- 3 months ago
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00:00Jim in Oakland wants to weigh in on the Juwan Jennings situation.
00:04Hi, Jim. What are you doing? Thanks for calling.
00:07Hey, fellas. How are you doing? I'm just driving home from work.
00:10And I never thought I'd say this, but I had to call in and agree with you, Mr. Willard.
00:15Oh!
00:16110%.
00:17Yes, indeed. You're 100% on point with the fact that you need to realize that you're going to get your ass cut
00:24after you sign a contract if you get hurt, number one.
00:27Number two, everybody's got to get over the fact that these NFL players make what they make.
00:32And if you want to look at a relative cop that would actually kind of put things in perspective,
00:37think of Brendan Ayuk.
00:38If he listened to all you guys, reported, blew out his knee last year,
00:42where do you think he would be this year trying to get a contract?
00:45That's it.
00:46That's a great point.
00:47Yeah, Jim, thanks.
00:48And I hate to sort of like jump in that boat because I have all kinds of opinions about the Ayuk situation.
00:55You made it.
00:56Well, the Niners misplayed it.
00:57Yeah, they absolutely misplayed the whole thing.
01:00And I hate the way that that all went down, but it is a wonderful, wonderful comp.
01:06Do you remember how many people called this radio station and said,
01:10damn it, Brandon, why don't you just play on the final year of your deal?
01:14Why don't you bet on yourself?
01:15How many of you Kaminga followers right now are doing that?
01:19Just bet on yourself, dude.
01:20Dude, it's going to work out.
01:22And what would Brandon have made this offseason if he had gone out there and leg explodes week six?
01:30He would have lost, I mean, millions upon millions upon millions of dollars.
01:35Now, I know that's not a perfect comp because we're talking about someone who has already re-signed a contract in Juwan Jennings.
01:43Ah, there it is.
01:44As opposed to Brandon Ayuk.
01:45But no, but that doesn't really change the fact that when you're in the NFL, your contracts are not guaranteed,
01:52you can be cut, and you're coming up on the final year of your deal.
01:56This is not an unprecedented thing.
01:59Of course it's not unprecedented.
02:01I mean, this is all over the league right now.
02:04This is Trey Hendrickson.
02:05Trey Hendrickson, exactly.
02:06Is he supposed to show up?
02:07Hey, you signed a deal, dude.
02:09You signed a deal.
02:11So let's go.
02:12Get your butt into camp.
02:14Yeah.
02:14Start banging helmets.
02:15Let's go.
02:16I mean, you don't have to.
02:18It's not about supposed to, and it's not about what you are contractually obligated to do.
02:23And, you know, Juwan Jennings is injured.
02:26He's got a calf that is to the, well, that's what they're telling us.
02:31Kyle Shanahan has said that he saw it, and he saw the calf.
02:36And so he said that based on the imaging, however long ago that was, that there was an injury.
02:42And you're right.
02:44Brandon Ayuk, Juwan Jennings, Trey Hendrickson, none of these guys, quote unquote, has to show up.
02:51Just because you're under contract and just because you've already been paid out some $6 million in a signing bonus, when you got that $6 million signing bonus, you were all happy to sign that and show up and get your money.
03:04And that's great.
03:05And then you had a wonderful year that was circumstantial.
03:09And the circumstances were you threw it more than normal.
03:12You didn't have other receivers who were good.
03:15You put up good numbers and your team wasn't very good.
03:17So now, after that, well, now I want to get more money because I had a good year.
03:22So you're allowed to go there and do it, and the team's allowed to say, no, you signed a contract.
03:28We gave you $6 million in a signing bonus, so now you're going to come back to us?
03:33I'm not denying him his right to do whatever he wants.
03:38And you have a contract, so do I.
03:40I can decide tomorrow that, well, I'm off tomorrow, but Monday I can decide, you know what?
03:46I'm not happy with my contract.
03:48I'm not coming back until they do right by me.
03:51And this company can say, oh, okay, turns out Mark Grandy's really good.
03:56I know you're explaining what each side has a right to do.
