Tannenbaum Q&A - Star Ledger

ScotsJet · Jun 11, 2010

Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum acknowledged that "actions speak louder than words" in contract negotiations.
We wrote this morning about the contract situations hovering over the Jets, with four young starters -- cornerback Darrelle Revis, center Nick Mangold, left tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson and linebacker David Harris -- in the mix for long-term deals. Jets general manager Mike Tannebaum shared his vantage point -- from why it's unlikely all four will be locked up long-term this year, to minding locker-room chemistry -- in an interview Thursday. Here's what he had to say, the long version:

Q: Knowing that these four guys would be coming due for long-term extensions in this time frame, did you have a plan and budget for this?

A: Sure, absolutely. And moving forward, that’s been our plan, that we want to keep as many of our good young players as possible. So as we’ve built our team over the last couple years, we’ve kept that in mind and, moving forward, that remains our priority. When those deals will happen, that’s hard to say. But from where I sit in the world, the same passion and energy and the same talented people that acquired Darrelle Revis and David Harris and D'Brickashaw, it’s the same organization that trained them, developed them and coached them, and now it’s up to us to find solutions to keep them long-term. It’s the next step of the process. We have to go get the players, we've got to coach them and develop them, and now we've got to go ahead and figure out a way to sign them and come up with deals that are good for both sides.

Q: When you say you've kept in mind a plan to keep these guys, on what timetable are you referring?

A: It’s really on a go-forward basis. And one of the challenges we have, and I talk to my peers in the league and obviously to agents, is we just don’t know what the system is going to look like on the other end of the new CBA. So from a strategic planning purpose, it’s another challenge to say, 'Well is there a cap, is there not a cap? What's a free agent? What's an unrestricted free agent? There’s just a million variables that you don’t know what things are going to look like on the other end.

Q: So of those variables, what are you saying is the biggest deterrent to doing a long-term deal now?

A: I wouldn’t say that there's any one factor that’s outcome determinative. I would just say it’s a myriad of factors because of all the things you look at it -- again, just knowing what class they're in. For example, we've had guys on this team that have been an unrestricted free agent, now they're a restricted free agent; they could remain a restricted free agent. Is there a cap? What's the cap? Is it 20 percent lower? Is it 20 percent higher? What's the penalty if you go over the cap? Franchise tags, transition tags. How long can you prorate money in the new system? There’s so many variables that take into account what I would consider a strategic plan.

Q: Are you saying it would be hard to give those four guys long-term deals this year?

A: In these jobs you either embrace challenges or it's not the industry for you, so I love the challenge. I hope all four of those players will be here long-term. I sit here today, and I have every reason to believe they will be. Again, will they sign today or tomorrow, that’s really hard to say, but over the next two to five years I expect them to be Jets and should be jets fro a long, long time. I wish it could all be done tomorrow, that would make my life a lot easier, but I just don’t think that’s realistic, given the set of circumstances we’ve been dealt.

Q: To rephrase, is it possible to do four long-term deals this year?

A: We’re proceeding, but I don’t think there will be four long-term deals done this year. Could it happen? Sure. But I think that’s going to be hard to accomplish, again, given all the rules.

Q: If you believe striking long-term deals is difficult in this labor landscape, then why open up negotiations with Darrelle? You could have him under contract through 2012.

A: We’re working hard to see if there’s a landing spot that’s good for both sides. Darrelle is a guy that’s done everything we’ve asked on the field, off the field, he’s a leader, he plays hurt, he’s done everything that we could ask any of our players to do. It's incumbent upon us to embrace challenges and not -- I think the easy solution would be, 'You know what, this is not a great year because the CBA is going to be up in six months and you know what, we’ll just wait.' And that day may come, but I'm committed to working tirelessly, my staff and I, talking with (owner) Woody (Johnson) and (head coach) Rex (Ryan) on a day to day basis. We’re looking at every conceivable way to see if there’s a landing spot that’s good for both sides, because I think that’s the right thing to do. Again, I think the easy thing to do would have been to do nothing, but Darrelle truly deserves a new deal, and hopefully there’s a spot that’s good for both sides.

Q: The other day when you said a deal for Revis, 'within reason,' what makes something within reason? He has said he wants to be the highest-paid cornerback, so do you consider that 'within reason?'

A: I don’t get into any specifics with negotiations. Any deal I've ever done, I feel like it's been good for both sides, so that’s probably a better way to say that.

Q: Do you feel ownership given you enough money to work with as you look to take care of these core young players?

