Jennings camp demanding new deal

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David
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First, Jennings was unwise to sign a contract without some type of starter's clause for the 2nd or 3rd year (meaning, if he's the #1 quarterback, the $55K or $57K goes out the window). In other words, he most definitely should have had agent representation. Yes, a contract is a contract, but I do think Wally should give the kid a raise to about $100K for this season, but only if he wins the quarterback battle coming out of camp. Having Jennings at $100K and Lulay at $175K* is still a hell of a deal for the football club - given most CFL clubs are paying about $400K for their starter alone!

Seems like Wally is backtracking now on who the clear cut #1 is. That wasn't the case 2 months ago when he was restructuring Travis's deal, knowing damn well that Jennings was going to lead this team and be the face of the franchise. It's called "doing the right thing." Pay up. Or risk having Jennings play with a chip on his shoulder and bolt this football outpost at the earliest opportunity. *Ahem* been there, done that.

(*this is an estimate based on Ghahremani's words. He said Travis will be making more than 3x Jonathon's salary this year. If Jonathon is due $55K, then 3x that is $165,000. "More than" could very well mean $175,000).


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JohnHenry
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If Travis is only making $165k, he might need a new agent too. :wink: I'd have projected Travis' new contract to be in the $250k range, with starting bonuses bringing the maximum close to $400k. That's what veteran starters normally earn in the CFL. I'd have thought all QB's would have starting bonuses written into their contracts? If a QB is good enough to start he should be rewarded as such, at least for that game.

The fair thing might be renegotiate Jennings contract adding a starting bonus similar to Lulay's for this season. The Lions will only have to pay the starting bonus to one or the other QB, rather than banking the $7k per game saving if Jennings starts (or thereabouts). Then if Jennings does good this year his salary could be bumped up to a Jr. starter's level, $250k or whatever, for the next season.
Dooger in Surrey
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It seems to me to be too big a risk to open up the vault for Jennings and renegotiate his deal after just one year. That's what you do for a third-year QB who is still getting better, especially after he has made major contributions to winning you a championship; not for a one-year player who only has six games of actual first-team reps. Who knows whether Jennings can duplicate his impressive play from late last year, now that the other eight teams have a significant bank of film on him.Oh and just in passing, ever heard of the sophomore jinx? Another significant point: Jennings had veteran QB Travis Lulay's hand in his back during those six games.

I agree with some posters here that Wally needs to get him more money at some point this season, if he continues to shine. But paying him CFL starter money makes no sense for a young guy with less than half a season under the gun. I really wonder though, how will Jennings' teammates react if Wally digs in his heels and says to Jennings and his agent: "Here is my bottom line, Jonathon : Both you and the ball club signed your deal in good faith; it is now up to you, and us, to honour it."

Dooger in Surrey :bc50:
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Hambone
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Dooger in Surrey wrote:It seems to me to be too big a risk to open up the vault for Jennings and renegotiate his deal after just one year. That's what you do for a third-year QB who is still getting better, especially after he has made major contributions to winning you a championship; not for a one-year player who only has six games of actual first-team reps. Who knows whether Jennings can duplicate his impressive play from late last year, now that the other eight teams have a significant bank of film on him.Oh and just in passing, ever heard of the sophomore jinx? Another significant point: Jennings had veteran QB Travis Lulay's hand in his back during those six games.

I agree with some posters here that Wally needs to get him more money at some point this season, if he continues to shine. But paying him CFL starter money makes no sense for a young guy with less than half a season under the gun. I really wonder though, how will Jennings' teammates react if Wally digs in his heels and says to Jennings and his agent: "Here is my bottom line, Jonathon : Both you and the ball club signed your deal in good faith; it is now up to you, and us, to honour it."

Dooger in Surrey :bc50:
Agreed. I think there's a bit too much panic here. Buono has never been adverse to tearing up a deal and moving his QBs up the pay scale when it's warranted. I would be shocked if he didn't already have it in the back of his mind to do just that if Jennings continues right where he left off last year. IMO it's better for Jennings to get into negotiating a raise 6 games into this season as opposed to now. Everything looks good based on last year but he'd be in a much better negotiating position if he had another solid 6 game body of work to add to that.

From the club's perspective Wally has to be thinking a bit longer term. Giving a token amount like another $50K serves no purpose. If you give him that today and he plays well this year then we'll be playing that game again this time next year. If I'm in Wally's shoes as much as I may believe he is the real deal I need to see a bigger body of work. Once I've seen that then I want to get his name on a new deal not just for more money but also beyond the term of his current deal. I don't want to hand Jennings $50K in March. I want to be in position to approach him in mid-season about something over $200K that carries out beyond 2018.

