After looking to profit from six years as a highly successful nose tackle for the New England Patriots, Vince Wilfork just received exactly what he wished to avoid. The Patriots placed a franchise tag on Wilfork in an attempt to ensure they keep the defensive standout on the team in 2010.
Wilfork had expressed that his first wish was to remain a Patriot—but by way of a long-term deal in what he believed would be a gesture of respect after playing out his full rookie contract without seeking added compensation.
If he and the team were unable to reach an accord, Wilfork stated that he wanted to be on the open market, free to sign with the contract and situation he believed best suited his needs.
A month before the Patriots tagged Wilfork, he was quoted as describing the franchise tag as "decent money for most people out there. What I do, it's OK…but I don't look at myself as an OK player. Like I said, it's just basically a slap in my face and an insult to me to basically tell me I'm an OK player."
The one-year salary of the franchise tag looks to be just more than $7 million for the 2010 season. With a nonexclusive franchise tag, Wilfork is allowed to make visits with other teams and sign an offer sheet elsewhere.
The restricting factor of the tag falls under New England’s right to match the offer—and if New England declines, then the other team would have to surrender two first-round draft picks as compensation.
That high price makes it highly unlikely that any team would even bother to pursue Wilfork—a facet the 325-pounder hopes will translate into buying contract bargaining time instead of simply forcing the 28-year-old tackle into a one-year deal.
"The franchise tag has been applied," Wilfork said in a statement. "After six years of dedicated service, I do understand this is a business. With that being said, it is my hope that the tag is applied for its true purpose: For the purpose of allotting more time for us to continue our talks and be able to reach a long-term agreement. Only time will tell what the final result will be."
If the New England Patriots can hammer out a long-term contract deal in the ensuing months, it would run contrary to the team’s history when applying the tag. As the Patriots are a notoriously tight-lipped organization, progress on that front will be hard to determine until a contract is officially signed.
If that contract is not met and Wilfork is franchised, the Patriots may have earned themselves the ill will of a vital cog in the team’s defensive front. It may not translate into a holdout, but it could severely hamper any bargaining efforts to strike a long-term deal afterward.
Either way, it appears Wilfork isn’t going to see anything of the open market this offseason.
What’s that I see? A hint of parity emerging in the NBA? It couldn’t be. After all, this is the league where we have become accustomed to seeing certain teams retain power for years—if not decades—at a time.
Even if the Nets have lottery picks for the next three years, does anyone really expect them to challenge Howard and the Magic or James and the Cavs in the East anytime soon? Of course we don’t, and that’s the shame of it.
The NFL has shown to be a far more successful league, both financially and in terms of fan interest, for many reasons. One of the main issues, though, that turns fans like myself away from the NBA is its lack of parity.
Unless you live in Los Angeles or Detroit, do you really want to see the Lakers and Pistons in the playoffs every year?
The NBA—like the NFL—has a salary cap designed to keep the playing field relatively equal. We’re not talking about the Yankees and Red Sox buying their way into the playoffs here.
And yet, teams like the Warriors, Bobcats, and Clippers continually dwell at the bottom of the standings with no real signs of improvement.
In recent years, NFL fans have seen teams like the Arizona Cardinals and Minnesota Vikings transform from teams picking in the top 10 of the draft to title contenders. Are Adrian Peterson and Larry Fitzgerald worth a couple of wins each season by themselves? Quite possibly.
But one player starting on an NFL team of twenty-two can have nowhere near the type of impact that an NBA player—no matter how young—can have on his starting five. That’s why if an NBA team has any sort of sense in its front office, it has no excuse to go more than a couple of years drafting in the top ten without showing significant improvement.
This all brings us to the 2009-2010 Oklahoma City Thunder. The media is glorifying this team’s success as some sort of anomaly that no one should have seen coming. I argue that everyone should have seen this coming.
Sure, they’re the hard-luck story that got thrown out of Seattle, but this team has talent—lots of it.
Through a blockbuster trade that sent Ray Allen to the Celtics in return for centerpiece Jeff Green and three consecutive lottery selections, the Sonics/Thunder have compiled a core of players—led by Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden—that is learning to win together.