A: Yeah, a few thoughts to that. One would be, look at this building: You think Woody’s committee to winning? He built this building to give us every resource, to give our players a chance to be successful, I find that somewhat ironic that question has been asked, because the easy thing to do would be to do nothing, but certainly the least expensive way would be to let all these deals play out. We’re trying to invest more money into our team, and sign them to extensions. If we weren’t interested on spending money on our players, on the ones under contract, we would say, 'Hey, you know what, we’re not interested in signing extensions." So the fact that we’re approaching them is to me the best evidence that we’re trying to invest in the future of the team

And then, you look at the track record of what e’ve done here over the last few years, in particular over the last 10 years that Woody’s owned the team, he’s always given us all the resources we need to win, and I think we’ve done a good job of deciding who to invest in and who to move on from. Obviously theres’ tough choices to make every year, but I think from the standpoint, we haven’t let good young players leave here.

Q: The follow-up to that would be, with the new stadium being built and the still-unsold personal seat licenses, does that affect the pool of money you have to spend on players?

A: It's totally separate. And again, Woody has always given us every resource to be successful, starting with this building or anytime we’ve had opportunities to go get Brett Favre and move up to draft Mark Sanchez, you can look at what we've done. I really have nothing to do with that side of he building. We talk about our situation here, and I talk to Woody every day and it's always, "What do we need to win?"

Q: You need to think about the business-side first, but do you also consider how the moves you make are received in the locker room? Do you want to send a message a certain way about rewarding young, home-grown players?

A: I would say a couple things. One, I think they know that we’re trying to win. I think every move we’ve made clearly has demonstrated that we got to the AFC championship game but that wasn’t good enough. We could have taken a half step back and said, 'You know what, we have a good team, we’re going to stand pat.' And again the fact that we went to these players and said, 'Hey look, you’re a part of our future because you’ve done what we asked on the field and off the field, you’ve been here for the offseason program,' things that we’ve stated repeatedly, publicly that are important to us. Certainly I think actions speak louder than words. Now we have to come up with economic solutions that we feel are appropriate for both sides and that’s where we are. Doing this as long as I have, sometimes these deals happen quickly and sometimes they just happen a long time. It's just two sides working, trying hard to find a solution.

Q: There are questions about the slow pace.

A: There's no doubt that the uncertainty of what this deal is going to look like -- when I say this deal, the CBA -- ion the other side makes it a lot harder. Because we don’t want to do a deal that isn’t going to be appropriate for them three years from now, and obviously we don’t want to do a deal for us that three years from now we’re going to look back and say, 'Well boy, that really didn’t make sense.' From a macroeconomic standpoint and looking at it from a league standpoint, I think that’s why there’s very few signings right now, people are trying to figure out where are we going six months from now? Whenever the new CBA gets done, what is it going to look like?
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to be continued...

ScotsJet · Jun 11, 2010

Q: Do you sense that the situation with Leon Washington last year -- he did not sign a new deal, then suffered a season-ending injury -- has changed your players' mindsets?

A: Look at Sione (Pouha), look at Mike DeVito. Those guys have signed extensions. We feel like in Leon’s case, we put a very credible offer on the table that he decided not to take. He certainly had that right, and certainly when we put offers on the table, it’s not going to be perfect for everybody, and they have every right to take it or not to take it. Once we acquired Joe McKnight in the draft, we made a football decision to move on from Leon, but we didn’t move on from Leon until we felt like we had a very good capable replacement in Joe McKnight, and I think in the fall, we’ll find out, we’ll see how much McKnight helps us, whether that was the right decision or the wrong decision. But that was not an economic decision, that was a football decision.

Q: Do you think your players believe that if you're a young player coming up through your organization, that you do want to pay them?

A: I would look at our track record: Which young players left here and produced someplace else? In our system, we have to make choices all the time, and we're not going to be perfect. All I'm saying is you can look back at our track record, and I think we’;ve done a reasonably productive job of identifying who has helped us and who can’t. Again, they're not easy decisions to make, but that's what we have to do in a capped or uncapped system, we have to make choices of where we're going to allocate our resources.

* * *

A few notes regarding the contract situations I wasn't able to touch on earlier:

Mangold talked about how Washington's season-ending injury last year upped players' appetites for a long-term deal.

"I don’t know all the details on Leon; the negotiations, what he wanted," Mangold said. "I stayed out of that; it's not my place to know. But you do look at it and see Leon, while going through that, the back-and-forth negotiations, got hurt, had no years left on contract. And (Kris) Jenkins at same time got hurt, and he's got years left on his contract. I expect both to come back and play at a high level, as they expect to play at, and you look to see who’s here and who’s not. Jenkins, with years left on his contract, is here, and Leon, who did not is not, here, so it kinda, hits home a little bit."