As for Buono possibly backtracking on #1 I don't think that's the case. Jennings' agent has brought this out into the open. Wally is just tossing a bit of counter rhetoric out there. No doubt that it's Jennings' job to lose but it's not absolutely guaranteed he will be the starter coming out of camp. He still has to do all the things he needs to do in camp to get that pencilled-in name turned into ink. I'm sure Lulay isn't coming to camp with the thought that the door to the starting role is welded shut with a "Do Not Enter" sign on it.
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WestCoastJoe
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Hambone wrote: From the club's perspective Wally has to be thinking a bit longer term. Giving a token amount like another $50K serves no purpose. If you give him that today and he plays well this year then we'll be playing that game again this time next year. If I'm in Wally's shoes as much as I may believe he is the real deal I need to see a bigger body of work. Once I've seen that then I want to get his name on a new deal not just for more money but also beyond the term of his current deal. I don't want to hand Jennings $50K in March. I want to be in position to approach him in mid-season about something over $200K that carries out beyond 2018.
Giving a token amount like another $50K serves no purpose.
"serves no purpose"?

It is a reward to a player for bringing some hope to the fans of a franchise in decline.

It is a reward to a worker who has vastly exceeded expectations.

It is proof of belief in a player.

It would be a one time bonus, not negotiated. But it holds promise of a much better contract in the future.

It shows that the player is valued.

It might show that Wally, who has a reputation as GM for being tight with a dollar, sees a high ceiling for this player.

It is recognition that the contract Jennings played under last year was prohibitively in the favour of the team. Along the lines of: "You were worth much more to our franchise than the $52,000 you signed for last year."

It is a message to the players on the team that the organization seeks to be fair in the compensation it pays.

It has the chance to build player loyalty.

On and on.

Just IMO as a fan.

Fans see things differently.

We will see how this mini-dispute over fair pay, now in the media, plays out.
With CFL starters averaging roughly $400,000 a season, it makes no sense for Jennings to attend training camp in June under terms of his current deal. His agent, Bardia Ghahremani, will see to it that he doesn’t. -- Mike Beamish
Better yet, better even than a $50,000 bonus, renegotiate the present contract before training camp, when this issue would take on a more high profile, high risk life. Contracts are not carved in stone in the CFL. Paying too much? Cut him loose, or renegotiate downwards.

Once again, just IMO.

http://www.canada.com/sports/Lions+Jenn ... story.html
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Jimmy Johnson's Game Keys: Protect the ball. Make plays.

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Hambone
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WestCoastJoe wrote:
Hambone wrote: From the club's perspective Wally has to be thinking a bit longer term. Giving a token amount like another $50K serves no purpose. If you give him that today and he plays well this year then we'll be playing that game again this time next year. If I'm in Wally's shoes as much as I may believe he is the real deal I need to see a bigger body of work. Once I've seen that then I want to get his name on a new deal not just for more money but also beyond the term of his current deal. I don't want to hand Jennings $50K in March. I want to be in position to approach him in mid-season about something over $200K that carries out beyond 2018.
Giving a token amount like another $50K serves no purpose.
"serves no purpose"?

It is a reward to a player for bringing some hope to the fans of a franchise in decline.

It is a reward to a worker who has vastly exceeded expectations.

It is proof of belief in a player.

It would be a one time bonus, not negotiated. But it holds promise of a much better contract in the future.

It shows that the player is valued.

It might show that Wally, who has a reputation as GM for being tight with a dollar, sees a high ceiling for this player.

It is recognition that the contract Jennings played under last year was prohibitively in the favour of the team. Along the lines of: "You were worth much more to our franchise than the $52,000 you signed for last year."

It is a message to the players on the team that the organization seeks to be fair in the compensation it pays.

It has the chance to build player loyalty.

On and on.

Just IMO as a fan.

Fans see things differently.

We will see how this mini-dispute over fair pay, now in the media, plays out.
With CFL starters averaging roughly $400,000 a season, it makes no sense for Jennings to attend training camp in June under terms of his current deal. His agent, Bardia Ghahremani, will see to it that he doesn’t. -- Mike Beamish
Better yet, better even than a $50,000 bonus, renegotiate the present contract before training camp, when this issue would take on a more high profile, high risk life. Contracts are not carved in stone in the CFL. Paying to much? Cut him loose, or renegotiate downwards.

