Chris Baker Is Sirius
Chris Baker is mad for many reasons. One is that the Jets drafted Dustin Keller, another tight end last weekend when they have him, in his mind, the lovable pass catcher who was without a doubt the second best receiver on the team last year after Jerricho Cotchery.
However, that doesn’t prevent Baker from being mad, and he expressed his anger yesterday on Sirius Radio. Rich Cimini doesn’t like the looks of this one, as he sees it turning into a Pete Kendall type situation. The real issue here isn’t that the Jets drafted another tight end, although you’d have to imagine that it does have an impact on Baker. The real issue is, as it always is, money. Baker doesn’t feel he’s got enough of it, well don’t we all?
“They said go out and have a good year and we’ll talk. I’ve done my part and they haven’t done their part … Hopefully, they will step up and honor what they said. I do want to be here.”
Cimini, who has a reliable source, says that Baker went to the Jets last season with questions about the state of his contract. However, the team turned him down, but offered him $800,000 out of next year’s pay, diminishing this year’s pay to $683,000. In reality Baker is in the third year of a four year deal worth $6.6 million, averaging about $1.65 million per year. So when the Jets took off that $800,000 just to satisfy him about contract talks, it came off of his salary, making this year’s mark the above mentioned $683,000.
Now, about the other two tight ends for the Jets, Keller and Bubba Franks. They both make the same (Franks) or more money (Keller at around 2.3 million) than Baker does. Yet, Baker is still the starting tight end. This tells me a couple of things. First, Chris Baker has a reason to be mad, but it shouldn’t be because of his contract necessarily. My second citing here is obvious increase in the amount of money that’s automatically going to players picked in the first round of the draft every year. Now, as evident here, first round picks are already making more than starters on the team.
We’ll see what happens with Baker, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him gone before long. I would be upset as well if my team is paying a first round pick more than me, who already has made a name for himself on the team.
As a side note, please check out my NFL podcast, Fourth and Inches, on MVN Radio. Big show this week, as we recap the draft.
adios chris baker..dont let the door hit you on the butt on the way out..Your not that good
I say they do what they can to satisfy him (within reason).
If he wants a few hundred grand, I say just get it to him and deal with it.
If, however, he thinks he’s going to break the bank, tell him to sit out.
I just think that if they can make this situation go away, Baker can be a pretty important cog in their offense next year as an unexciting, yet reliable pass-catcher and as a decent blocker who is familiar with the system.
I say feed the beast rather than be a principled non-playoff team!
baker had a good year last year, and I really do think he could do more in the offense if they featured him a bit more, however he’s not a pro bowler by any stretch. The fact that they did advance him $800,000 last season, puts his 2008 salary into perspective. I wonder where his average salary would put him in relation to other starters in the league?
I think we’re going to see alot of chris baker and keller in the same formations, so i think it would be money well spent for the jets to keep him (relatively) happy! He’s an asset to our team, and to me, it doesnt make any sense disrupting the team over a “small” amount of money.
Mac, you left one other thing out about this article:
“It’s always hard to compare salaries, but it’s believed that Baker’s $1.65 million average ranks him 20th among starting tight ends. He set career highs last season in receptions (41) and yards (409) and drew praise from Eric Mangini for his blocking. His reception total ranked 19th among tight ends.”
IOW, not only did they prepay this shm_ck for work he hasn’t done, he allowed everyone to think he was being paid less than he actually was, and most importantly, is fairly paid in the marketplace.
I have no clue why anyone thinks the Jets should pay losers more than their contract with multiple years left on it. No player refunds money. If whiney boys want to complain it is sad our media is so inept as to let these complaints stand. But since journalism is dead, it is unlikely anyone will confront Baker or his agent to their face that he is not worth more and that he is lying (or at least lying by omission).
Frankly, I’d rather have lying shm_cks whining to our inept NY Sports media than justify their actions by giving them more money.
Harlan
This was posted on R. Cimini’s blog, by someone named “Accountability” in response to his article.
What a great response!
Rich, it looks like you can have another summer doing what you do best; tweaking problems. Yes, Baker went public and its a story. But be sure to update us on Chris Baker’s feelings each day. This should be a minor story among many more interesting and relevant issues to the Jets fans. But as a gossip columnist, you will stir the pot.
