Posts tagged DrewRosenhaus at FanHouse

A day after the Giants suspended Plaxico Burress for two weeks, the wide receiver and his agent Drew Rosenhaus have requested "an immediate hearing with the NFL Players Association to get Burress reinstated and not have him miss any games."

Apparently, to hear Rosenhaus explain it, there was a "lack of communication" between his client and the Giants. Which is one characterization, I suppose; the organization claims that Burress failed to show up for work on Monday, didn't call to inform anyone of his plans, and didn't answer his phone. Yes, I'd say that's a lack of communication.

But Rosenhaus feels it's not reason enough to suspend Burress, who will lose $235,294 as a result just a few weeks after signing a shiny, new contract.

Anquan Boldin wants out of Arizona. We know this because he and his agent won't shut up about it.

The Cardinals have no plans to trade him, and apparently they won't rework his current deal until after the season, which probably explains why Boldin has decided to pretend he's insane as a way of prompting his current employer to get rid of him.

That's the assumption I'm working from, anyway, because there's really no other explanation for this.

... [T]wice now in the last eight days [agent Drew] Rosenhaus has appeared on Joe Rose's morning show on WQAM 560-AM and said that Boldin, the Cardinals' Pro Bowl receiver and Pahokee's native son, wants to play for the Dolphins, his opponent this Sunday.

Sept. 4: "Clearly we have been pushing the team for a trade. ... He'd look nice in a Dolphin uniform, huh?"

Thursday: "We mentioned this last week, but there's a guy that (the Dolphins are) playing against that wouldn't mind being in a Dolphins uniform in Anquan Boldin. ... It's a shame that he'll be wearing a Cardinals uniform against the Dolphins, than the other way around."

Apparently, Drew Rosenhaus, agent to the stars (and Olindo Mare), has decided that Anquan Boldin is, in fact, unhappy about staying with the Cardinals. Even though it seemed that he was for it before he was against it before he was he was for it. That all changed when Plaxico Burress signed his new deal, except Rosenhaus insists it has nothing to do with the latest flip-flop:

"Anquan's position right now has been well-documented," Rosenhaus said. "He's not interested in doing a new contract with the team. That (Burress' deal) will have no bearing on his situation."

There are similarities between Burress' situation and Boldin's. Rosenhaus represents both players. Both had three years remaining on their contracts but wanted extensions that would put them among the highest paid receivers in the NFL.

Interesting. I wonder if Boldin wondered why his agent could negotiate a new deal for another client but couldn't make it happen for him. Whatever, Rosenhaus says that Boldin ain't coming back to Arizona when his contract expires: "Essentially that bridge has been blown up ... He's looking to play as hard as he can for the club, for his teammates, but the sooner he is traded the better."

In the above video, NFL super agent Drew Rosenhaus argues that one of his clients, Eagles cornerback Lito Sheppard, deserves to be a starter.

There's nothing unusual about an agent talking up one of his own players, although it is a little unusual to do it on YouTube. And, of course, if Sheppard moves into the starting lineup, someone else would have to move out of it. On the Eagles, that someone else would be cornerback Sheldon Brown. And Brown isn't happy about the comments Rosenhaus made.

Last week I wrote here and Ryan Wilson wrote here that Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson is planning to change his name, legally, to Chad Ocho Cinco. Johnson has been coy about it, probably because he thinks if he acknowledges it publicly the league office is going to tell him not to do it, but Johnson's own agent, Drew Rosenhaus, refers to his client as "Chad Ocho Cinco" in this video:

"I do represent Chad Ocho Cinco," Rosenhaus said in the video, which is devoted to the subject of Johnson Ocho Cinco changing his name. (Previously seen here.)

I wouldn't be surprised if Johnson changes his mind about this and doesn't go through with the legal name change, seeing as Johnson is the kind of guy who changes his mind about everything all the time. But he is taking the first steps toward doing it, and now his own agent has started calling him by his new name.

Obviously, Ken Whisenhunt was going to have something to say in response to yesterday's reports that he was tampering with contract extension talks and not communicating with Anquan Boldin ... unless, of course, those reports were true. If that was the case, he likely would have just gone with the no comment route.
But it's not the case ...

"You guys have been at practice every day, we've been communicating," Whisenhunt said Tuesday. "At least, if communicating is talking - that's what we've been doing at practice. Now, as we go forward from here, I don't know. I don't foresee anything changing, so if it does that's certainly in his court."

Anyone else loving this? We've got a coach and receiver arguing through the media about whether or not they are talking? Good times.

I hate to go here, but it's probably not a coincidence that all this is happening while Boldin's agent -- Drew Rosenhaus -- wants something. Rosenhaus is hoping for a big-time contract extension that is equal to or exceeding Larry Fitzgerald's for his client ... low and behold "sources" start anonymously coming out with information about Boldin wanting to leave camp and not being on speaking terms with his coach.

