On the Phone Right Now with Hines Ward

He is doing a live question and answer session, exclusive from Steelers Nation Unite.

 

Ask him how much film study Ben does. Ask him who the best OC is. Ask him if Tomlin is too much of a "player's coach". All those questions should settle a lot of things around here. LOL.

 

I can only do one. BUt Ben has already said he doesn't really watch tape

 

****. They are letting him hang up now.

 

If Ben refuses to watch tape I would refuse to pay him 120 Million . I would pay him like 12 a year and he would have a game study test on the up coming opponent in the middle of the week. If he could make an 80 or above he would get a extra 250 K for that week.

If he passes all the test for the season then an extra 5 Million bonus earned. This would put him in the 20 Mil a year range which is fine by me if he is doing all he can to win. Film study is huge for every player and it is a must to play QB .

 

And he would tell you to F off and go sign any number of teams that would gladly pay him $20M/yr without jumping through hoops.

 

And I would be in the market for a QB . Doing your job is not jumping through hoops . High School QB'S are required to watch tape and pass game plan test . If they can do it then so can Ben .

I don't know if he is a student of the game or not , but as he gets older he will need to be more cerebral at the position, so why would the Team pay him if he isn't willing to do the work to get better .

Contracts are not based on what you have done , but on what you will do in the future or at least they should be . Any player not willing to put in the time to get better and prolong their career doesn't even need a Team to play for .

 

Plenty of Teams have been hosed giving out that 1 big contract to many . Ben has been paid for his play to date and as a boss you would have to speculate his play moving forward . An aging Vet at the QB position would have to agree to more film study to play for me . And any true Football player would have no problem with the fact I was trying to make them better and extend their career and legacy.

Again not saying Ben would be above this ,but if he was then he could go on about his way . Hell if Coaching is like that in the NFL then it's getting like the NBA where the players run the Coaches that's BS to me .

 

I actually am a GM now just not in Football .LOL. I approach it the same way pay based on performance . When I do sit down and talk raises then I put a list of things I expect if they meet those the next raise is better with another list of things I expect.

I think this is a great approach as my store stays at or near the top in almost every category . I do have a lot of turn over , but My production is off the charts.

Who's to say that wouldn't fly in the NFL it does in the HS game and in the College game maybe the spoiling of the Players is part of what's wrong with the NFL ? Incentive based contracts would attract players who wanted to thrive . The better you do the more you make.Refuse to listen to the Boss and go live on the Street.

Most of America would embrace such an approach .

 

There are 10 million retail jobs in the US and probably 100 million people who are able to do the job well.

There are 32 NFL starting QBs in the US and maybe 12 people who are able to do it well.

Your management style wouldn't work in the NFL.

 

i tend to agree with pwp .. do everything you can to be better ... while i'm not sure ben doesn't watch tape ..would be foolish

 

An aging vet who just statistically had his best year of his career. Right or wrong, he'd be offended if you tried to sign him to a deal like that. A dozen other teams would be willing give him what he wants, no additional requirements.

 

yes this is right .. but there are a lot of way to incentives people just you have to know how to take them

 

My approach would be do they care about you ? Do they care about your level of play ? Do they care about your legacy ? As a coach I know Film study is a must . The difference between being one of the greats and the greatest at that position is how well you know Defenses .

I am willing to pay you as long as you are willing to accept Coaching . It will be simple and easy for you to earn the extra money , but by doing so you may be able to master this game we call Football and do things no other QB has done before. This is my goal for you and this Team and I hope you see I am not knocking your play rather trying to take it to the next level.

You will have to decide what type of legacy you wish to leave that choice is up to you .

 

You're underestimating his ego.
He would remind you of his legacy by pointing out to you his numerous accomplishments over the years plus his past season of statistical success and say "No thank you, Im going to Arizona."
The Cardinals have a strong defense, and top WR, Bens BFF as head coach, and a mediocre quarterback with two major knee surgeries.

Arizona + Ben = Very strong NFC contender next year.
Pittsburgh - Ben = Duking it out with the Browns for 3rd place. And if they resign Hoyer, they'd have the edge for 3rd.

 

well in this case i would think seriously about a trade sOon or later he will be gone and if is not able to understand a MUTUAL IMPROVEMENT i would think about cut his career here , tank the season and wait for Christian Hackenberg

i hate tom brady but as a study of the game is a master http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...ady-battling-cold-eating-garlic-watching-film

 

Source?

 

This.
And if the concern is around the "aging vet" part...you front load the contract. So the player gets his money while he's still valuable/competitive, and the team has an out on the backside with a reduced penalty.

 

I honestly wish every contract could be loaded on the front end. I sure would rather be paying Woodley for what he WAS doing than for what he is doing now. Which is nothing.

 

Every contract IS front loaded. It's called a signing bonus.

 

But I'm talking about the annual salary part and also does the signing bonus go against the cap? I just hate the fact that dudes seem to get the majority of their salaries by the time they're not as effective as they were when they signed it and then the team is on the hook to pay them vast amounts of money for diminishing returns.

 

from a plyer perspective sure. From an team perspective, that bonus is spread out over years against the cap. And they have the option to cut that however they'd like/makes sense for cap purposes.