00:00Okay, um, that is interesting, the Sam Laporta soundbite from Pardon My Take, Pardon My Take podcast.
00:13Um, so we are trying to, you know, you cover sports negotiations, and you try to be fair to all
00:24parties involved.
00:27Having been a part of a variety of negotiations, I have come to discover that things get exaggerated, perhaps, um,
00:39lowball offers are made, over-asks are made, and in that process, things are argued as to why or why
00:49not that the price that they are asking or price that someone is offering is the right price.
00:56So, it occurs to me that we should not take too seriously things that are said during negotiations, but Sam
01:06Laporta, you know, those comments, he does not sound thrilled with the Lions' opening offer, or at least where they
01:16have landed.
01:17Um, I have a theory on this one, and the theory is the Lions have two priority free agents to
01:24be that they have to try and extend.
01:26One is Brian Branch, and the other is Sam Laporta.
01:31And if I'm in charge, my priority has got to be Branch, not because I don't love Laporta, but because
01:39of the makeup of this team, and given Laporta can play and then get franchised, and you can spend, you
01:47know, the next year and a half trying to find, you know, your next tight end, which is going to
01:53be difficult to find one as good as Sam Laporta.
01:56But I would have to prioritize Branch, and so of my available cap space, my war chesting would be more
02:03leaning towards Brian Branch, but I also have not started negotiations with him because Brian Branch has to prove that
02:11he is healthy.
02:11If Brian Branch was healthy, I would be negotiating with him first and then come back to Laporta.
02:18But because they don't know what they're going to get from Branch, they want to make sure they have enough
02:22money if Branch is tip-top, ready to go and make plays for this team.
02:28And maybe I'm wrong on this, but I guess that's sort of what I'm trying to think of.
02:34What would logically have them be that far apart that Sam Laporta would be comfortable going public sounding like he's
02:40that far, that they're that far apart?
02:44I don't know why he would come out and say something in public about it when it sounds like they
02:49just wanted to table the discussions until after the season.
02:53But he's asked questions, he's going to respond about it, and I didn't really like the response either.
02:59I tend to agree with you, and they've got decisions to make on Laporta and Branch, and if you're going
03:04to have to choose one or the other, if I had to make a choice, I'd choose Brian Branch.
03:07And it's not because Sam Laporta's bad. Sam Laporta's really good. I think it might be easier to replace a
03:13tight end than it is to replace a safety.
03:16And, yeah, Branch is coming off an injury, and I'm not giving Branch an extension yet either.
03:20I don't have to give either guys an extension until after the season.
03:24So that's where I'd be looking at it, but I can understand he can be frustrated.
03:29But I think maybe what ends up happening is they sign one and they franchise the other.
03:35Okay, so for people who missed it or slipped past them in the update, here is again what Sam Laporta
03:42told, pardon my take.
04:14Now, he certainly has the right to do whatever he wants.
04:18If I were one of his advisors in his inner circle, I probably would say you don't need to go
04:24say all that, but it is also just part of negotiations.
04:30And we just went through this with Jalen Duren, and it feels like everything was good in the end.
04:37Like right now, is there any sign of acrimony between Duren and the Pistons organization at all?
04:43Doesn't seem like it.
04:44No.
04:44I mean, Duren said when he signed, I think gave a great press conference, and I think Trajan said nothing
04:49but glowing things.
04:50And I think that was an example of how during negotiations, it felt like it was pretty acrimonious.
04:59Then they get together, sign the contract, they sit at a podium together, and everything's fine.
05:05I think if you're Sam Laporta, if I were giving Sam Laporta some words of wisdom, I would say just
05:11be calm.
05:12Let things play out.
05:13Whether you're in Detroit next year or not, you're going to get paid.
05:16Someone's going to pay you.
05:17Yeah.
05:18Obviously, you like it here in Detroit.
05:19You love your teammates.
05:20It's the first place you play in the National Football League.
05:22You've got a relationship on the field and off the field with Jared Goff.
05:27Things work well.
05:28You want to still be part of this.
05:30You think this is a good team.
05:31You've got a window of opportunity.
05:32All those things, right?
05:33All that can still happen.
05:36You know, this is negotiation.
05:38Let the season go on and play out your season and see what happens.
05:43Because in the end, if Detroit's like, look, this is our best offer.
05:47And you know what falls well short of what you're going to get in the free agent market, then go
05:50hit the free agent market.
05:52It's easier said than done if you really love this team and you're trying to find a way to compromise
05:58and make it work.
