Considering how late he joined the league and how awful his QBs have been his entire career, he absolutely should be doing what he can to make sure he gets paid what he deserves.
Nobody else is looking out for his financial interest aside from him and his agent. Sorry but calling him a diva of all people for negotiating his final big contract is quite a stretch.
I don't think he's being a diva for negotiating his final contract. I don't think anyone here does. The premise for these arguments unless I missed one isn't that.
It's that both this contract and the previous one, he doesn't show up to camp. There are plenty of players who do go to camp during negotiations. Not him. And that doesn't make him diva like either but when you add that AND...
A. Talking about how the team doesn't value him and how disappointed he is in that
B. That if the team really doesn't see him the way he does, just shoot it straight to him.
C. On and on about being post 30 years old and age doesn't apply to him because to quote him "he's different"
D. Referring to himself in third person
E. Leaking via his agent (and referencing it some himself) about how he needs to be valued financially just like any of these top players who are younger than him.
Now, point E alone and the holding out stuff in my book doesn't make him sound like a diva. But everything together, in my book, comes off very drama like. Some of his comments come off divaish to me when taking in concert with multiple holdouts for his contract negotiations.
And I am one of the biggest Terry fans. Some in ES might remember I loved him before the draft and defended that draft pick hard. And I still am a big fan of the dude. As I mentioned as a teammate-player, he's 10 out of 10. With fans, I've interacted with him myself, my kids, etc -- 10 out of 10. Pure class, great guy.
But when it comes to contracts, he seems to be on the high strung side among the players in the league. And as I've mentioned, that's probaby on his agent. I heard recently that his agent was there for the Eastern Motors press conference which went on and on and IMO it didn't make Terry look too hot.
Sheehan did a poll on whose side are you on the contract -- the team or Terry. He got thousands of responses. And he was shocked that it was 50-50. He expected fan favorite Terry would kill it in that poll. And my guess is part of that is the drama coming from Terry's side from time to time.
Comments like that below about age: He IMO comes off like he wants the negotiation to be dictated by his feelings about everything. He flat out has said multiple times he wants the team to feel about him, the way he feels about himself. Can it get more self-serving than that in a negotiation. If I negotiated some of my jobs (I do a lot of free lance) where its like OK, I name the price, this is how I feel about myself. I know a few of my competitors have a bigger reputation, but I consider myself every bit as good as them and want to be paid accordingly. And any concern you have about me is nonsense and insulting -- here is what I deserve. I know lol, I'd lose some job opportunuties.
So to me its the holding out (in BOTH contract negotiations), making dramatic comments about the team not valuing him, for the items that affect other players in his situation at his age he's saying they should be dismissed -- and is making those comments also in a dramatic way. And then the inferences about if the team doesn't want him, they should let him know. And the leaks from his agent about how Terry values himself just as much as the elite WRs and as Terry himself more or less stating them paying him like those elite WRs is an important statement for him as to how they see him.
Simply put, Terry in negotiations comes off high maintenance and yes more dramatic than the typical player. And as I mentioned, a reporter said a similar drill was happening the previous contract but Dan weighed in and told the FO he needs a PR win so just give him what he wants.
Commanders receiver Terry McLaurin said he's frustrated and disappointed by the lack of progress toward a contract extension.
www.espn.com
"People making it seem like I need to start getting fitted for a walker and a cane," McLaurin said. "My game is going to mature in a great way."
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www.si.com