Mangold also acknowledged that the rest of the locker room is closely watching how the Jets handle the four young players now in the mix for extensions.

"Even if you're not looking at it, it kind of hits you right in the face because it's right here in your locker room," Mangold said. "I think it'd be tough not to notice. If I was in a different situation, not toward the end of a contract, I'd def be watching and see how everything plays out."

* * *
Harris, like Mangold, is in the final year of his rookie deal. He said there have been some talks but "nothing major or significant" and is trying not to think about the business side of the game right now.

"I'm not worried about that right now," Harris said. "You've got to take care of yourself, but I'm worried about helping the defense out and helping our team win."

Speaking of his teammates, Harris likes having his locker next to 14-year veteran Jason Taylor.

"He's a real cool guy; really laid-back," Harris said. "A man's man, you could say. Very professional. Just a good teammate."

* * *

One final note about the 30 percent rule in the uncapped year, which stipulates that renegotiations or extensions entered into this year may not increase in salary more than 30 percent each year. The known loophole is the signing bonus. But what about other bonuses?

Well, workout bonuses or other bonuses that are in the player's sole control, and thus considered "likely" to occur, do count toward the 30 percent. But another way around the rule is by tying some money to an event deemed "not likely," such as a "not-likely" performance on the field.
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Also an article:

Mike Tannenbaum has a fish tank in his office in Florham Park. It helps keep him calm.

But no amount of aquatic creatures can help the Jets’ general manager resolve the tricky contract saga that will hang over the team this summer.

Four of the team’s talented young starters — cornerback Darrelle Revis, center Nick Mangold, left tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson and linebacker David Harris — are in the mix for long-term extensions. And according to Tannenbaum, while the Jets have budgeted to hang on to this home-grown core, it’s unlikely all four will be locked up long-term this year.

“We’re proceeding,” Tannenbaum said Thursday, “but I don’t think there will be four long-term deals done this year. Could it happen? Sure. But I think that’s going to be hard to accomplish, again, given all the rules.”

At the crux of the tug of war is this: Teams say they are hesitant to work up long-term contracts with the uncertainty looming after the league’s collective bargaining agreement expires in March. Players, on the other hand, are seeking the compensation and long-term security they believe they have earned, in a year without a salary cap.

What does that mean for the Jets? Well, so far, it has meant slow progress. Revis, the Defensive Player of the Year runner-up, is the only player with whom the team has opened full-on negotiations — a sticky process that resulted in him skipping a voluntary practice last week to send a message.

And business could continue to mix with the practice field — Mangold said it’s 50-50 whether he’ll be at mini-camp next week, and neither he nor Revis have ruled out training camp holdouts — as players wonder why extensions have not been reached already.

“It’s a lot of things,” Revis said. “It’s the PSLs, that’s one. Two, next year might be a lockout year for us. Not just us, a lot of teams might be trying to be cheap this year, because they don’t know what’s going to happen in the future. . . . This is our job, and this is what we work for, and I feel guys have outplayed their contracts.”

Tannenbaum counters by saying the team approaching Revis about a new deal is evidence the Jets are trying to “invest in the future of the team.” Revis is under contract for $1 million this season, and if the team bought back the final two voidable years of his deal for $20 million, he would be signed through 2012.

Tannenbaum said owner Woody Johnson has given him “all the resources we need to win.” The pool for paying players, Tannenbaum said, is not affected by the pace of PSL sales or the money invested in the new $1.6 billion New Meadowlands Stadium.

But the reality is that the four players the Jets are “committed” to keeping either haven’t received an offer for an extension or an offer in line with what they are hoping for. In Revis’ case, that would be an offer better than Oakland’s Nnamdi Asomugha, the league’s highest-paid cornerback, who will make more than $16 million each of the next two seasons. Tannenbaum’s explanation is the uncertain labor landscape.

He raises several points: If the salary cap returns, teams don’t know what it will be. They don’t know how money will be prorated. They don’t know if players due to become free agents will actually be restricted free agents.

“They don’t have to be roadblocks,” said Mark Levin, the NFL Player Association’s director of salary cap and agent administration. “I’m not saying they shouldn’t be, but they don’t have to be roadblocks. There are ways of doing a deal, and teams have, that is a win-win for both sides.”

Deals like 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis’ five-year, $50 million extension, which strategically circumvented the 30-percent rules that limits salary raises on extensions in the uncapped year. Along with his $15.5 million signing bonus, Willis also received a “supersede signing bonus” that kicks in for 2011.

The Jets players have spoken up to varying degrees regarding their desire for new deals. Revis said Thursday he is not “mad” but has to fight for himself and his family, saying that neither of the two proposals the team sent over was on par with what he expects.

