Owen Daniels Contract Negotiations

[papabear]

Originally Posted by dadmg

You and me both. I'm surprised they let Demeco's or Dunta's contracts get to this point. And if they wanted to keep Owen it would've been a lot cheaper to sign him to an extension earlier too.

This isn't at all unusual. That doesn't mean behind closed doors that things aren't going poorly, but the fact the contract negotiations got to this point is no reason to think the Texans are handling things badly.

Dunta's injury kept them from doing anything last year. We knew Daniels was going to be a RFA this year so there was no rush to get anything done before this offseason. I'm sure they both would have liked to have gotten a deal done before now, but it's not unusual by any stretch. There trying to get an extension done with Demeco entering the final year of his contract. I would like to see it all resolved, but there is nothing out of the ordinary about this at all.

[painekiller]

So Owen has signed his tender offer for the 2.9M. According to the chron.com, the Texans made Daniels a new offer this week that would have made him the #2 highest paid TE.

What that means is not clear, was it total money, guaranteed money, 1st 3 years? No sure, but Daniels did not accept it. His agents will continue to try to work out a long term deal.

[popanot]

OD is quickly entering DRob territory, IMO. The guy thinks he's worth way more than he is. How about you stop fumbling at critical times then come back and talk, OD?? Anyone wondering why they signed Dreessen and drafted two TE's now?

Texans Don’t Plan To Negotiate With Daniels
Posted by Mike Florio on June 14, 2009, 8:10 p.m.

Although agents Alan Herman and Dave Butz reportedly hope to continue to negotiate with the Texans on a long-term deal for tight end Owen Daniels, a league source tells us that the team’s current plan is to allow Daniels to play out the 2009 season under his one-year, $2.79 million salary, before taking up the issue of a multi-year contract.

Per the source, Daniels wants to be the highest-paid tight end in the sport. To get there, he’d need a deal that averages more than Dallas Clark’s $6.9 million annual package from the Colts.

And while John McClain of the Houston Chronicle reports that the Texans already have offered a contract that would make Daniels the league’s second highest-paid tight end (the current No. 2, Kellen Winslow of Tampa, averages $6.5 million), we’re told that the Texans’ best offer would put Daniels at No. 4, between Tony Gonzalez’s $6.25 million average and Daniel Graham’s $6 million average.

Rounding out the top eight are Jeremy Shockey ($5.1 million), Chris Cooley ($4.8 million), Jason Witten ($4.6 million), and Antonio Gates ($4.4 million).

The team’s hard line with Daniels arises in part, we’re told, from the fact that he is represented by the same firm that has cornerback Dunta Robinson, the team’s unsigned franchise player — and that the Texans are irritated with the manner in which both players have been handled this offseason.

Though it’s possible that the Texans will reverse course on their willingness to sign Daniels to a long-term deal if he decides to take the best offer that has been on the table, the current position (as we understand it) is that the Texans won’t be making Daniels the highest-paid tight end in the game.

Though he has been a solid player during his first three NFL seasons, does he really merit $7 million per year?

[Nconroe]

If I heard right, on ABC 13 news tonight OD signed tender. I guess that is very good for him and the team. Wonder if he is one of the 30 who don't have to practice, just workout, I guess so.

[superbowlbound]

I don't like this one bit. Sure, I'm definitely pleased that the tender's been signed, but regardless of who's got the right information, be it florio or mcclain, I don't understand how you can argue with that money, especially with the state of the CBA. I hope the Texans don't negotiate further, as far as the per-year average goes. To be perfectly honest, if you're going to turn down top 5 money at your position, you're a damn fool, and you deserve whatever negative things come of it. I would laugh my ass off if neither dunta nor owen got their deals done, both become/remain RFA's with the burning of the old CBA, and they lose a good 7 million each in the process, because their agents are f*cking stupid. according to last year's numbers, owen was, among TE's: 5th in receptions, 3rd in yards, 5th in ypc (min 40 receptions), 6th in 1st down % (same min), and tied for 3rd in fumbles. sounds like 4th highest paid TE in the sport is right where he should be. Get your head out of your ass and play some football.

[Keith]

Update from Owen via Facebook a little over an hour ago seems to counter the PFT story:

We're still working really hard to get something done. Hopefully we can make it happen soon.

If the Texans really did offer what these reports suggest, and assuming there is nothing funny with the per year averages (i.e. backloading the "guarantees" with some huge roster bonus in 2011 or something), then I'd think REAL hard before turning down the next offer if I were Daniels.

I hate commenting on this though because we don't know what's really happening with these negotiations. If you think you know just because you saw it reported on the chron or somewhere else, then in reality you only know an angle of it filtered through the lens of someone who may or may not trust and understand the info him/herself.

Just sayin'. I think I've said this a bunch already, but I am still skeptical that the Texans really had that huge offer to Dunta on the table. I could be wrong of course, but Dunta's agent has been a little quiet on the terms and we all know already that Rick Smith and the Texans know how to use the chron as their mouthpiece when they want to.

But if the reports are true, then these guys should sign. But we don't know all the facts other than that the teams and not the players hold all the cards in both of these negotiations.

Back to Daniels... unless he knows that a new CBA is coming, then he needs to know that he's screwed. That's why I would sign any legit offer I can get, and a top 3-5 offer is legit. Which is different than Dunta... he'll get almost $10mm as a f-tag w/o a deal vs. the $2mm or so OD gets with just his tender. Big difference, plus the situation is the same in 2010 without a CBA with Dunta as potential UFA, Daniels as RFA.

[Mike]

That quote from OD makes me breathe a bit easier. I hope they can get him and Demeco done before camp opens. Lance Z this AM said that OD and Dunta are represented by the same firm, so maybe...maybe I am looking for the silver lining that if they can get OD taken care of, that might make it a little easier for Dunta to get a deal done. With Demeco canning his agent that says he wants to get a deal done.

Hopefully both sides in all three cases understand the art of the negotiation and can come to reasonable concessions to make the deals happen.

[Keith]

As I was saying earlier today...

Originally Posted by Keith

I hate commenting on this though because we don't know what's really happening with these negotiations. If you think you know just because you saw it reported on the chron or somewhere else, then in reality you only know an angle of it filtered through the lens of someone who may or may not trust and understand the info him/herself.

The chron has an updated article on the situation, this time with quotes from Daniels' agent:

The Chronicle reported that the Texans' offer made would make Daniels the second-highest paid tight end in the league.

“I’ve read reports in the media about the contract and they are not accurate,” Herman said. “We didn’t have anything to do with those reports. I’m hoping we can have professional dialogue with Rick to get this done. I think the key to getting something done is not to go over the details in the media.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...t/6479538.html

So Daniels' camp is disclaiming ownership of the contract details link, and now later in that chron link above Smith says he wants to keep negotiations private. Soooo... typical negotiation stuff, meaning as fans we should be careful to jump to conclusions as long as both sides remain open to negotiation.

And if you want more blah blah on this, Kuharsky has a post at the worldwide.