It's Time for the Titans to Get Things Settled With McNair the Right Way

Discussion in 'Tennessee Titans and NFL Talk' started by goTitans.com, Jun 1, 2006.

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  1. titanoiler

    titanoiler Starter

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    Reported on titansradio:
    Steve McNair and his agent will discuss his next move in a meeting this weekend.
    But will something happen before next week's Fantasy Sports Monthly deadline? "I'm laidback and just waiting on Bus to call me and tell me what's my next step," McNair said.
    Source: TitansRadio.com
     
  2. Sukrillux

    Sukrillux Guest

    I say, let Reese talk the ratbirds into a conditional 5th rounder. It'd be better than dragging the whole team through this fiasco. It would be stupid for the Titans to cut some vet olinemen just to keep the one that the olinemen protect. Sell your proven shields to buy a decent gun? Logical? no... The olinemen have a bigger job than McNair. Without them, the passing AND running game can't work... This is not making me mad because there is still talk of Mac staying. It is making me mad because this is a simple business decision that makes sense to only go one way. Again, this is my opinion. Of course, there are going to be the diehard McNair fans (the ones who know nothing about the business side of the NFL) that boo the Titans until opening game. However, I think it will pay off in the long run. I am a diehard McNair fan, but his contract/expected contract is a cancer to the developement of the rest of the team right now. Yes, it probably was Reese's and the FO's fault in the first place that the salary cap is in this much havoc, but the best they can do right now is try and fix it.
     
  3. Bonky

    Bonky Pro Bowler Tip Jar Donor

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    To question #1:

    I think it's still possible. Not probable, but still possible, provided Bus doesn't get in the way. It's pretty obvious (imo, anyway) which way his opinion swings, if for no other reason than the way he's handled the press through the whole ordeal.


    To question #2:

    I think it's to the Titan's advantage to hold out. The longer the Ravens do without #9 in training camp, the worse their win/loss percentage gets. Simply tendering Mac without a fight at this point is just retarded; hell, if they planned to do that they should have made the deal in April.

    To question #3: (although there was really none, but a bunch of stuff to which I'd like to respond)


    #3.1:

    Liability for an injury is a non-issue. It's not in Cook's self-interest for #9 to sustain one. Even if the guy lost a leg, he'd never admit it, and if anyone has proven the ability to play injured, it's Steve.

    #3.2:

    Good point.

    #3.3:

    The holes that can be filled by quality players already have. There is nobody worth the price still available.

    #3.4:

    Another good point. Whatever rapport Billy has established with his receivers will go down the toilet if #9 is thrown in the mix this late in the game.






    What it all boils down to at this point, (imho) is whether it's better to release him now or later.

    I think "later", but that's just my $.02
     
  4. flamehead2

    flamehead2 Starter

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    No. Did you read the article? IMO Mcnair makes it plain that Bus is FULLY in charge and that BUS not MAC will decide where Mac will play
     
  5. zackmann

    zackmann Guest

    Great article Jeff...and a great discussion following, one of my favorite threads to read through lately...thanks all...

    I don't think it was right how the Titans locked out McNair. And I don't buy the injury-risk talk, UNLESS I add in the fact that Reese had already made up his mind that McNair was not returning. Anybody can get injured and there are alot of people on contract. And I don't think that McNairs large contract made him different, what made him different was that Reese already made up his mind he was not returning.

    I agree with Jeff that releasing any Olineman is stupid.

    Now it seems that I am in the minority on this opinion, but I am in favor of throwing Vince out there from game 1. I lost all confidence in Volek last season (by the end I had myself convinced that Mauck was a better option at QB). I love Vince, his game, his confidence, and his leadership and truly believe he has what it takes to win as a rookie.

    As for the next step with McNair, release him now. I am all for avoiding McNair coming in to the complex and getting emotions all stirred up in the locker room. Then sign the rookies, while not being cheap with Vince. And if any money is left over, sign a CB (like Ty Law!).

    We need to get this McNair situation behind us...and it can't be fast enough for me...
     
  6. Gut

    Gut Pro Bowler

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    Responses...

    This is a decent muncher...I just hope I don't give anyone indigestion!

    I'll try and spell this out a little more clearly...

    Your argument is that McNair won't play under his current contract, McNair won't redo his contract with us, we don't want McNair's injury Liability and we have rookies to sign in a month or so and we don't wanna have to cut backups and vets to keep McNair at his current salary.

    If you take the above paragraph as FACT and that none of that will change, I see how you come up with release or trade Mac9 ASAP.

    However, in my response, I laid out what we SHOULD do, not what Reese or anyone else wants to do. I understand Mac wants a new contract and a chance to start for 3 years. I understand Reese doesn't want Mac at his current cap #.

    Too bad!

    Your way out makes sense, but it's not the best move for the team. Similarly, releasing 5 or 6 of our starters a couple of years back was the easy out...but not the best thing for the team...but I digress.

