Quote:Money wasn't the issue, though.  There wasn't an amount that we could offer him that would blow Cleveland away.  The only thing that matters will be the guarantees and any gimmicks they insert, like the opt-out after two.  Your only "winning" strategy here is to guarantee him enough money that Cleveland will be hamstrung in a couple years when they have to resign Haden and Gordon.  

 

Offering Mack $20mil+ guaranteed over the next two years and then an opt-out is pretty much the best we can do in the situation.  It makes Cleveland pay him a ton during the two years they will need the cash to resign others, and at the same time prevents them from getting long-term security with him.  Their intent with the transition tag was to trap another team into offering him a long contract and match it to keep him in Cleveland long term.  They knew he didn't want to stay, and they knew that it wasn't viable to franchise him multiple times.  The only way they could get him long term is to bait another team into signing him to a longer deal and then match it.  They want the long term security, and this offer doesn't give it to them. It also makes them pay a ton for the only two years they'd definitely have him.