Roll Quinn Smith, the Bears linebacker still trying to get
a new contract with the team and it has gotten strange over
the past few days. We were on this on Friday. I started
hearing
that teams were getting called by
an agent who isn't an NFL PA certified agent, who was trying to
instigate trade interest in Smith
even though the Bears
had not given him permission
to shop himself in a trade. This is one of the problems.
Of players representing themselves. And Chris,
one thing that I've been learning when a player
represents himself, he really isn't representing
himself. What he's doing is he's circumventing, the process
and hiring someone at something. Other than
a percentage based fee
to assist him. And those folks who aren't authorized to
negotiate with teams are doing it
and they're either doing it directly.
One of the things that's also happening is
they'll set up an email.
Email account that is supposedly, the player
communicating with the team and it's actually the agent. The
non-certified nflpa agent pretending to be the player
communicating with the team.
So I don't know what the NFL can do about this. They sent
out a memo yesterday. Warning teams. Number one, it's
tampering if you talk to this person named st. Omni who is
calling the team's and trying to instigate a trade and number
two, you can't negotiate with anyone other than the player.
If the player isn't represented by an NFL PA agent and again,
Huff and puff, all they want. I don't know how they ever prove
it
and like if you're the Bears you just want to get a deal
done with the guy. You'll go along with whatever you just
want to hang out a contract. What does it take to get
a contract done with this guy? If we have to hold our nose or
or look the other way then?
So be it. Because we just want to get this guy signed. Yeah,
I know I just it's very weird.
It's up there. It's getting into the dysfunctional area
here as far as the relationship between the player and
the Team. He seems like he really wants out of there and he's not
happy
but but I come back to like what Ryan poll said last week
in the free agency, the GM there and go. I mean he made
some strong statements and it mean
he said there was what
some record-breaking aspects of the contract. So I don't think
they're like, cheaping out on him here.
That's where I'm a little surprised. And yeah, there's
there's still a lot of issues there. There really is, they
need him, I think he would be a great fit in that defensive.
Game
and again when we get into the agent thing
you know of course
please hire an agent. I just it's so disappointing to see
players do this right now and I mean can you imagine that like
what was what was say, nominee doing like calling the front
office? A teams like, hello?
I'm calling. He was calling other T. Literally, it was kind
old team. I don't have that number.
Can you get? He got. No! He he, he found a way to get him. He
got him. He found a way to get in touch with them, and he was
calling them up. Wow. And and he Was saying. And if,
I mean, as I understand it it was his blunt and as nonchalant
as it could be, even though the guy doesn't have permission
to try to seek a trade,
I'm hey, I broke one Smith.
I'm helping broke one Smith, I represent real Quinn Smith,
whatever the case may be. And we're, you know, we're trying
to see if somebody's interested in trading for him. It's
a blatant tampering violation
and I suspect or at least I hope the teams that got
the call, reported it immediately the Bears. That's what you're
supposed to do, right? If a
It's contact with you when they're under contract with
another team, you have to tell the other team. Hey, your guys
calling me up here. Yeah, and I think that's what culminated in
yesterday's. Memo
number one, reminding the team's
you can't talk to these guys, unless they have permission
from their team, to shop themselves in a trade and to,
you can't talk to anyone but the player if the player is
going to represent himself. Yeah, it's Amateur hour.
I mean, for sure they're
and Yeah, I'm sure the teams were like, what I mean, who are
you? I'm not talking to you. This isn't as so I would think
yes. Teams called Chicago, the league, whatever, to
kind of report. This, it seems that, that that's the way it
happened, but yeah, kind of a shocking development. It is.
And again, we don't know the exact parameters of
the contract, but
he deserves to be one of the higher paid linebackers in
football. There's no doubt about that. There's no doubt.
He is a special football player. But man, I don't know.
Is this going to be?
Can they, can they bring this back together right now? It
seems like it's It's kind of getting ugly here and they're
not happy. I mean, even last week with him not practicing,
right? I saw Maddie bird flu is like ask him why he's not
practice. He's been cleared to practice
so there's obviously a disconnect in communication as
seems like it's getting a little bitter here.
What's the endgame? We say this all the time with the Holden's,
almost all of them result in a new contract
at some point though, the team has to say, hey look,
you're here. It's time to work.
We got to find you. If you refuse to
To work. And if he leaves, then you do the whole 5-day letter
thing. You get shut down for the season, doesn't play for
anybody. I mean,
there are some ugly options
for this thing to go as it moves forward, but it's
different than a holdout and that the player
gets to have it both ways. He's holding out
his services but he's not holding out and getting fined.
And at some point the teams just got to draw a line in
the sand and maybe the Bears are reluctant to do that because
they don't want the situation to blow up. All right, we gotta
take a break when we return
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