May 25, 2013

Cribbs Cleans Out Locker, Says Goodbyes

January 8, 2010 by 65 Comments

Josh Cribbs LockerYesterday, we reported that Josh Cribbs’ agent Peter Schaffer said that his client was going to Berea to clean out his locker. While this may have been considered one of the many idle threats that appear to be littering the media, the Pro Bowl return man and fan favorite did just that.

“I said goodbye to some people on the medical staff, some of the equipment guys and the coaches,” Cribbs said during a phone interview with Mary Kay Cabot. “I wished the coaches luck and told them I hoped they kept their jobs. But it absolutely felt like the last time I’d be setting foot inside the building. I feel like it’s over for me in Cleveland.”

He then proceeded to tell The Plain Dealer that the next step will be a trade request. Said request hinges on the questionable comments made by team representative Dawn Aponte that claimed the extension offer of $1.4 million per year was in fact the team’s final offer – it “will be the same in March, and the same offer in September.”

Cribbs is understandably frustrated with the organization that reportedly promised him a new deal.  While the Browns did offer in fact just that, consensus feeling is that the offer is considerably low in comparison to his peers.

As Cabot points out, Cribbs has more all-purpose yards than any other player in the NFL over the last three seasons; a list that includes players like Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson, San Diego’s Darren Sproles and Jacksonville’s Maurice Jones-Drew.  A big supporter of head coach Eric Mangini, it appears that while Mangini will be back for 2010, he will not have his Pro-Bowl return man along his side. 

One week ago, not many would have pegged Mangini being the one back in Cleveland in 2010 while Cribbs could possibly be playing elsewhere.

–

(Image via Joshuan Cribbs)

Related Posts

Zemanta
Filed Under: Browns Tagged With: , , ,
← Older Comments
  • CLESportsFan

    Glad to see others are tiring of this saga!

    For Cribbs to think he should be the Browns off season priority sits bad with me. He’s been here, he knows how much we want to win, why not let Holmgren get settled, get a GM in here and THEN negotiate a new contract?

    I was on Josh’s side until he Tweeted every 10 minutes about how wronged he was by the Browns.

    How about signing a contract and then not fullfilling it… THAT is wrong!

  • Roosevelt

    I don’t know why people don’t get this. A contract in the NFL is completely one sided. If something happens to Cribbs, or any player, they are screwed. That is why it is of such desperate importance that they maximize what good years they have. It’s not like the NBA, where you can “beat” the cap by giving a contract that pays even after the player is out of his prime. The second a player loses a step, he’s gone. If it happens in the middle of his contract, if it happens tomorrow, he’s done. He already has a year of good citizenship. It’s time to squeeze every cent he can out of his hard work and ability.

  • Sactorious

    Cribbs is slowing losing the only leverage he has, the support of the fans. His “dramatic” act of cleaning out his locker will do nothing but alienate the fan base. Overpaying for a kick returner will hurt the team more than letting him and his small salary hold out for a few years.

  • http://www.waitingfornextyear.com Denny

    @ Roosevelt – my issue isn’t the demands, per se. It’s the method by which the demands are being made. The use of Twitter seems juvenile and completely contrived to me. If you want to do things publicly, you can do it with tact – and that’s not happening.

    I think we are all in agreement for the most part that he deserves more. I just don’t like the way it’s coming about, at all. From either side involved.

  • Tikihat

    Unless Dawn has verified the email herself, we still only have the agent’s word that she said anything about a final offer. Any schoolkid can type a doc that looks just like an email printpage, and editing a different email to forward as “proof” is no harder.

  • Roosevelt

    @54 Denny: But what’s he supposed to do? It’s all part of his larger negotiations, and it amps up the pressure on Holmberg and co.

    Besides, what would perception be if he didn’t say a word to the public and just didn’t show up to camp? Would you be happy then?

  • CLEKiD[330]

    Why the hell are we not giving the man his money I mean come on!

  • Jackson

    People that say he didn’t earn a raise are insane. It is not much of a stretch to say that without him this team wins 1 or 2 games at most. If Mangini had a set, he would talk to Holmgren as he would likely got canned had it not been for Cribbs efforts against Pitt and KC.

    What kills me is that the Browns are not a penny pitching team. They throw money around at Free Agents and GM/Coaches like its nothing. Yet when it comes time to pay the heart & soul of the team they turn into cheapskates.

