04-18-2020, 09:26 AM
(04-18-2020, 01:31 AM)oncemoreuntothejimbreech Wrote: If the Bengals don’t have the cap space to keep him, don’t plan on keeping him, and want to trade him, why wouldn’t they let his agent seek a trade and negotiate a new contract to facilitate the deal that benefits all parties involved?
Conversely, why would Andy Dalton and his agent allow the Bengals to negotiate his next contract with the Jags? A player’s soon to be former team negotiating his new contract with a new team? I’ve never heard of that being done before.
As to your first point, as I said, they might. But they need to keep the illusion that they might just keep him, so will want to keep any negotiations with other clubs under tight wraps.
As to your latter point, I suppose I should clarify. Any "new deal" has to be signed by Dalton anyway, so he can effectively veto anything, and obviously in consultation with his representatives. Meaning the negotiation would be between his agents and the Bengals, because of the fact that what Jax is willing to give up in trade compensation is also a function of how much of his salary we agree to pay. I do believe this happens, even if we don't hear about it much. Teams hate to give permission to seek a trade because it opens all flood gates and you lose leverage. And if they're going to eat some of his salary they need to be party to the talks.... makes more sense for them to centralize it.
I don't claim to be an NFL insider, but I believe this is how these things work.