I will never forget Peter King’s quote from last summer in regards to another hall of famer, peter kendall. King said, Pete Kendall’s contract issue should be a story for maybe a day, possibly two. Only in New York does the story of a slightly above average 33 year old guard be news for the entire summer.
It is when you have gossip columnists covering a football team trying to create issues.
Posted by accountability on May 1, 2008 11:14 PM
CB is using the only leverage that’s available to him to maximize his value. Fans are going to rip him for this, they invariably do in these situations. Going to the media is just a business decision, and Tangini is treating as such publicly. I don’t see anyone acting irrationaly here except blog commenters.
Blog posters are the ones acting rationally! Sports writers using CB’s whine to write copy is irrational! Where else can you find one-sided “He should get more money” without rebuttal? You won’t see it here!
Chris Baker and our conditional picks for Vilma and Robertson in 2009 to Cincinnati for Chad Johnson.
I have a buddy who has a pretty good quasi-legal job that he likes and its paying him a decent salary, but you don’t have to be an attorney to do it. He took the NY State bar exam in February, and although his current job is not a legal one, he would like to remain there even if he winds up passing the bar and is eligible to practice law.
Now, even though he has no interest in practicing law, if he does pass, he is going to go to his employer and say “Listen, I have student loans and things are tight right now. I can go practice law and make about $10K more per year doing so… what can you do for me? If I don’t get a little bump up in salary, I really have no choice but to leave”.
In other words, people in all professions use leverage when they have it. Now, you might say my friend is making in the $60K range and wants to use his leverage to get closer to $70K, whereas Baker is making much more money.
Its a point well taken, but the real-life example I gave above about my friend is true at every salary level in every non-governmental profession (where salaries are fixed). CEO’s, CFO’s, star attorneys, investment bankers, you name it. And these people already make a ton of money.
I can’t fault Baker too much for doing what everyone else in their right mind does in life. Yes, my buddy could just sit there and be content with what he makes… he DOES like his job… but I’ve learned over time that the squeaky wheel gets the grease with money.
/I hate comparing real-world things to sports, but I think its appropriate in Baker’s case. I probably wouldn’t use this example if we were talking about someone making mega-millions like Chad Johnson, Randy Moss, etc., but Chris Baker is not a star and as with every other player in the NFL, his days are numbered. I could probably live the rest of my life on one of Chad Johnson’s contract, living in a great neighborhood and sending all my kids to college, having a summer home, retiring comfortably, etc. But that is NOT the case with Chris Baker’s salary. Thats why I think its different.
To bad professional contracts aren’t akin how we get paid in corporate America. I get a pay check (base pay) that’s fair compensation for what I do. If the company (team) does well then I get a bump in pay. If the team does well and my division (side of the ball) leads the league I get another bump. If I have an MVP year (exceed my quota) I get another bump. If I go to the pro bowl (blow away my quota) I get another reward.
If the team has a loosing season, our offence is ranked in the bottom third, and I’m a pig with lipstick (i.e. a pretty pig) I get to keep is my base pay. I don’t start sending out messages how I’m under paid because I worked pretty hard this past year.
It’s about results, not effort.
OK, back to reality, throw him a few hundred K and lets move on.
This is much different than the Pete Kendall situation…..Kendall was a cry baby and a liar. Baker has been a Jet for a while and a good competitor. I would give him the slight raise he deserves. It is not going to cost the Jets that much to fork over the money.
I like Baker, but its his agents fault that there was not more incentives not the franchise, besides he had one stellar year, if he repeats it next year then I think they will give him more, but he knows he wont because he will not see the amount of touches as he did last year because of drafting Keller aside that the WR corps are expected to be better with the addition of Henry and Stucky will be off IR- and this is the year that the project Brad Smith is supposed to pay off if not cut our losses and get another good WR because Coles and Cotchery are taking a physical beating.
The little $800,000 pre-pay nugget is a pretty important piece of info. I like Baker a lot and hope they rectify this, but they did go out of their way to help him last year…a little loyalty and “thanks” would be appropriate. I’d be pissed if I was Tannenbaum.
On top of the pay that these guys are receiving in the NFL, shouldn’t we include the $20,000-$35,000 a year these guys save by getting full rides at well-acclaimed universities. Its not as if they are not getting plenty of opportunities to make money. As for this year, I say the Jets go to Baker and say the same thing as they did last year. You get an advance on next years salary to bump up what you get paid this year. If you perform great and with only one-year left on your contract we’ll see about giving you an extension with a little more money. If you don’t perform this year (when he’s actually got a little competition which he’s never had before) we stick with the current 6.6 million dollar contract or we consider an extension.
