it had to become an ugly situation," Martin said. "This was not a hard decision because of the belief I have in the leadership of this team and my teammates, and that I have in myself. I have already begun to prepare for the 2006 season and am anxious to get the bad taste that the season left me with." http://www.newsday.com/sports/football/jets/ny-spjets0223,0,3912794.story?coll=ny-sports-headlines
He is the best thing that could have happened to football, just a class act. I wouldn't be suprised to see him rush for another 1000 yards next season. Personaly I would love to see him retire as a JET.
That doesn't necessarily mean he took a 4 million pay cut. It could mean he turned his 6.2M salary into 600 of salary and 5.6M of signing bonus. The signing bonus would come out to 1.4M per year, and the 600K would make 2M instead of 6.2 contributed based on his salary... That would be a 4.2M cap savings without him losing a DIME. I'm not saying this is true, but the facts you present does not say one way or another he took a pay cut.
Class Act Even though this will be a rebuilding year and maybe we should of parted with CMART, I still feel CMART will make an impact somehow on this team. Whether he carries the ball 30-40% of the time or is just an influential leader, you have to believe he stayed with us to make us a better team. CMART is a class individual that believes he owes the team after last season. You know he is working his butt off in the offseason to come back and show the skeptics that he has some gas left in the tank. If we could improve the OLINE, CMART might surprise.......
Because it effects the cap in future years. If Curtis just simply made 1M of his 6.2M bonus, and the other 5.2M signing bonus, which would reduce his cap figure by 3.9M, now 3.9M of the 5.2M bonus has to be accounted for in 2007, 2008 and 2009. If he's cut before 2007 (assuming there is a new CBA), there is 3.9M more of dead money to put on the cap. I'm not saying this is what the Jets did. I'm just saying this is a possibility that has him not taking a cut. The most likely scenario is him taking some cut and some as bonus.
I'm pretty sure you are right though. No where does it say he cut his salary. It all says he restructured which simply means he switched around the cash flows in terms of years and methods. Good for now, could catch up to us later though.
In my opinion, you do not retire a number until the player makes the HOF. However, if I had to guess, they're going to retire it.
Absolutely. He is arguably the greatest Jets player of alltime. 4th all-time leading rusher, and the staple of this franchise since 1998.
I love Curtis myself, but how can you put him above Namath? Namath brought us our only Super Bowl win, and is the only reason the Jets have gotten any respect for close to 3 decades. The rushing yardage doesn't really mean Curtis is better than RBs with less yardage than him. He's never really had one hall of fame season in his hall of fame career. If you're like me, and value actually being the dominant player at your position for a few years of your career, and don't value longevity, Curtis slides down in rankings. He's a hell of a player though, and a class act. He's been overpaid in the past though and isn't the type of player you really build around. He's like the tortoise instead of the hare. In the end he won the race, but it certainly wasn't as impressive as the hare. Curtis works hella hard, and that's why I respect him. Not so much for his playing ability, which imo is mediocre. It's his physical and mental toughness combined with the mediocre ability that took him to where he is. I still don't think that puts him on the level of those with more talent and similar work ethic. Love the guy, but I wouldn't vote him into the Hall of Fame, atleast on the first ballot. Eventually I would, but there are more deserving backs imo. In terms of just for the Jets, I don't know if I'd retire his number. You kind of need to have a legendary career for that, not just a good one.
