veganfan21 wrote:
Urlacher leaving was not a mark against Phil football-wise. It was a mini PR blunder though to let a guy like Urlacher walk without a press conference honoring his time with the Bears. No idea what happened with Melton, and the one dollar thing with McCown is only a negative with the benefit of hindsight.
I have no idea how negotiations went with DeCamilis, I just think it sucks that Phil thought it worthwhile to negotiate a contract with the guy in the first place.
The fact Emery let Urlacher go, is not the issue.
But when you become the guy who everyone knows just says 'bring me what other offers you are getting", then nobody wants to deal with you. Now, if you own the only sports talk station in town, then you have that leverage, but you're still a prick. Yet, when you are a GM of a football and guys can go elsewhere, they are going to at some point.
McCown especially, is a guy that they should have made an offer too. It didnt matter how much, it was just that the guy deserved the respect of an offer. Sure, he would have still signed with TB, but the fact Emery doesnt want to make guys offers is a poor business practice.
If you dont want the player, then a simple 'we are not going to make you an offer" is fine. They did it with Hester. Yet, Emery is looking for agents to go get him offers to match? Not going to go well in the future.