That seems to be win-win on both sides and is still predicated on Baker’s performance. Bottom line, he doesn’t deserve to get paid like a top TE. He’s good but he doesn’t do much in the red-zone and doesn’t make catches for big gains. He is a good blocker and has good hands. Does this warrant getting paid more than $1.65 million a year? You can decide but if anything he’s worth tops 2-2.5 million a year. He should have to play out at least one more year of his deal before he goes and pouts.
Nikolas,
I know what your response will be. He should use his leverage to make as much money as possible. I agree with you on some level, but in this situation, he’s only 2 years into a four year deal. The deal was front-loaded so he got paid a good deal up front. This means you can’t make the franchises have little liability cause they can just cut a guy argument. Plus, they gave him money last year that he was scheduled to make this year to appease him. I just don’t know how much they should do. If they do something for everyone, before you know it the entire team will be complaining they are underpaid and will go out asking for new deals.
Doug,
Players do make money for winning the division or making the playoffs if I’m not mistaken. I also think they make more the further they go. Not big money for highly paid players but significant for minimum salary guys and apparently guys like Baker.
$1.6 million for an average at best TE is enough to pay this fat underperforming JET. If he doesn’t show up and shut up, suspend and fine him. I am tired of these whining underperforming players.
Once again, I hated making the comparison to real life, but what would you do in a situation where there is likely more money to be had by making a small statement, and it is probably going to get you more money if you do it, and you’ll be able to move on with your life and continue to do your job?
99% of us would probably go ahead and make a little noise and get more money. This isn’t Tom Brady taking a paycut to bring extra players in… we have the cap room to pay Baker the token amount in additional pay he wants to shut him up.
everyone seems to take the bait from extortionist players/agents and beat reporters like cimini, who love a controversy, so they have something juicy to cover.
they’re just re-running the same play, calling tangini liars, cimini makes the case that things are out of control, and the organization is forced to put out another fire.
i would expect more from a vet leader like coles, but not from medium-talent baker or ye olde loudmouthe kendall.
It dosen’t seem like a big deal to throw CB a few hundred thousand $ to keep him happy, after all he does have value to the team. But when does it stop? IMO Baker has not done anything to warrant a raise. He’s a decent receiver and a decent blocker, and in turn he receives a decent salary.
I seem to remember him critisizing the coaching staff in the media last year after a loss, and he has been less that truthful about his current contract situation.
The problem is, if they wanted to make an example of him and cut him, their only real recourse, he would be scooped by another team in a matter of hours, receive the contract he has wanted and would never feel a negative effect. And to make matters worse, it would probably embolden other players to do the same thing. If the Jets FO does pay him it will seem as though they caved in.
It seems to me the FO is between a rock and a hard place.
DSmizzle – I’m not really sure what the heck your friend does or doesn’t do for a living. But do’t lose sight of the fact that Chris Baker signed a $6.6 million contract. He is the same as any other multi-millionaire NFL player. You could certainly figure out how to be “living in a great neighborhood and sending all my kids to college, having a summer home, retiring comfortably, etc ” with that amount of money. Chances are you don’t make $200K per year – but if you did, it would take more than 30 years — your entire carreer almost – to make what he’s getting in 4 seasons. No pity for him, please… even without knowing about the advance money it was easy to divide $6.6M by 4 and see he makes the same as Bubba Franks – who is new to the Jets, but certainly not to the NFL – and has made 3 Pro Bowls… Baker needs to quit bitching. I’m sure he didn’t have a problem when he signed the deal, pocketed advance money and then barely met the expectations of his contract. He’s good, but only an average NFL TE,
Guys.., leave it to management and the player. Do not put more fuel into the fire. I think Tangini learned a lesson from the Kendall situation and I hope that they are going to weight things better this year. One way or another.
To me the Kendall saga was worst because we did not have a replacement ,he was an important OL that was making our offense look good and the Tangini regime inexperienced acted in the worst possible way, arrogant, imature and unprofessional.
I like Baker, but he does not have the leverage or impact that Kendall had, I think they will find a solution.