04:00I guess that, like, I understand that.
04:02I'm just saying that I hear a lot of people criticizing Juwan for this, and I don't think it's fair.
04:08I don't think it's fair.
04:09It is an odd dynamic that exists in sports, sports media, and sports fandom,
04:16which is that we get mad at the player when these disagreements happen.
04:20But we never get mad at the owner.
04:23And then we'll say things about the player, like, $8 million is not enough for you?
04:27What's to get mad at the owner right now in this situation?
04:30Okay, well, it's not just this situation.
04:32We're bringing up Trey Hendrickson, Micah Parsons, for example.
04:36What's to get mad at the owner for?
04:37You are not taking care of players who have played well for you and deserve something.
04:44Now, if you don't think that applies to Juwan, that's fine.
04:47I'm not saying you have a crazy opinion.
04:50But Juwan is not the one or the only one who deserves to be criticized here.
04:56So many of you are lined up to say, you signed a deal, now be there.
04:59And none of you are there to say that when a player gets – like, who's got Brian Robinson's back right now?
05:05He's got a contract, but the commanders are going to cut him.
05:09Why is that okay?
05:11Why is that okay and it's not okay for the player to say, listen, I think that this deal is a little out of alignment right now
05:20and I'd like it to be reviewed.
05:21That's really all he's saying.
05:24So if you don't agree and you don't think the Niners should do anything, good on you.
05:28That's cool.
05:28But I don't think Juwan's done anything that deserves criticism.
05:32I really don't.
05:32I don't know if it's necessarily criticism, but if I'm the 49ers, you're not Trey Hendrickson,
05:39you're not Micah Parsons, you're not Brandon Iyuk, you're not Nick Bosa, you're Juwan Jennings.
05:44You had a good year.
05:46You had a good year for a bad team.
05:48Had more than a good year.
05:49You can call – you can use whatever word you want.
05:51He's been a very good player.
05:52He's been good.
05:53Yes.
05:53He's been a good player.
05:55Seventh-round draft pick.
05:56It doesn't matter where you were drafting.
05:57No, it doesn't.
05:58That ship has sailed.
05:59But he's a very good player who proved last year that he's better than we thought he was.
06:05Okay, great.
06:06So when your contract is up and you have that year in a contract year, we will reward you
06:13or you can go out there in the open market.
06:15Just because you had a good year on a bad team, we went 6-11 with your good year.
06:20Does that mean we've got to give you $17 million a year?
06:23It does not.
06:24But I think you're dismissing the physicality of this sport.
06:27I'm not.
06:27I'm not at all.
06:28Yeah, you are.
06:28Because people are saying, like, you're not a free agent.
06:31So you have to wait until you're a free agent.
06:33Well, you know what?
06:35One of my feet might be turned the other way by then.
06:38So I've got to ask now.
06:40Like that – I think that's totally fair.
06:43And none of us can walk in those shoes.
06:45You've talked to these people.
06:47I've talked to these people.
06:48We've hosted with these people.
06:50Call Lowe and ask what he thinks.
06:51This is freaking, unbelievably excruciating pain.
06:58Every week, every year, they dread showing up to camp because they know how much it hurts.
07:05And I'm not playing a violin for them.
07:08They signed up for it.
07:10But the nature of the physicality of the sport is why owners are allowed to cut you before your deal's up
07:17because no one wants to guarantee five years like they do in the NBA or MLB
07:22because they know damn well there's a high likelihood you ain't going to make it to the end of that.
07:26Exactly.
07:27So same – it's got to go the other way then, too.
07:31You cannot tell someone you signed your deal even though it's out of whack.
07:35You have to show up and put your body through that again.
07:38And sorry, too bad.
07:40Tough nuts.
07:41That's a tough position.
07:42Well, he doesn't have to show up and do that.
07:44Well, but then he doesn't get any money at all.
07:46Well, there you go.
07:47So what do you want?
07:48I want a middle ground.
07:50Right.
07:50Well, the middle ground is we –
07:52I just want Juwan to not be criticized.