The NBA’s “most surprising” team has won six in a row, and is currently sitting in fifth place in the highly competitive Western Conference. The lightning-fast emergence of the 21-year old Durant as a top-five player in the league is indeed somewhat surprising, but it does not take a superstar to turn a team a cellar-dweller into a contender.
Drafting in the top five does not guarantee that the fortunes of a franchise will be changed for the next decade. But consistently landing in the lottery should—and is designed to—allow all teams to compete.
Not every team can get lucky and land LeBron James or Dwight Howard with the number one pick, quickly revolutionizing itself into a playoff contender. But teams can do what the Atlanta Hawks have done, and capitalize on their time in the lottery in order to steadily develop into an upper-echelon team.
The success of recently atrocious teams like the Thunder and Grizzlies should be the norm, but until it truly does, sports fans will have one more reason to maintain their allegiance with the NFL.
Are you seriously considering buying a franchise? Don't go into it "blind". Be aware and be informed of the current economic situation.
You should already be aware of where the country and your specific location are right now, today. What you need to do now is make sure your current information is just that—current—and, also start researching and gathering information on future projections; again, as they apply to the country and your particular area.
Be aware of current "fads". You may be wondering why you need to worry about "what's in" as it relates to a franchise. That's because very often, whether it is response to a current TV show or the latest "movie, or other "trigger", something will become an "overnight" must-have. Unfortunately, that will last only as long as it takes for the "next big thing" to come along.
Look at what is NOT working right now, and try to determine why. If there are franchises in your area that are having problems, try to find out what the cause(s) may be. Is it due to the current economic situation? If so, which one—the national economy or the local economy? Depending on the answer to either or both of the above questions, you can determine if this is a short-term problem, or one that looks as if it is going to be that way for some time.
If a franchise's problems cannot be blamed on the economy, check to see if the problem might be caused by "over saturation". No matter how large an area is, it can only support a certain number of businesses that offer the same or very similar products or services.
Look at what is working right now, and, again, determine why. Check out the different franchises, and see which ones are or appear to be succeeding, the different types of franchises that currently exist and the products or services they offer, and any that may offer SIMILAR products, and/or services, but have definable differences.
Look at what could/would work right now in your particular area and why . Conduct your own research by determining how many "physical" franchises (such as restaurants and/or "chain" retail outlets such as auto parts stores) exist. Don't just stop there, however. Find out how many people operate or are connected with a franchise business, but are able to work from home or other location.
Once you have determined the answers to these questions, you may then wish to contact a Franchise Consultant. He or she can take the information you have gathered, and help you to determine if this is indeed a good investment.
Now, "Do The Math". Find out exactly how much it would cost to purchase a franchise, and determine if you can really afford to make this investment at this time. Keep in mind that current economic conditions will affect lending practices, so you will need to know how hard (or how easy) it is to get a loan right now.
Determine (as best you can) how long it might be before you recoup your initial investment. Remember that it takes a while to get any new business off the ground, no matter how well-known the franchise OR the products/services being offered. You're going to have to be very discriminating with your money management during the initial "start-up" period.
After looking to profit from six years as a highly successful nose tackle for the New England Patriots, Vince Wilfork just received exactly what he wished to avoid. The Patriots placed a franchise tag on Wilfork in an attempt to ensure they keep the defensive standout on the team in 2010.
Wilfork had expressed that his first wish was to remain a Patriot—but by way of a long-term deal in what he believed would be a gesture of respect after playing out his full rookie contract without seeking added compensation.
If he and the team were unable to reach an accord, Wilfork stated that he wanted to be on the open market, free to sign with the contract and situation he believed best suited his needs.
A month before the Patriots tagged Wilfork, he was quoted as describing the franchise tag as "decent money for most people out there. What I do, it's OK…but I don't look at myself as an OK player. Like I said, it's just basically a slap in my face and an insult to me to basically tell me I'm an OK player."
The one-year salary of the franchise tag looks to be just more than $7 million for the 2010 season. With a nonexclusive franchise tag, Wilfork is allowed to make visits with other teams and sign an offer sheet elsewhere.