Before the draft, when this story officially broke that he left mini camp, I think the jets should of either traded him before the draft for a draft pick or two to get a replacement TE or should of given him a slight raise. Well they did not trade him so now i feel give him a slight raise and an extension on his contract for a couple more years. Think he is a pretty good TE with great hands that over the last couple of years has been forced to block more than catch the ball due to our poor offensive line. Believe his pay is ranked around 20th as TE, and maybe he is more like 15th ranked TE. Give him a contract where he averages just over Keller, so maybe around 2.25-2.3 mil per year. We cut Joe Kowalewski and we should cut Jason Pociask. Cutting those two players should free up the money needed to give Baker more money. Having bubba franks, chris baker, and dustin keller gives the offense many options out of the TE position, 2 TE formation, which I am excited too see.
Easy there Swifty:
The point I was making is that when people in the “real world” have leverage, they almost always use it. And I left plenty of leeway in my post to include people in the “real world” who make salaries at around Baker’s level (star attorneys, prominent investment bankers, etc.).
This type of leveraging goes on all the time. Once again, regardless of how much money people make, when making a little bit of noise is likely to get you a raise, PEOPLE ALMOST ALWAYS DO IT!!!
And you are calling it “pity”, thats ridiculous. I am not pittying a guy who makes my salary many times over. I am just saying that what he is doing (using available leverage to make more money) is not only common in football, it happens everywhere in every non-fixed-salary profession. I don’t agree with what he is doing, but he is using an avenue that is available to him in order to try to get more money from his employer.
while i would like the Jets to do something about Baker’s contract, like throwing him an extra 500 grand, I would like him more to stop going public with all of this. I understand its frustrating but maybe if he remained loyal and quiet he would have an easier time in the long run
Two things worth repeating: Thing one – CB owes the Jets 800K! The Jets don’t have much leverage except to make him PLAY. Thing two – your friend didn’t go to the press to gain leverage. You take this public, it’s personal! Again, you make him PLAY.
DSmizzle Swift,
Play nice guys. I am not won to talk about arguing but we all have to remember that we are on the same side.
I would only approve of what Baker is doing only if he exceeded expectations.
DSmizzle… Has Chris gotten that much better since the time he signed his contract?? I am not too sure about that.
He was valued for X amount of dollars when he signed the contract. Is he that much of a different player from a couple years ago. I dont think so. He is average at best but maybe that is because he doesnt get the ball thrown his way too much.
Regardless, I think any competent and team player needs to make a case for himself if he wants to ask for more money.
Real life… If you want a raise, you have to prove to your boss that you EARNED the raise. They wont give you free money unless your earned it. And I dont think Baker has earned that right to open his mouth and ask for more money.
I have a small criticism of Mack’s post…1st rounders invariably make more money than the vets in similar positions on the team. Brick and Mangold made more than Kendall or Moore; Revis made more than anyone else in the secondary; and Keller will likely make more than (or close to) what any other receiver makes.
Baker just wants more money. That is every employee’s gripe. But, is his complaining objectively valid? He’s an average TE making average money. What does he want? Plus, now that I know that the Jets gave him an $800K salary advance, I think Baker has an unbelievably over-inflated view of himself and, if I were Jets management, I’d be super-pissed. This isn’t Pete Kendall, the Jets tried to accommodate Baker within the parameters of his existing contract (like they did with Coles). Going public and griping like this is classless. I’d cut him immediately.
DSmizzel,
I agree with what you said only if you think that Chris Baker deserves the raise.
Do you feel that Baker has outperformed his contract??
If yes, then he should ask for more money.
Otherwise, he is being selfish and get him outa here!!
[...] Posted on May 2nd, 2008 by Mack Rosenberg Chris Baker is mad for many reasons. One is that the Jets drafted Dustin Keller , another tight end last weekend when they have him, in his mind, the lovable pass …http://www.thejetsblog.com/?p=4147 [...]
Najy:
In point of fact, I think most professional athletes in this day and age are overpaid. And yes, I completely understand that they are getting only a small % of the overall profits… but I guess I’m thinking about how ridiculous the salaries are for the average guys.
What I can say is that I’d rather have Baker on my team than Bubba Franks, whose best years are way behind him (but who I still think was nonetheless a smart addition to the team). So I’d say that at this point in time in their careers, Baker is a more valuable player than old man Bubba.