Once again, just IMO.

http://www.canada.com/sports/Lions+Jenn ... story.html
Where I was coming from on that WCJ was that I believe it should be done as part of a formal negotiation of an extension, not simply cutting a one time cheque. I don't know for sure if they can just arbitrarily cut a cheque or if they have to rewrite the contract to include the bonus. Beamish mentions $400K for starters. Bo Levi Mitchell may now be in that range but it wasn't until his 3rd contract that he got there. He first signed prior to 2012. After the 2013 season he received an extension into 2016. Likely he was heading into his option year then but while he had played less than Jennings did last year he had been with the Stamps for 2 full seasons. After the 2014 season which was his first full season as starter he got another extension that finally got him into that big $ range.

I'm not at all opposed to Jennings getting a better deal. I just think they're about 6 games too early for both him and the Lions to clearly establish his value and that once that happens BC should to negotiate a new deal that keeps him in orange for 2 more years after this one.
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WestCoastJoe
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Hambone wrote: Where I was coming from on that WCJ was that I believe it should be done as part of a formal negotiation of an extension, not simply cutting a one time cheque. I don't know for sure if they can just arbitrarily cut a cheque or if they have to rewrite the contract to include the bonus. Beamish mentions $400K for starters. Bo Levi Mitchell may now be in that range but it wasn't until his 3rd contract that he got there. He first signed prior to 2012. After the 2013 season he received an extension into 2016. Likely he was heading into his option year then but while he had played less than Jennings did last year he had been with the Stamps for 2 full seasons. After the 2014 season which was his first full season as starter he got another extension that finally got him into that big $ range.

I'm not at all opposed to Jennings getting a better deal. I just think they're about 6 games too early for both him and the Lions to clearly establish his value and that once that happens BC should to negotiate a new deal that keeps him in orange for 2 more years after this one.
I hear ya, Hambone.

Wally cannot break the bank for Jennings. And Jennings did sign the deal. And as his agent said, he ran through the door with the opportunity.

My concern is kind of about old school thinking vs somewhat newer thinking. Old school says you signed, honour it. Newer thinking acknowledges that morale of the individual is very, very important. If the player deserves more, it is wise to find ways to get a more fair deal.

Based on the agent's view, it seems to me a nose or two might be out of joint if it gets to TC, and Jennings is stuck with the old deal. This is made worse if it looks like he has no leg up on starter status heading to camp.

I think GM's can evaluate players with the body of work Jennings has done. It is all there on film. Live bullets in league games. Heck, a guy could play very well for 3 years and then decline. Jennings played some outstanding football for a third of a season. That is a very significant trial under fire. And as noted CFL contracts are not carved in stone. If you pay too much, there are remedies.

With an old school approach, there is a risk of losing the player's commitment to the franchise, developing some bitterness. We sure as heck do not want that. How often does a "potential" franchise QB come along?

We will see how it plays out.
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Jimmy Johnson's Game Keys: Protect the ball. Make plays.

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The biggest knock I have against giving Jennings a "starter" deal is his body of work. He has started 6 games, SIX; that is nothing in the CFL. In the past few years we have we seen QBs start a few to several games and look good only to flame out.

The biggest test for Jennings is going into this season with teams knowing he is the projected starter, can strategize against him and have game tape to study on him. Can Jennings replicate AND improve on his performance in 2016.

IMHO, raise him up to the $100k range, and throw in starter incentives, but the bonus can only be achieved if he plays 75% of the games and plays well.
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aklawitter
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raise, incentives, bonuses

if he stinks you cut him loose like any other non-guaranteed contract

if he performs, fantastic
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Yes, Jennings has only started 6 games, so that's why he should not get a brand new long term deal with an elite QB salary. BUT, in those 6 starts Jennings did not just look promising, he was arguably one of the best QBs in the league for the last third of the season. Yes, we've seen rookies do well for a game or two only to flame out just as quickly (hello Rakeem Cato?) but what we saw from Jennings last year not that. What Jennings showed was perhaps how poor the Lions front office and coaching staff has become at identifying and developing talent. Jennings gave us a brief glimpse of the future in pre-season, yet remained on the bench after Lulay got hurt and Beck proved ineffective. If Beck had not been also injured we may not have seen Jennings on the field until game 17 or 18 of the season, after the Lions would have been eliminated from the playoff and too many of the players had mentally checked out.

