Bruce Almighty, Chucky Screwed Dominik, Rah
January 11th, 2011
"I'm sorry to be repetitive Mr. Glazer, but there's just no way I would have wasted your money by burning second round picks on Dexter Jackson and Sabby."
Joe has seen this in the comments in recent days and wondered aloud himself:
How on earth, after the job he has done, did rock star general manager Mark Dominik only get a one-year contract extension?
And it did seem surprising that Raheem Morris’ contract is longer now than Dominik’s?
Good guy Stephen Holder of the St. Petersburg Times tried to explain the rationale and, in short, pointed the finger at Bruce Almighty and Chucky.
First, let’s be clear about some things. Based on everything we’ve been told, neither of these were contract extensions. The Glazer family simply picked up options written into the existing contracts signed by Morris and Dominik when they were hired in January 2009. But what’s become clear now, two years later, is that while Morris and Dominik were sort of a package deal back then, their content of their contracts were quite different.
This is obviously a departure from the past. When coach and general manager Jon Gruden and Bruce Allen were given their respective contract extensions after the 2007 season, the Bucs gave them both extensions through 2011. You know the rest of that story, as they were fired a year later and the Bucs are still on the hook for Gruden’s salary.
In this case, the Glazer family seemed to have learned from that fiasco, taking a more conservative approach to its handling of the current regime.
Joe can totally understand this as Chucky is still getting paid to fish and play golf and tutor Chip Kelly to be stubborn as an ox while getting paid a cool $5 million by Team Glazer.
Joe can understand how Team Glazer can be a bit gun shy in rewarding Dominik and Morris as a result. Throw in the fact there still is no CBA, it’s reckless to sign anyone to a long term deal not knowing how much money teams will have to play with.
But it is interesting that Team Glazer, in a nutshell, has told Dominik and Morris if they think long-term, so will they, yet both Dominik and Morris’ contracts are somewhat short-term.
January 11th, 2011 at 9:17 am
@Joe
Apologies for jumping off subject with the first post. But rumor has the Bucs grabbing Karl Dunbar (defensive line coach) from Minnesota. Any info??
January 11th, 2011 at 9:29 am
I think everyone else is way more concerned about their contracts than Raheem and Dom are.
January 11th, 2011 at 9:44 am
I agree with you Feel.
Rah and Dom had a great year and the future is bright…but let’s be honest, it could have been a fluke and next year could be as bad as 2009. Their contracts had options built in for a reason.
Now if we have another solid year in 2011 I’m sure we’ll start negotiating long term contracts with both of them before the season ends, but there is nothing wrong with wanting to see more than one 10 win season before signing everything over.
January 11th, 2011 at 10:32 am
@Joe
Thanks for the follow up on Dunbar!
January 11th, 2011 at 10:46 am
You have to remember this is a busness for all concerned and if the Glazers don’t pony up the long term contracts early and with big bucks, don’t be suprised if other teams are throwing it at their agents with operating concessions. Only a few players on the team have long term contracts and they could also jump.
Sew up the leaders.
January 11th, 2011 at 10:56 am
I don’t know why this is even a story. They just picked up the options on the contracts. It doesn’t mean anything. Why even put those options in the contract if you aren’t going to take advantage of them?
I know its the offseason but its pretty early to be starting with this nonsense.
January 11th, 2011 at 11:34 am
I love the fact that the Glazers are learning from their mistakes. IMO Gruden is a great x’s and o’s coach and got us a championship getting good production from limited offensive talent. With that said, he is TERRIBLE at managing a roster and developing talent. Just ask the Raiders, luckily we don’t have Al Davis as an owner.
If Rah and Dom keep producing they will keep getting paid, but doing anything more than a three year deal for most NFL coaches is foolish.
January 11th, 2011 at 11:35 am
Options are put into contracts so the guys with the gold have the choice to keep you employed or drop you. The Rah deal made good sence from the start 2 yr with 2 options. With MD this latest move is a slap in the face to a guy who has pulled all of this together on the CHEAP.
When it ain’t about money its’s always about money….but when do you reward your most loyal employee with both a longer contract and more money ?? He is not going to forget how to evaluate/find talent over the off season. Who stands up in front of the media and defends the FLAG, not the cheap owners….He is the face of this organization and should be treated that way…PAY THE DAMN GUY !!!
January 11th, 2011 at 11:35 am
They’ll both get long-term extensions after we progress next year.
January 11th, 2011 at 12:09 pm
I think the fans of the Raiders would love to have Grtuden back. I think they had one good season since he left. Gruden demanded so much from the Bucs because he did so well in Oakland.
January 11th, 2011 at 1:01 pm
buckeyebob ,
I’m sure no one held a gun to Rah and Doms head when they signed these contracts.
January 11th, 2011 at 2:32 pm
d-money: Not about holding a gun to their head….it’s about doing what was asked of you, facing the media and us to explaine no FA. This is about your key employees doing a great job, under difficult circumstances and not getting the bucks they deserve. The owners operate under the golden rule…..he who has the gold makes the rules.
January 11th, 2011 at 3:16 pm
They exercised their options, that is saying good job. Just because you did a great job does not mean your employeer gives you a 25% raise, you typically get the 4% to 6% for doing a great job. It appears that Morris is getting a pretty good size raise, and incentives to make even more. You have to remember that this is a business first and foremost. Morris and Dom seem happy with the deal that they signed, so what does it matter to everyone else?
January 11th, 2011 at 3:19 pm
In fact, kudos to Morris and Dom for not crying like some of you guys are for them. Part of what is wrong with sports is people wanting more money before their contract is up. These two guys knew what they were getting into, and signed on the line options and all. This is just another excuse for calling the owners cheap, but I say if you can crerate a good product for less, that is just good business.
January 11th, 2011 at 3:21 pm
Buckeyebob…They will, after the agreed upon options. This is basic business.
January 11th, 2011 at 8:58 pm
“it’s reckless to sign anyone to a long term deal not knowing how much money teams will have to play with.” – Joe.
Exactly. Oh and BuckeyeBob, whose rules were the Glazers playing by when they paid for games not to be blacked out for the previous two seasons??