07:54That's all I'm saying.
07:55I don't know if it's criticism.
07:56And I'm not necessarily criticizing him.
07:58I'm just saying that when you sign a contract and you agree to a two-year deal
08:03and you get a boatload of money up front in a signing bonus,
08:07we have to also remember that the team broke you off a nice, handsome signing bonus
08:12for you to be here for two years.
08:13And year one, yeah, you were well beyond what your annual salary was.
08:19So good for both of us.
08:20Good for you because you're one year away from being a free agent.
08:23And if you do it again, then you're going to get the massive money you want.
08:27And in the meantime, we get –
08:29Well, I mean, what are you supposed to do about Brock Purdy?
08:32And I know contractually you couldn't give him money before the time that you did,
08:37but Brian Robinson's an interesting one where –
08:39I mean, meet in the middle is all I'm saying.
08:41Like, if you keep bringing up this, like, oh, because he probably would.
08:44If you're on the open market right now, he might command $15 million to $17 million.
08:48I don't think the Niners can or should do that.
08:50But, like, is there something?
08:52Can you – hey, how you doing, dude?
08:54Like, great year?
08:55Right.
08:56Like, can you –
08:57So then the next guy who has a good year, then it's like, hey, you did it for all these other guys.
09:03Can you do it for me?
09:04And they all do that.
09:05There's no NFL player.
09:06And the Niners don't always give them the money, which is why Mooney Ward is gone.
09:10Like, this is such an under-the-covers thing because no one even really remembers it.
09:15Do you remember when Raheem Mostert did this?
09:17And Raheem Mostert is not as good as Jawan Jennings.
09:20But they used him a lot.
09:21And he had a massive game in the NFC title game.
09:24And he came back.
09:26And I think he was making about a million and a half.
09:28And they were like, dude, Raheem Mostert is requesting a trade.
09:33And it was on Twitter.
09:34And people were laughing at the agent.
09:35They're like, Raheem Mostert is requesting a trade?
09:39Fine.
09:40We'll use Jeff Wilson.
09:41Whatever, dude.
09:42Matt Breed is here.
09:43What are you talking about?
09:44But do you know what the Niners did?
09:46Something.
09:47They didn't do nothing.
09:49And I don't even know exactly what the number was.
09:51They guaranteed something.
09:53They lopped another million bucks on there or something.
09:57Just let, like, reward the guy.
10:00And again, I'm not even here.
10:02I'm not saying the Niners are doing anything wrong.
10:04I've said a number of times in this conversation, I see both sides.
10:07I just do not like the concept of fans lining up to be like, I hate it when guys won't honor
10:13their contract, when nobody ever says boo, when the owners don't honor the contract.
10:19They don't.
10:20Well, they don't have to.
10:21Right.
10:21And that's the nature of the Players Association and the league.
10:25And that's where the players kind of screwed up to where they don't have the leverage.
10:30And in football, you're not going to have the leverage.
10:33And if you want to go across the league and talk about how many players can actually hold
10:37their team's feet to the fire, the number is about, percentage-wise, about 2%.
10:43A lot of guys do it.
10:44Or 3%.
10:44Did Ayuk not do it?
10:46Right.
10:46And I don't know if he actually was that player, but he got the Niners to blink.
10:51He got the Niners to blink.
10:52They overpaid him.
10:54He got hurt.
10:54They dealt Debo.
10:56And now where are we?
10:57Niners?
10:58Yeah.
10:58You screwed it up.
10:59Well, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
11:01And I think that's the point.
11:03And the Brian Robinson one's a great case because he is set to make about $3 million this year.
11:08And they have a guy that they drafted, and they have Austin Eckler on the team.
11:13And so, like, whatever.
11:14B-Rob, go ahead and fold your arms and pout in the corner, and we're going to be all right.
11:19No, I think they think someone else is better.
11:21That's kind of the point.
11:22So they're like, let's get rid of him now before he asks for a raise in a year.
11:26I get it, but he's got a contract, and Washington is about to tear it in half.
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