    Before rambling on further I'll address your concerns...

    #1 - Do we REALLY care that much about the injury liability? Sure Mac9 is 'fragile' for a QB, but he's also a TOUGH man (not the second coming of Chris Chandler). More importantly, what are the odds he incures a season ending injury working out with the team? Extremely small. Without looking...can you name the last 5 QB's to suffer a season-ending injury working out at their team's facility? Can you name ONE? I can't. The likelyhood of McNair injuring himself for the season while working out is negligible. Yes it's possible, but it's also MORE probable that an OLman and a DLman are lost for the season in practice. There are much bigger risks we take that hold our season in the balance. In fact, it's probably more likely for you to get into a car accident than for McNair to have a season ending injury while working out at the facility. That's why they get the different color jersey's and stuff! Reese locked McNair out because he wants to force McNair to take a lesser deal. This was a dumb move on so many levels it's not funny! Bottom line, the risk is negligible.

    #2/#3 - the reality is, if we're rebuilding for the future, they can start cutting some of the fat now. If we're playing for now without wrecking the VY era cap-wise, we have to start cutting the fat either way. As far as holding McNair not allowing us to sign free agents, that money wouldn't be used for that either way unless we're still gonna make the same cuts. Either we cut the guys either way so the argument is between keeping McNair and what free agents we could sign with that money...or the argument is between keeping McNair and some backups who won't be here when the team is ready to take a shot at the Super Bowl. For example, if we let go of McNair and keep the vets and use McNair's money for the rookies, we're not gonna win with Volek at the helm (at least I don't think we will this year), so why keep Sirmon? If we're gunning for a .500 record, why not start Tulloch or Reynalds in the middle? Sirmon won't be here in 5 years either way. Bottom line, we can keep McNair at his current contract by making some tough cuts. I wouldn't cut Pillar though since OL is a priority for any short term success (unless he gets beat out by Bell).

    #4 - tell me what circus there is if the Titans hold a press conference welcoming Steve back with open arms and announce he'll be our starting QB for this season and play under his current contract? They've just answered any question that can be asked. It also sends the message to the Ravens that if they want him, they have to ante up. If they don't, we're quite happy to have him lead our team when we face them this season! :) Then Jeff Fisher takes the stand and waxes poetic for 30 minutes about how great Steve has been....show a highlight reel of him...how great it'll be for him to mento VY and ride off into the sunset as a Titan...you get the point. Clearly McNair doesn't want to bash the Titans since publicly he's leaving the dirty work to his agent. McNair's not gonna say anything bad about the situation. And if he's smart, he'll act like the Ravens and this mess never existed. It's the ONLY way he'd get traded for max value which is what satisfies EVERYONE'S desire (Mac can start and get a new contract, Titans get rid of the injury liability and trade McNair for max value, and the Ravens get the QB they want in time for him to learn the offense and be the difference maker they'll be paying him to be).

    But all of this hinges not on what Reese wants, but what he's willing to do. Despite the cap number and injury factor, McNair gives this team it's best chance to win and winning is what these guys are paid to do. Reese should have an acceptable gameplan for McNair staying with his current cap number. If should have a plan for what to do if McNair is cut or traded. This is what he's PAID to do and what he failed at in so many previous instances (Runyan, EG, Carter/rolle/mason/ect). Hopefully he's learned something from all those situations and that is to have a good contingincy plan for anyway this things breaks. Even better, manipulate the situation so our best contingincy happens. So far, he's manipulating this into the worst possible situation (trading McNair for a 5th rnd pick or cutting him AND embarassing the organization and harming our reputation).

    Look at it this way...YOU are Floyd Reese....here are your options...which would you choose and why?

    Option 1 - keep McNair and make some tough cuts to sign the rookies. The upside is, we would field our best team now and have started cutting the fat for the future. If the OL and D come around (aftering adding some free agents), we have a shot at the postseason. McNair can also mentor VY making everyone feel good. This is also our best chance at letting VY develop at HIS pace and for Reese and Fisher to still be at there respective jobs when the VY era begins. Downside is higher expectations with McNair starting and a real concern that the OL may not be good enough, that could get McNair hurt, and the defense will never crack the top 10 with Schwartz as DC.