The restricting factor of the tag falls under New England’s right to match the offer—and if New England declines, then the other team would have to surrender two first-round draft picks as compensation.
That high price makes it highly unlikely that any team would even bother to pursue Wilfork—a facet the 325-pounder hopes will translate into buying contract bargaining time instead of simply forcing the 28-year-old tackle into a one-year deal.
"The franchise tag has been applied," Wilfork said in a statement. "After six years of dedicated service, I do understand this is a business. With that being said, it is my hope that the tag is applied for its true purpose: For the purpose of allotting more time for us to continue our talks and be able to reach a long-term agreement. Only time will tell what the final result will be."
If the New England Patriots can hammer out a long-term contract deal in the ensuing months, it would run contrary to the team’s history when applying the tag. As the Patriots are a notoriously tight-lipped organization, progress on that front will be hard to determine until a contract is officially signed.
If that contract is not met and Wilfork is franchised, the Patriots may have earned themselves the ill will of a vital cog in the team’s defensive front. It may not translate into a holdout, but it could severely hamper any bargaining efforts to strike a long-term deal afterward.
Either way, it appears Wilfork isn’t going to see anything of the open market this offseason.
What’s that I see? A hint of parity emerging in the NBA? It couldn’t be. After all, this is the league where we have become accustomed to seeing certain teams retain power for years—if not decades—at a time.
Even if the Nets have lottery picks for the next three years, does anyone really expect them to challenge Howard and the Magic or James and the Cavs in the East anytime soon? Of course we don’t, and that’s the shame of it.
The NFL has shown to be a far more successful league, both financially and in terms of fan interest, for many reasons. One of the main issues, though, that turns fans like myself away from the NBA is its lack of parity.
Unless you live in Los Angeles or Detroit, do you really want to see the Lakers and Pistons in the playoffs every year?
The NBA—like the NFL—has a salary cap designed to keep the playing field relatively equal. We’re not talking about the Yankees and Red Sox buying their way into the playoffs here.
And yet, teams like the Warriors, Bobcats, and Clippers continually dwell at the bottom of the standings with no real signs of improvement.
In recent years, NFL fans have seen teams like the Arizona Cardinals and Minnesota Vikings transform from teams picking in the top 10 of the draft to title contenders. Are Adrian Peterson and Larry Fitzgerald worth a couple of wins each season by themselves? Quite possibly.
But one player starting on an NFL team of twenty-two can have nowhere near the type of impact that an NBA player—no matter how young—can have on his starting five. That’s why if an NBA team has any sort of sense in its front office, it has no excuse to go more than a couple of years drafting in the top ten without showing significant improvement.
This all brings us to the 2009-2010 Oklahoma City Thunder. The media is glorifying this team’s success as some sort of anomaly that no one should have seen coming. I argue that everyone should have seen this coming.
Sure, they’re the hard-luck story that got thrown out of Seattle, but this team has talent—lots of it.
Through a blockbuster trade that sent Ray Allen to the Celtics in return for centerpiece Jeff Green and three consecutive lottery selections, the Sonics/Thunder have compiled a core of players—led by Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden—that is learning to win together.
The NBA’s “most surprising” team has won six in a row, and is currently sitting in fifth place in the highly competitive Western Conference. The lightning-fast emergence of the 21-year old Durant as a top-five player in the league is indeed somewhat surprising, but it does not take a superstar to turn a team a cellar-dweller into a contender.
Drafting in the top five does not guarantee that the fortunes of a franchise will be changed for the next decade. But consistently landing in the lottery should—and is designed to—allow all teams to compete.
Not every team can get lucky and land LeBron James or Dwight Howard with the number one pick, quickly revolutionizing itself into a playoff contender. But teams can do what the Atlanta Hawks have done, and capitalize on their time in the lottery in order to steadily develop into an upper-echelon team.
The success of recently atrocious teams like the Thunder and Grizzlies should be the norm, but until it truly does, sports fans will have one more reason to maintain their allegiance with the NFL.
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