I’m torn… I know the FO can’t just give everyone what they want all the time… I just think Baker is a good enough player that if a token amount of additional $ will shut him up and keep him on the team, it is worth it. Otherwise we can stand on principal and lose a guy I think we need.
If the FO promised him something after last year then comply with your offer.
This is becoming a nightmare! The reality is that we do need baker !
I agree with everyone that says CB should use whatever leverage he feels he has to get a bump in pay. I also feel that the FO should also use the leverage they have to manage the cap effectively.
I used to like Baker, and thought he was under-utilized as a receiver, but I have lost a lot of respect for him and wouldn’t care if the FO just benched him for the season, or traded him for a future pick. I am sure that CB is alienating a lot of fans by exercising his “leverage”, but I have a feeling that is a consequence he could care less about. During the “spending spree” there was an “anonymous veteran player” who complained that the FO was not taking care of the “players that got their backs” and at the time it was thought to be Coles or Rhodes. I always thought it sounded more like Baker to me and now I am certain.
To qoute CB “they said go out and have a good year and we’ll talk” but is 4-12 a good year? Is this really a promise to make him a top paid TE? No, No, No. Seems to me that the real problem here is his greedy agent. This stinks!
harlan, you hit the nail on the head. there really isn’t too much more to this debate than that. Baker is a an average tight end in this league, and his pay is an accurate reflection of his performance.
Baker’s performance increased last season, relative to his under-performing seasons earlier on. Dustin Keller is going to be pad more than Baker, and I say rightfully so. He has the potential to be one of the best tight ends in football, and we’re going to give him money that reflects that potential, and our belief justified by picking him (and trading up to do so) in the first round. Baker has shown us what he is capable of doing; he is an average tight end who shows flares of above average pass-catching capabilities on occasion throughout a season. He’s no golden goose.
DSmizzle,
But does he deserve the raise??
Doug,
I agree with you. I think thats why they brought in Bubba Franks and signed Dustin Keller cuz I think that the FO had a feeling this would get outa hand.
Najy:
I guess not. But that doesn’t mean #&*@ in my book, because I’d rather give him a small bump that is meaningless in the long run to the cap and the team, and get him back.
If you think they should stand on principal, without considering whether it would be a big help to have Baker next year, then that is your prerogative.
I say do it. Baker is a good player.
DSmizzle,
I am just playing devil’s advocate here….
Lets just say you surcome to Bakers demands.. where does it stop? What happens next year when someone else does it. Or what happens if 2 players do it. Who are you going to give money to?
I think it is a tough situation for the FO lookin at it in the big picutre because they have to think what kind of effect this will have on the team.
I dont think that it is just about Baker. I think its more about sending a message to the team. Because if they comply with baker, then they will have to comply with everyone else.
Honestly, if it will end with Baker then just give him money. But you dont want the players on the team to underestimate the FO and think that they can have their way with them. If all the players have to do is open their mouthes and they will get more money then you are going to have 5 “Chris Bakers” next year.
I personally think it is B.S. how a player thinks he can manipulate the team into giving him more money.
I wouldnt mind taking a page out of the Giants book and pull a Strahan on him. Just fine him everyday he misses practice and we will see how tough he is then.
Dude, what do you want me to say? I think they should do it. I had your same feelings about Kendall last offseason (“Who does this guy think he is, get rid of him”).
Lesson learned. If you want him to get the Kendall treatment, hopefully it doesn’t turn out like the Kendall situation did, reminding me of the song “Don’t know what ya got, till its goooooooooone”.
If they dont keep baker, our team will be in trouble. u cant count on the aging franks to be able to play TE every down, and keller is more of a reciever than TE. Keller is on the small side 6′2″ some say 6′3″. So who will be playing TE- other options are James Dearth- which i believe he is our long snapper rather than TE, and Jason Pociask which is also small at 6′2″. So the bottom line is we need baker for this year. Find a way to make him happy since they did not trade him before or during the draft where they could of gotten a replacement. Some of u are making good points that he is being selfish and not worth giving more money, but the bottom line is the team needs him and if giving him 500-700 thousand extra will resolve the situation, then give it to him. For those who keep saying he is selfish and does not deserve more money, then please tell me who on the team will fill his role as starting all around TE? Like i said before, cut Pociask and we already cut kowaleski- this should free up money in the TE position to pay Baker. After getting paid last season around 2.4 mil, thats probably what he wants a long term deal yearly salary to be. Got to resolve this issue with him, both sides need to come to a compromise.