    Option 2 - trade McNair for a 5th or whatever we can get. And then...
    ----------A - use McNair's money to sign Collins to start and sign the rookies with some cuts. Upside is Collins is not as injury prone as McNair and saves us 4mill off McNair's cap hit (a guess). Downside, Collins is MUCH less mobile than McNair so we could see Volek in the drivers seat anyway, we still don't have much depth to battle an injury bug. We also are not as good as we could be...especially if Collins gets injuried because of a porous OL. This could lead us to spending almost as much as keeping McNair but leave us MORE vulnerable to QB injuries AND give us less talent on the field.
    ----------B - use McNair's money to sign Ty Law, start Volek at QB and still make the same cuts as option 1 to sign the rookies. The upside is that we should have the best covering secondary in the NFL which COULD lead our D into a top 10 status. The downside is we still have no depth AND Volek is no McNair as a starter. And if Volek goes down, who's starting next...Mauck? Me??? At least if we kept McNair and Volek we'd have a backup (who some of you think SHOULD start). While the D would arguably get better, the offense would get worse and still leave us with little to no depth...even worse depth at the most important position on the field - QB!
    ----------C - use McNair's money to sign the rookies and start Volek and look for any cheap vets after June 1. Upside is we have a little cap room and better depth. The downside is Volek is our starting QB for the season. Will Adams accept dishing out millions to the rookies while staring .500 in the face...at best? Will Fisher and Reese last under this situation? Me thinks not. But if this is us rebuilding...then they should rebuild!

    So you can see...which option are you arguing for and why?

    Any option which relies on VY becoming McNair in his prime holds considerably...like a 1000 fold - more risk than keeping McNair would. Rookie QB's bust out of this league at a pridigious rate. As mwentioned earlier, vet QB's don't injure themselves for the season working out at the team's training facility.

    So put yourself in Floyd Reese's shoes and decide what you'd do...not what you think Floyd WILL do because those may be completely opposing ideas.

    Hope that clear's up some of the confusion...

    Gut
     
  7. Gut

    Gut Pro Bowler

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    Flamehead...no professional athlete who has made it as far as McNair has, is gonna let his agent decide where, how and when he's going to finish his career. Nothing Cook has done was without McNair's knowledge or he would have been fired! He wasn't, so McNair is fully aware of what's going on and letting Cook and Reese haggle over this.

    McNair is savvy enough to know not to spout off about the Titans in the press. A friend of mine's dad runs a pr firm that's specialty is teaching professional athletes/actors/ect how to answer questions from the media.

    McNair doesn't get a free pass for saying his agent is handling all of this.

    Gut
     
  8. flamehead2

    flamehead2 Starter

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    I realize that. but i think it's significant that according to that article mcnair said he was leaving it up to his agent as to where he would be playing. IMO it has a bearing as to how he feels about ME (The titans fan).
    There's been a lot of hoopla on both sides of the issue of how much of this should fall on Macs shoulders and that particular statement IMO seems to indicate that he is more at fault than some would believe.
     
  9. TitanJeff

    TitanJeff Kahuna Grande Staff

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    Bus is his agent and will be a part of this. Don't think this is a "good cop/bad cop" thing. Remember who works for who.

    It may shake out that the offer the Ravens made then will be the best offer Reese will receive. But without the arbitrators ruling, why give him up for less when you think you can do better?

    It's unlikely I am in a car accident driving two blocks to the grocery but I wear a seat belt anyway. Why? Because you usually avoid risks when you can. Apparently, the liability was a big enough issue to lock McNair away from BSP. It's easy for us to say it's a "non-issue" when we are not the ones accepting the risk.

    Maybe not presently but there are always a few vets which are out there and you can bet prices will begin to drop. Reese is known for filling holes with bargain vets once he's had the chance to evaluate the talent during training camp.

    We'll see. If all hope is lost that McNair is a Titan, I hope they can get something for him. I wonder if Reese has gotten any phone calls from other teams.
     
  10. TitanJeff

    TitanJeff Kahuna Grande Staff

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    I took a couple of Tums and jumped right into it. I won't address every point but will hit on a few.

    Which is what I did. I may assume a little in the process but I try to rely on Reese's own quotes (which is always a risk). Bottom line, I am no longer optimistic McNair will be a Titan in '06 and release and trade are the only two options. It's just a matter of when and how.

    I see. Well, I would love for McNair to remain too. I just don't believe it anymore.

    If you base it on what the Titans have said and done so far, it's a major issue. But if it isn't, then the window for trading/releasing McNair isn't immediate either.

    I don't know who you consider "fat" but I see your point. The two candidates you hear mentioned among those who would need to be cut are Sirmon and Piller. I think both could be replaced but I think you have to weigh the total package. Are the Titans better with McNair or Sirmon, Piller, Player A, Player B and Player C and look at those players who would step in in their place. It's hard to know until you have all the pieces to evaluate.

    I was going with the scenario that the issue remained unresolved going into Training Camp. If the Titans commit to him and make that announcement, then you look at damage control. But Reese has said this would not happen.

    Once the Titans commit to McNair, I don't see them trading him. But I also don't think the Titans will commit to his current contract.

    He does. Now that he's brought in the free agents, it calls for cutting other players. That doesn't make his plan the best option though.

    I agree. But I don't see dragging this on as doing anything to make the situation any better for all the reasons previously stated.

    I did read this today.

    “I haven’t talked to Bus yet, but I’m sure we’ll try to get in touch. What we’ve said is that we’d like to sit down and have a face-to-face and see what happens,” Reese said.

    This is a good place to start.
     
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