Messaging Matters

Football is a game. Professional football is a business. Sometimes those of us on the outside forget about this. Teams have budget constraints. They can’t sign everyone. Players have short careers so they have to maximize their earnings. They can’t be loyal to a team the way fans can. Players have to make money a key consideration in all decisions.

Things don’t always go well when players and teams are negotiating. Their interests don’t align and that can create really complicated situations. We’re seeing some teams struggle with those right now.

Trey Hendrickson says it has become “personal” with Zac Taylor after “disappointing” text exchange. https://t.co/odbZQEmM79

— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) May 13, 2025

The Bengals are hardly alone. Dallas has had contentious negotiations with multiple stars. Next up is Micah Parsons. It will be interesting to see how that goes. Here is a painful story. When does 2 snaps equal 2 million dollars?

Packers OG Sean Rhyan missed out on a $2.042M raise by not playing two more snaps in his first three NFL seasons

Rhyan, 24, had to play 35% of the snaps to earn his $2M incentive for the 2025 season, but only played 34.96%.

Instead of making $3.46M, Rhyan will make $1.364M. pic.twitter.com/wEaBXjNboY

— Football Forever (@fballforeverhq) May 13, 2025

Yikes. A lot of times teams will either pay the extra money anyway or will at least give the player something as a way to build up goodwill with the guys in the locker room. Players pay attention to things like this. The Packers said they aren’t doing anything. Rhyan was suspended in the past so coming up short is his own fault. Still, that is so close you would think they would want to work something out. Nope.

The Eagles just went through a tough situation with Dallas Goedert. They needed him to take a pay cut. The Eagles wanted DG to stay. He wanted to stay. The only question was money. The Eagles said all the right things publicly. They must have also said the right things privately. The two sides came to an agreement.

The Eagles did the same thing with Josh Sweat last year. They worked out well for everyone involved. The Eagles won the Super Bowl. Sweat starred in the big game and earned a big contract. We’ll see how this season goes for DG and the team.

If you go back a year, the Eagles had to deal with Haason Reddick and his situation. Reddick wanted a raise. The Eagles weren’t going to give him one. They traded him to the Jets, where Reddick expected to get a new deal. The Eagles did what he wanted. Reddick and the Jets weren’t on the same page and that turned into a debacle that lasted for months. I am going to miss Jimmy Bama giving us regular updates on Reddick’s playing time to boost the value of the pick.

If the Jets average 572 defensive snaps per game over their final 2 games, and Haason Reddick plays 100% of those snaps and he has 9.5 sacks, the Eagles can still get the Jets’ second-round pick in 2026. https://t.co/EcX9ptvWNP

— Jimmy Kempski (@JimmyKempski) December 23, 2024

Some of Mr Bama’s finest writing.

The Eagles certainly aren’t perfect. They have pissed off their share of players over the years. But they generally do a good job of separating business and personal. The Eagles generally pay well so players know this isn’t penny-pinching for the sake of it. This is just business. Give Jeffrey Lurie, Howie Roseman and Nick Sirianni credit for having strong relations with the players so they can work through issues when they arise.

*****

One more schedule nugget.

Week 10, Nov. 10, Monday Night Football: Eagles at Packers.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 13, 2025

There was speculation that the Eagles could play the Packers on Christmas. Instead it will just be a Monday night in early November. The last time the Eagles were in GB was the final start for Carson Wentz as an Eagle. I tend to think Jalen Hurts will keep his job.

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