It is tough….
For the few who want to cut CB.
Hanging on to this whiney boy makes the most sense.
Another team might have an injury at TE and fear their entire season blowing up. Maybe we can negotiate a conditional #3 pick in ‘09 to go with other conditional picks. As long as they think we might keep Baker, a trade may be necessary. Not every team will be able to afford to trade the 19th ranked TE.
If we cut him now just because of his mouth, he has plenty of time to sign onto another team. IF we wait, OTOH, to the last day before contracts are guaranteed, he might not find a team willing to pick him up and certainly not for big bucks. IOW, waiting increases his value to our team and other teams while reducing his value in the market place (suitable reward for his lying whiney boy act).
For those who think we should throw him a few hundred thousand more, if we throw this lying SOB more money just to shut him up, we will deserve all the future stories about lying Tangini by a host of other players who want more money. THe only thing we cannot do is give this bum more money.
harlan
Baker does not have the leverage here. He’s not coming to the end of his career like Coles or Kendall and has the ability to sign another deal after this one is up. If the Jets are not interested in extending him than I say let him talk and keep him on the roster. If he plays like crap because he’s unhappy he’ll NEVER get paid and he’ll be seen for the cancer that he is. If he comes in and plays at a high level than by all means give him an extension that reflects his market value (~$2 million per). He’s wasting the goodwill the team showed him last year by fronting him $800,000. You know what, this sounds more like an agent playing Baker for a fool. The agent already got a cut of his $800,000 what does he have to lose by telling Baker to complain in the hopes he gets a bigger contract. I say the Jets do absolutely nothing and if Baker becomes a problem then let him try. There are other voices in the locker room that are much more powerful and important than Baker.
All the philosophical points and arguments on both sides don’t really matter to me. What matters to me here is, what is best for the Jets, both short term and long term? IMO, the answer to both questions is to rework Baker’s deal.
He’s not being paid at an astronomical rate, and we do have the cap room (now that D-Rob is gone). Baker is not an all-pro, but he has value, and we can keep him happy and productive without hurting our long-term cap health. Just like we did with Coles (and should have done with Kendall), don’t look like and a$$ arguing with a decent vet over less than a million bucks a year and destroy your locker room and hand over a job to an unproven, unready rookie.
If he was asking for Antonio Gates money, I’d tell him take a hike. He’s not. He’s just asking for Dustin Keller money. That’s not so hard, is it?
I say make him play or trade him. Under no circumstances should they cut him, because then they get nothing which would be foolish. If they make him play and he’s unhappy, tough S**T. He got an advance last year on THIS year’s contract, so he needs to play this year (or be traded). If he underperforms because he’s unhappy, that only hurts him in the long run. This is not Randy Moss who has such vaunted past laurels to fall back on when he doesn’t put out for a year or two. This is a decent player (who I’ve always liked, by the way) who deserves to be b**ch-slapped now after being appeased last year.
I guess I just don’t see losing Baker as all that critical for the Jets success. I will admit that I thought Kendall could have been easily replaced, too. The situations, however, are very different. I did not put much value on the fact that Kendall was a necessary veteran presence between Brick and Mangold. I was wrong. Also, the Jets did not have an average OG to replace him. The Jets didn’t bring in in a former pro bowl OG and draft a 1st round OG last year.
Whether 2008 Bubba Franks is better than Baker is not a foregone conclusion to me. Franks was a better TE than Baker. Maybe not a better blocker, but a much better pass-catcher and redzone threat. Keller has to play; he wasn’t drafted in the 1st round to ride pine. So, at best, Baker will be part of a 3 (or 4 with Pocsiak or UDFA Chris Hopkins) rotation at TE. The Giants won the Super Bowl without pro-bowler Shockey. Why does everyone assume that Baker, a far lesser TE than Shockey, is such a linchpin for success? I don’t see it.
chris baker is not that good he is a starting te.on a bad offensive team he would be a back up on 15 or 20 teams in this league his numbers was below average and he thinks he had a great season what a joke!
I disagree with you HOZ as to whether Baker would be a backup on 20 teams in the NFL… I don’t see it.
And SackDance, Bubba Franks — when younger — was a pretty prolific pass-catching TE, especially insofar as being a red zone target is concerned. However, he’s getting old and has aged rapidly.