05:59But who knows where they're really at?
06:01Because it is negotiation.
06:03Yeah, but all negotiations, too, guys, don't have to be bad.
06:06You know what I mean?
06:06Like, just the Dern one seemed like it got bad, right?
06:09Clearly, you know?
06:10If you want to believe the reports or half the reports, whatever, they all don't have to be that way.
06:14Jack Campbell's negotiation didn't seem to go that bad.
06:16They seemed to go pretty good, actually.
06:18I think both sides worked together really quick and were happy.
06:22Sam LaPorta also may want security now.
06:24You know, yes, he could wait until the season ends, but he maybe doesn't want to.
06:27And then also the franchise tag is a thing that players hate.
06:30That's going to be on the table.
06:32Sam LaPorta should be the highest paid tight end when it's all said and done.
06:36He probably should be.
06:37Whether he's the best or not.
06:38Yeah, whether he's the best or not.
06:39He's in that upper crust and he's the next guy up and that's how it works.
06:43So Sam LaPorta has seen his base salary because he basically gets a million dollar signing bonus every year.
06:50Well, it's prorated.
06:52That's not true.
06:52He gets proration because he signed a signing bonus of 3.88.
06:56So it counts just shy of a million bucks every year.
06:59His base salary has gone from $750,000 as a rookie to $1.18 million as a second-year player
07:06to $1.6 million.
07:08And this, in his fourth year, it has jumped to $5.675.
07:13The franchise tag number for next year is projected for tight ends at $17.479 million.
07:21So even if he gets the tag, he is going to make more in that one year than his collective
07:28earnings up until this point.
07:30Yeah, he's – I mean, look, there are comps out there, right?
07:33Trey McBride – I'm sorry, not Trey McBride, but Tucker Craft for the Packers just signed his deal that gives
07:40him $18.75 million a year.
07:44It's a $75 million total value contract.
07:46Trey McBride was at $19 million.
07:48It's a $76 million contract.
07:50So you're looking at, you know, these deals that look good.
07:54George Kittle is the top-paid tight end at $19.1.
07:57When Sam signs his deal, it's likely to fall in that $18 to $20 range.
08:04Now, he may set the market for tight ends, but clearly the Lions are hoping that they can find some
08:09way to get a little bit of a discount in some way
08:13because they're going to want to afford both of these.
08:14They'd love to get both of these guys in there.
08:16And, of course, there are ways to do it, and other guys can restructure contracts,
08:20and you can find your way and keep this window open for the next couple of years.
08:23But after a couple of years, you're going to pay the Piper because all the contracts are going to be
08:29coming due
08:29because you've restructured them.
08:31And where's the window at that point?
08:36So here's the other thing is that I've talked about this a bunch.
08:42Is it possible that the Lions look at this and say, if Laporta doesn't want the money,
08:49let's take it somewhere else and trade for that big-ticket item?
08:52Because it would stand to reason to me, I've understood the thought about,
08:59hey, we have to war chest to keep our really good players, our known commodities,
09:03and that's our priority.
09:05And that is something that frustrates fans quite a bit, but it is clearly their priority.
09:11But if a player in your organization doesn't want your money,
09:15would it behoove you to say, okay, we'll shift and pay somebody else who's not in the organization?
09:24What do you think?
09:25It could.
09:27To look at other teams.
09:29We've talked about Pittsburgh a lot, but Pittsburgh keeps winning games,
09:33so I don't think they're looking to trade Jalen Ramsey.
09:37Philadelphia's a team to keep an eye on because they look like they're just going south.
09:40They've got the Jathan Hurts situation, which doesn't look good,
09:43but they're in a bad division and they could beat some of their teams in a division
09:46and get back into it.
09:48That could happen.
09:49But if they don't, Philly's a team to keep an eye on,
09:53even though it doesn't seem like that's how they operate.
09:55They don't operate in sell mode.
09:56They operate in buy mode and keep trying to make the playoffs,
10:00and they could very well do that.
10:02But I think the next two weeks for Philadelphia are awfully important
10:05because they have players that would fit that same position
10:09because they're from the draft after the Laporta draft.
10:12Okay, we've got more from Sam Laporta today.
10:14He sounds, though he's pretty unhappy with the way contract negotiations are going.
10:20We'll play more for you coming up, plus your phone calls and feedback.
10:23Sam Laporta speaking out, not thrilled with the way these contract negotiations are going.
10:28It's Carson Anderson, 97.1.