    If we trade this guy for a 1st/2nd rounder, we would basically be paying that pick an equal amount to what Cribbs is requesting. Why not pay the sure thing instead of hoping some draft pick pans out or overpaying some stiff FA receiver/return guy to replace Cribbs.

  • milton

    “I don’t know why people don’t get this. A contract in the NFL is completely one sided. ”

    Valid point. It’s worth noting, however, that these contracts work within a system that was collectively bargained, agreed to and accepted by the players. It’s not as one-sided as that statement would make it seem. The large signing bonuses benefit the players, and that is frequently ignored when making this point–in this case, people point to Josh’s annual salary (what is it, $740k this year? I forget.) and ignore the fact that a signing bonus is advance payment for future services rendered. He’s making more than what his annual salary is this year, because he received a portion of this year’s salary three years in advance. That’s important to remember, as well, and the players use the public’s short memory and general ignorance to their benefit when going public with these squabbles. This system also nets the players over 60% of all the gross revenue coming into the NFL–they make more money than the owners do. Not many businesses where you’re contractually obligated to pay out the majority of your gross revenues before you even get around to paying your other expenses, like rent, utilities, taxes…

    “If something happens to Cribbs, or any player, they are screwed.”

    If a player is well-advised, they’re covered in the event of injury. It’s not talked about often, and I’m guessing many players would rather blow their money than insure their futures… but Tony Romo made big news a couple years ago when he took out that big insurance policy during his contract year. All players should be doing that–they are responsible for insuring themselves and their families against loss of earnings.

    It’s also worth noting that although life-threatening injuries do occur, they’re not frequent. Career-threatening injuries, yes. But that doesn’t mean that their lives are over, it just means maybe they’re going to have to driver a BMW instead of a Bentley when they move into the next stage of their life. Even the lowest-paid in the NFL make some eight times the average American income. Nobody should be “screwed” when their playing days are over, especially a successful (if underpaid) player like Josh Cribbs whose income from the Browns is somewhere approaching $4.5 million over the past three years.

  • http://www.waitingfornextyear.com Denny

    @ Rosie – I understand that he needs to leverage the team into signing a new deal. But, saying that he “Feels like [he's] been betrayed by [his] best friend..” isn’t the way to go about it. If you’re going to establish that it’s a business decision, statements like this are worthless and just make him look bad.

    I’m saying that it’s possible for him to leverage the team publicly without doing so in a pouty manner.

    I’ll be happy when he gets a new deal and stays on the Cleveland Football Browns.

  • BackNineSurge

    Cribs and a 3rd for Donovan McNabb. You hear me Heckert?

  • milton

    So I checked the numbers (at the USA Today NFL salary database and on PFT), it looks like Josh Cribbs has taken in $4,695,000 since signing his contract three years ago (thanks to his $2 million signing bonus.) Just for perspective.

    And Denny nails it. I don’t know anyone that would argue Cribbs doesn’t deserve more money, it’s the way he and his agent are going about it.

    The two highest ranking people in the organization have publicly said they’ll take care of him–but he’s making himself look like a petulant child right now. If they’re patient, let Holmgren at least make a GM decision (since a Heckert can’t come on board until the team’s run is over) and I could see them getting it worked out. Holmgren’s an honest broker who seems willing to do right by him–bad idea to pursue a strategy to antogonize and vilify him while risking damage to Cribbs positive public image. Holmgren’s past shows him to be pretty tough when players become adversarial like this–it doesn’t seem to be a good strategy for Cribbs to take with him.

  • Vince

    PAY THE MAN, Cribbs is, by far, our best player. And we need to give him what he deserves.

    Comparison: Devin Hester (all pupose return man, similar to Cribbs) singed a 4-year $40 MILLION contract extension in 2008. Yea, he gets a little more action at reciever than Cribbs, but Cribbs runs the flash, can pass the ball (better than Anderson most of the time), and runs the ball.

    I don’t know, but the Browns offer of $1.4 million seems kind of week to me. Sure, Cribbs singed a 6-year deal and he’s not going to make the big bucks, but at least respect him enough to give him part of what he’s worth.

    Give him $6 million.

  • Vince

    Or, even better, do a contract swap with Derek Anderson!

  • DCBucks

    milton = dawn aponte?

  • Pingback: Browns Update: Cribbs Deal Imminent? | WaitingForNextYear

← Older Comments