Big Red
Well-known member
- Mar 16, 2019
- 1,355
- 0
"Hey Darren. I want to talk about Gilbert opting out. It bothers me for a couple reasons. One, because his deal was under the assumption he would be 32 when he played. Now it has tolled. And he'll be 33. There comes a point where the player aging matters. If he were 26, this wouldn't matter. But maybe we don't offer that one-year deal to 33-year old Marcus Gilbert. Know what I mean? Furthermore, we have two youngsters (and elder Kelvin Beachum) who will now surely capture that long-term right tackle job and ending Gilbert's career in AZ. But he still gets the guaranteed portion of the deal. I'm gonna say it plain, feels like he's stealing money."
Couple points to make here. One, the only guarantee he got was $150,000 to sign, plus he'll get $350,000 as a high-risk opt out. That's it. In the grand scheme of things, that's not much. Second, because of that, if they choose to move on next year and release him or if his age catches up to him, that's available. Third, why would it bother you about paying him that money? I never really understood that. It's the team's money. I could understand if it was Michael Bidwill saying such things, but if the team understands it, fans should too. What about the times a player is cut from his contract when he still has money remaining? Lastly, maybe in another scenario (OK, probably not) I could understand the frustration. But I absolutely do not understand, when people can die from this virus, why someone would balk at a person deciding this isn't safe for him. No, not everyone gets that choice. But NFL players did, and he has every right to exercise it.
From Thomas Krepelka via azcardinals.com:
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