Sounds a bit fishy, no?

I don't know if the Plax-Giants drama has officially devolved into soap opera-status, but it's clear that things aren't going off as Plaxico Burress had predicted prior to the start of training camp. Last month, the Giants' No. 1 receiver said he would show up for camp, but with the understanding that the club would give him a new contract. Well, he's in Albany, but that's as far as it's gotten.

Burress's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, admitted that "nothing's imminent," which, unsurprisingly, makes Plax very unhappy.

Speaking with reporters yesterday for the second time since training camp opened, Burress called negotiations "long gone" and sounded resigned to the fact he'll be playing under the six-year contract he signed before the 2005 season. Burress, who is scheduled to make $3.25 million this year, sought an increase that would have more than doubled his salary.

"If you wanted to get it done, it probably would have been done a long time ago," Burress said. "We're three or four weeks into [camp], so I'm just looking to get healthy and be 100 percent for the first game."

On the upside, Burress can take his time returning to practice since there's now no financial incentive to do so. He's been nursing a sore ankle since, well, forever, and he might as well make sure it's completely healed before getting back on the field.

Because, really, if he's injured, how can the organization expect him to survive (feed his children, etc.) on $3.25 million?

I don't know if he actually believed himself on the many occasions he predicted optimism for a quick resolve of his apparently-not-good-enough contract, or if he was trying to appease the media in order to get them to shut up, but Plaxico Burress has been wrong.

Despite what he's said, there is nothing imminent between he and the Giants. Drew Rosenhaus, who made a stop-by to Giants camp with his brother Jason to talk about the new deal, even said so much, telling the Star-Ledger, you guessed it, "Nothing imminent." He then added, "Next question." OK, he didn't.

Burress has finally started to jog after missing all of training camp thus far with an ankle injury, but it might make the team feel a little bit more comfortable investing so much more new money in him to see him hold up on the practice field.

Because sure enough, even though Burress, by the team's own admission, has outperformed his current deal, they won't give him what he wants without seeing that the injuries that have plagued him seemingly forever won't eventually render this deal a big mistake. Especially when every other Giant is watching what the team does, ready to stick their hand out at the next opportunity.

Anquan Boldin is not happy. So unhappy, in fact, that he's not interested in talking to his current employer, the Arizona Cardinals, about the prospects of a new contract, even though he desperately wants one.

It's to the point, apparently, that after his current three-year deal expires, Boldin will be hawking his wares elsewhere -- unless he's traded in the meantime.

Or, as is often the case, these things have a way of working themselves out. And while Boldin has put the organization on silence, there's still a chance the two sides can come to terms. At least the Arizona Republic's Kent Somers thinks it can happen.

The size of a potential deal, and its impact on the salary cap, means that the Cardinals probably couldn't re-sign Boldin until this fall at the earliest. And that's if the team is genuinely interested, which Boldin disputes.

The salary cap, however, is there to be manipulated. Other teams do it all the time, and the Cardinals could create room by restructuring or extending other players' contracts. ...

The Cardinals have shown no inclination to massage their cap, one reason why Boldin is so angry.

Rosenhaus, however, isn't one to stop talking, and he had spent the previous night visiting with General Manager Rod Graves about Boldin's contract.

Look, if Chad Johnson and the Bengals can work through all their problems, anything's possible. Boldin has been professional through the process, even if he's become a tad frustrated in recent weeks. If he's willing to wait until the end of the season -- or if the Cards can find some extra cap space in the interim -- I'm guessing Boldin could be convinced to hang around Arizona for the right price.

Now it's up to Drew Rosenhaus to make this thing work.

The off-field distractions that have followed the Giants for most of the offseason were basically solved when the Saints agreed to take Jeremy Shockey off their hands. Now, with Ahmad Bradshaw a free man, the only lingering issue is Plaxico Burress and his desire for a new deal.

He promised to be at training camp -- and so far, so good on that front -- but he's not particularly jazzed about still playing under the original contract he signed with the team in 2005. While his agent Drew Rosenhaus works to hammer out an extension, Burress remains at camp.

Burress is a camper but not a happy one, and he did not practice in the morning or the afternoon, supposedly because the left ankle that was thought to be healed was acting up.

More likely, Burress in another "business decision" decided to deny the Giants his services until they ante up some more money.

Well, give Plax credit for keeping his word -- he is at camp -- but it sounds like he's in no hurry to practice until he gets that raise. Eh, if this was his first year with the team, or if he was a young player, missing training camp might be a big deal, but Burress has basically been a weekend player for the better part of a year now.