Instead, Jennings got his shot while games still mattered and I believe he proved what many of the other players were already thinking, that he gave the Lions the best chance to win. I'm not surprised that WB is going to try to diminish Jennings value because after all WB was likely one of those "experts" that refused to see his potential and instead hitch the Lions fortunes to Beck.

Bumping Jennings up to a decent back-up QB salary ($100K?), with incentives for starts/success is the only decent thing to do. Otherwise WB risks losing Jennings and possibly others. If the Lions mess up this opportunity with Jennings over $50,000 the organisation is going to look completely Mickey-Mouse. If Jennings just brings in an extra 1000 fans he pays for his own raise.
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Belize City Lion wrote:Yes, Jennings has only started 6 games, so that's why he should not get a brand new long term deal with an elite QB salary. BUT, in those 6 starts Jennings did not just look promising, he was arguably one of the best QBs in the league for the last third of the season. Yes, we've seen rookies do well for a game or two only to flame out just as quickly (hello Rakeem Cato?) but what we saw from Jennings last year not that. What Jennings showed was perhaps how poor the Lions front office and coaching staff has become at identifying and developing talent. Jennings gave us a brief glimpse of the future in pre-season, yet remained on the bench after Lulay got hurt and Beck proved ineffective. If Beck had not been also injured we may not have seen Jennings on the field until game 17 or 18 of the season, after the Lions would have been eliminated from the playoff and too many of the players had mentally checked out.

Instead, Jennings got his shot while games still mattered and I believe he proved what many of the other players were already thinking, that he gave the Lions the best chance to win. I'm not surprised that WB is going to try to diminish Jennings value because after all WB was likely one of those "experts" that refused to see his potential and instead hitch the Lions fortunes to Beck.

Bumping Jennings up to a decent back-up QB salary ($100K?), with incentives for starts/success is the only decent thing to do. Otherwise WB risks losing Jennings and possibly others. If the Lions mess up this opportunity with Jennings over $50,000 the organisation is going to look completely Mickey-Mouse. If Jennings just brings in an extra 1000 fans he pays for his own raise.
Well said, BCL.

Get it done before TC seems best to me.
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Jimmy Johnson's Game Keys: Protect the ball. Make plays.

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Sir Purrcival
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Spud387 wrote:The biggest knock I have against giving Jennings a "starter" deal is his body of work. He has started 6 games, SIX; that is nothing in the CFL. In the past few years we have we seen QBs start a few to several games and look good only to flame out.

The biggest test for Jennings is going into this season with teams knowing he is the projected starter, can strategize against him and have game tape to study on him. Can Jennings replicate AND improve on his performance in 2016.

IMHO, raise him up to the $100k range, and throw in starter incentives, but the bonus can only be achieved if he plays 75% of the games and plays well.
I don't think I have seen a suggestion here that he should get Ricky Ray money but with the current contract, I would be willing to bet that he is getting paid less than most backup QB's while potentially being our starting QB; backup at the the very least. Nope, I agree with WCJ. Giving him a better contract now transcends just the dollar value. It speaks a whole lot about value put on the man and his place on the team. Waiting until the season starts accomplishes exactly one thing; it cements the bad feelings that already seem to be brewing while we are 3 months off. Wally's statements as displayed in this thread are "Not" helpful and not particularly intelligent.
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CardiacKid
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Keep any negotiating / posturing out of the realm of social media and this should go forward into positive territory for BOTH sides; the Jennings camps will see improvement in regards to the contract $ and the Leos will gain solidity for the future at the pivot spot.

Jennings seems the last guy to pull a tantrum online and Wally's past modus operandi is not a secret AND he has opened the purse strings for guys already within the fold of the team.

Keep everything above board and negotiate face to face and not via twitter and this should have a happy ending.
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CardiacKid
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One thing that just crossed my mind is....are CFL contracts honoured in Canadian or US dollars? I just assumed it was Canadian.

Maybe the Leo's should put Paul McCallum on retainer as an in-house real estate agent and see about getting players better deals on housing as a "contract incentive"?!?! Especially seeing as the Lower Mainland housing market is supposedly a big hurdle in getting guys to join the Leos.

Maybe Bosa Properties as a sponsor could build something akin to the "company town" of old. Only it would be for Lion's players and their families and be a fraction of the cost of typical property prices.
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B.C.FAN
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CFL contracts are paid in Canadian dollars. A housing allowance would likely be considered a paid benefit under the SMS. I'm not sure about subsidized housing provided by a team sponsor.
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