(11-26-2023, 08:54 PM)JagFan81 Wrote:

(11-26-2023, 08:37 PM)carp8dm Wrote: You mean if I was Baalke?

If I was Baalke I'd try to short change him.  I'd try to explain to him that he's in the ultimate small market where the nation doesn't believe in him or in his team.  I'd then try to leverage that so that he'd give the team a discount so that we can use cap space to keep him successful...  

If I was Trevor, I'd tell them I'd take a discount so long as Press Taylor isn't the play calling OC.  

Florida doesn't have income tax, so we can possible get him to sign for less.  But, of course, if Trevor wants to play hard ball, we have to pay him at the upper scale.  And he deserves the upper scale.  

Again, if I was Baalke, I'd try to make him come back down to earth and explain to him that if he gives the team a bit of leverage, we can keep a juggernaught team that will pay off for him exponentially in terms of Brand creation and legacy.  But if we give him the BAG that is next in line, then the team will be decimated and he could potentially fizzle out like Herbert, Phillip Rivers, and other over paid QBs that needed the extra help...

I think it's a very good arguement.  Lawrence is a Franchise QB.  Dude is top 5 in terms of Mahommes mountain.  But he's also a long lasting QB.  He could be a QB for 15 years, unlike some of the more "mobile" QBs.  If he sees that, then we have a chance to keep him at a respectable salary as well as keeping some of our key pieces that also contrubute.

TLR - Pay Lawrence his money if he's in the money game.  But if Lawrence is in the Legacy game, maybe we can work out a deal that benefits him and the team.

Well this is the big unknown with the contract. I don't see Lawrence as a guy who would demand to be the highest paid player and that would give you more flexibility with the cap to use elsewhere. I wouldn't play hardball as we need Lawrence more than he needs us, and by that I mean he could easily get paid $55m+ by any number of other teams so he holds the cards. I think Shad and Baalke would want to give him an offer around $55m+ a year to prove how much they value him and what he's done for the franchise. It will be interesting to see how Lawrence approaches it as I wouldn't be shocked to see him take something like $48m a year just to try and help the team but wouldn't call him greedy if he becomes the #1 paid QB.

Exactly.  

You pay Lawrence whatever he thinks he's worth.  He's not a running QB.  So as long as you have an O-Line like we had today, he's gonna be around for 15 more years.

But...  if we sign him as the highest paid QB, we're gonna lose a lot of talent and will probably take a step back.  Baalke's credibility is on the line here.  There's money on the table that Trevor can either decide to snatch now, or delay for later.  But the only way that happens is if Baalke can provide a clear plan of how that money not given will enhance his future earnings...

Part of that is keeping the key players on this team.  I haven't looked at the cap situation for next year...  But yeah, that's gonna be a thing moving into next year.

Trevor Lawrence is legit.  But he's also a QB that needs some top flight help based on the how the AFC is.  You can't just rely on Trevor Lawrence to get us to the SB.  He needs help, which means he needs high priced players on the offense and the defense.

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