And I agree with whoever keeps saying (I’ve seen it a few times) that Keller is more of a WR than a TE. I am very excited about the Keller pick, but NOT because I think he’ll do well if lined up as a traditional TE.
We’ll see what happens. Some of us give Baker a lot of credit, some don’t. One thing I don’t remember, however, is people mentioning Baker as being inadequate prior to this contract spat.
I don’t think Baker is inadequate at all – I think he is ADEQUATE. He is being paid an adequate salary for the job he does and has a lot of nerve complaining this year after being fronted an extra $800k last year. I understand completely about using what leverage you have for more money, but the timing was atrocious and showed incredibly bad judgment. I also believe that he should show some measure of thanks that they fronted him money last year when they didn’t have to. Could you imagine Chrebet – a far better and more important piece of the puzzle than Baker – ever pulling this kind of crap? I’d love to see Baker on the team this year, but if they do throw him a bone, it ought to be of adequate size based on his performance vs. current contract – very small.
DSMIZZLE…. he would be a back up on these teams
1.cowboys
2.ravens
3.giants
4.eagles
5.redskins
6.jaguars
7.chargers
8.titans
9.chiefs
10.colts
11.bengals
12.broncos
13.browns
14.steelers
15.green bay
16.rams.
17patriots
18.49ers
19.bears
20 our own jets
so i rank him #21
HOZ, I would agree with you on this point if I considered a TE who was either the 2nd TE or “1B” to be a “backup”.
I know this sounds like mincing words but I consider a backup someone who only plays when the starter is hurt.
Is Cotchery L. Coles’ “backup”? I think the better way to describe him is that he is 2nd on their depth chart.
Better yet (since most standard formations, even with 2 TE’s, often have 2 WR’s), would be the following question: Is Maurice Jones-Drew Fred Taylor’s backup? I’d have to say “no”, because the word backup to me means an understudy who plays only when needed.
I think Chris Baker would play in every single game on every one of those teams… though I’d have to admit that my knowledge of the TE’s on those teams other than the top guys is lacking.
HOZ, don’t worry, I know in advance that my post sounds like a cop-out, but I really do feel that Baker would contribute meaningfully to each of those teams, unless they all have 2 TE’s better than he is.
I think Baker should contribute. Contribute to repaying the 800K! My biggest fear is that he has a spending problem and needs MORE money! This would be a way to get out of this contract and cash in.
This is just annoying with athletes. He signed a contract and HE should honor it. They can talk to him but they’re by no means obligated to increase his pay. It’s not like he’s this phenom. If he holds out, he won’t win. What if he doesnt perform well, shouldnt he then be required to give money back to the team? You signed a contract now honor it you primadonna
If he doesn’t perform well, they can cut him and he won’t receive a dime for the remainder of this “contract”, no matter how hard he works in the season and offseason… so maybe that changes the dynamics a little bit?
His contract — as is the case with the vast majority of them — is NOT guaranteed.
Didn’t Baker just sign his unhappy contract 2 short years ago? And wasn’t he also a free agent just two short years ago? Baker listened to any and all offers and obviously felt 6.6M for 4 years was the best he could get. So he stayed with the Jets and signed on the dotted line, willingly pocketed the upfront signing bonus (along with the 1st years salary, thereby grossly INFLATING his actual pay for year one) and then immediately started moaning and groaning for more money in year two? What was the point of him signing the contract in the first place? No one had a gun to his head before he signed, other teams had the chance to offer him more and they didn’t, and now he gripes about the Jets? This is total BS. If Baker only wanted a one year contract, then he should have only signed a one year contract. I say the Jets should stand firm and not budge an inch.
Don’t forget the time value of money — the 800K he was fronted last year is worth more than 800K this year given inflation and investment opportunity cost. Lets assume 2.5% inflation and a 5.5% ROI, which is conservative.
800K * 5.5% = 44K
844K * 2.5% = 21.1K
865K
So Baker owes the Jets 865K; given that the value of the money yesterday is more than than the value of the money tomorrow.
(To any financial whizzes out there, feel free to correct any errors in the above; I believe its about right though)
Fine guys, maybe you’ll get ur wish and we will be able to tell whether they miss him or not.
Trust me, if that happens, I’m the last person who wants to be able to say “I told you so, they really could use him”. But I will, of course, say that if it happens to be true!