Mangold is wondering why full-on negotiations have not started for him, saying that neither labor uncertainty nor budget should be an excuse. Mangold, along with Harris, is entering the final year of his rookie deal.

Ferguson, who signed a rookie deal with a $10 million option for 2011, isn’t expressing urgency. While there is safety in a long-term deal, Brad Blank, Ferguson’s agent, said the team isn’t "obligated" to do anything this year. But Blank added he expects Ferguson’s price will only go up.

The Jets’ quagmire will continue to play out over the next several weeks. The team has had several contentious contract situations in recent years, among them Pete Kendall, Chris Baker and Leon Washington. On the flip side? Jerricho Cotchery and Kerry Rhodes, some of the last young Jets starters up for renewal, received extensions on their rookie deals.

Tannenbaum, who doesn’t talk about specifics on negotiations, said he expects the four core players to be Jets “over the next two to five years . . . and for a long, long time.” He also knows he has to back up that rhetoric.

“Actions speak louder than words,” Tannenbaum said. “Now we have to come up with economic solutions that we feel are appropriate for both sides.”
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It sounds like Brick at least will have to wait.

It's confusing to me why they are taking so long over these things. Why is it June already and people are still talking about uncertainty and so on. Offers have been made to Revis, so they're obviously confident enough to sign a deal on certain terms. Why can they not negotiate with more than one player at the same time.

ConcordeChops · Jun 11, 2010

Good article. Still frustrating tho'...

101GangGreen101 · Jun 11, 2010

I still don't understand why we didn't decide to go after Mangold and Harris first, those guys are the last ones in their rookie deals not Revis ... Tanny your fucking up big time

ukilledkenny · Jun 11, 2010

101_GANG_GREEN_101 said: ↑

I still don't understand why we didn't decide to go after Mangold and Harris first, those guys are the last ones in their rookie deals not Revis ... Tanny your fucking up big time
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Revis is going to have the largest contract so he is going to set the bar on what the other guys can expect.

MBGreen · Jun 11, 2010

A couple things from that article that stand out in my eyes:

-Woody is 100% committed to putting a winning product on the field. It sounds like his door is open to Tannenbaum 24/7 and that they're discussing ways to better the team on a daily basis.

-Tanny is taking the smart, methodical approach to these contract negotiations because of the state of the CBA....he's not going into these negotiations guns a 'blazin...which is a good sign. He said the 4 deals could possibly be done this year...but with not knowing how the CBA will deal with prorating contract money or how transition/franchise tags are going to work...gettting these deals done will be more of a challenge.

WhiteShoeWillis · Jun 11, 2010

MBGreen said: ↑

A couple things from that article that stand out in my eyes:

-Woody is 100% committed to putting a winning product on the field. It sounds like his door is open to Tannenbaum 24/7 and that they're discussing ways to better the team on a daily basis.

-Tanny is taking the smart, methodical approach to these contract negotiations because of the state of the CBA....he's not going into these negotiations guns a 'blazin...which is a good sign. He said the 4 deals could possibly be done this year...but with not knowing how the CBA will deal with prorating contract money or how transition/franchise tags are going to work...gettting these deals done will be more of a challenge.
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NO NO NO

The Jets don't have enough money! It has nothing to do with not knowing the parameters he has to work within!

Vorrecht · Jun 11, 2010

101_GANG_GREEN_101 said: ↑

I still don't understand why we didn't decide to go after Mangold and Harris first, those guys are the last ones in their rookie deals not Revis ... Tanny your fucking up big time
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Unless a new CBA is reached before March of next year I believe Harris will be a restricted free agent so that could be a reason why right there. I do agree that Mangold should be the first to get a new deal because he becomes an unrestricted free agent first but that's not how things work in this league. The guy who's going to get paid the most (Revis) will be paid first. Once he gets paid we should see Mangold get paid and then I don't expect another extension for any player for a while.

dthomas53 · Jun 11, 2010

WhiteShoeWillie said: ↑

NO NO NO

The Jets don't have enough money! It has nothing to do with not knowing the parameters he has to work within!
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What makes you so certain?

dthomas53 · Jun 11, 2010

Loved this part:

Harris, like Mangold, is in the final year of his rookie deal. He said there have been some talks but "nothing major or significant" and is trying not to think about the business side of the game right now.

"I'm not worried about that right now," Harris said. "You've got to take care of yourself, but I'm worried about helping the defense out and helping our team win."
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This is the attitude I was kind of hoping Revis would exhibit.

Tannenbaum Q&A - Star Ledger

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