First Grumblings of FA Discontent

He’s a DE, not a DT, as stated in your first option.

/hates being “that guy,” but nonetheless felt compelled

//apologizes

however he’s #24 with a lot of other people on the sack chart and is way farther back for tackles for loss (Jared Allen had 97 negative yards against the enemy) He’s also playing next to Kevin Williams who is a beast and will make sure Ray never gets doubled. If Ray wanted big time mony this year he needed double digit sacks at least.

Finally, we just can’t put that much money into out D line, and honestly he over the rest can be replaced. Now if Phat Pat retires then you have some extra money to play with and I would keep Ray.

Didn’t he also go on to say that he really didn’t pay any attention to the offense when they were on the field and had no idea that Brett was taking the late hits as bad as he was? Come on Ray! Your quarterback is taking a pounding out there and you had no idea? You say that if you had known, you’d have hit Brees more often? While I also feel that it’s reassuring that the defense plans to settle the score the next time the teams meet, I have a little reluctance to buy his story of why he didn’t try it the first time. That being said, I do hope he comes back and shows that his improvement at the end of the season wasn’t a fluke.

I would have no problem eating my words here.
  I am one who’s been critical of Ray during the season because the other 3
Norsemen were drawing so much of the attention away from Ray yet it
seemed the only sacks from that side happened when Robison came in.
   I truly hope it’s a situation were he is hitting his stride in which case I’ll happily
eat my words.
     But if he was only playing at the end for FA $$$$$………..trade him.
Robison is ready!

If the Vikings make a top tender to Ray Edwards, and he signs with another team, the Vikings get the 1st and 3rd round picks from that team. For example, say the Vikings make that offer (about $3million per year or something) and then Jacksonville signs him for $10 million per year, the Vikings don’t match, and he goes to the Jags. The Vikings get the Jags’ first round pick (#10 or #11 overall) and their 3rd round pick.

As a business, the Vikings are not rolling in money. They can’t go out and offer him huge money. From a business perspective a team like the Jags simply cannot sign him away if they would lose a first round pick or more. I could see the Vikings offering Edwards a long-term deal at $5 million per year. From Edwards’s business perspective, however, he must see himself as potentially worth more. He might choose to stay with the Vikings as a restricted free agent for another year, and then be an unrestricted free agent after that.

If Ray Edwards is playing well in 2010, continuing to be consistent, the Vikings might offer to extend him for a long term deal during the season. That’s what I see happening.

to pay ray to much, Brian R played a lot less, maybe 1/4 of the minutes and had 4.5 sacks and 10 tackes. I think Ray is a good DE but I am not sure if he is a great DE, put him on an average D line and I think his sack total drops a bunch. He may feel he is worth a lot more but one decent season (not great) does not give the pay he expects. I say not great because everytime AR felt pressure he rolled to Rays side and when he did that Ray never got there. He just did not contain very well. At the end of the season he was playing a lot better, and I hope he can do that again all year, then he can demand the pay he wants. Until then I do not think so.

“That’s what we fought for with the whole Reggie White thing was to have free agency and this is not free agency if you sign for four years but you’ve got to serve two more. That’s not free agency,” he said.

The players have been fighting for free agency since the NFL labor issues started in 1956. The owners hate it when a player can simply shop his services to another team. Ray was suppose to be an unrestricted free agent. Now he is a Restricted free agent. The difference is he will be forced to accept the Viking offer for one year instead of being able to freely shop his talent around. He is complaining because the lack of a labor agreement changed his status (along with 200 other players).

He isn’t trashing the Vikings. He is simply saying what 1500 NFL players are thinking. The players are being asked to take a pay cut, by the owners, at the same time that the commissioner gets a 7 million dollar BONUS. Not salary. BONUS

Get ready for the year of discontentment.

Here is some hope for the future.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wm-david-cornwell-sr/there-will-not-be-a-locko_b_463803.html

This labor lawyer explains why there will not be a lockout but rather an extended court battle which is waged on the issue of Free agency and the Anti-trust laws