Running back Green wants to cash in
Says he deserves to be paid like the NFL’s best
Thursday, August 04, 2005
PackersNews.com
Says he deserves to be paid like the NFL’s best
By Rob Demovsky
PackersNews.com
Ahman Green hasn’t complained about being underpaid and never threatened to hold out, but in the end, the Green Bay Packers’ running back wants the same thing as Javon Walker.
He wants to be paid like one of the top players in the NFL at his position.
Just because he hasn’t been as vocal about it as Walker and his agent Drew Rosenhaus doesn’t mean Green and his agents, Joby Branion and David Dunn, will be any easier to deal with come contract time.
The top running backs who have signed contracts in the last year and a half include San Diego’s LaDainian Tomlinson (eight years, $60 million, including a $12.4 million signing bonus), Washington’s Clinton Portis (eight years, $60 million, including $17 million in signing and option bonuses) and most recently New Orleans’ Deuce McAllister (eight years, $50 million, including a $12.5 million signing bonus).
Green, who is entering the final season of a five-year, $18 million contract, said on Wednesday he believes he’s in the same class with those backs and deserves to be paid that way.
“As long as I keep doing what I’m doing, yeah, I think I do,” Green said. “I’ve been consistent since I’ve been here and gotten better every year. With that, I think they have no choice but to give me what I’m due. Definitely, I’ve earned it. That’s something I can say on the basis of earning it.”
There’s at least one significant difference between Green and the trio of recently signed backs. Tomlinson was 25 years, one month and 22 days old when he signed his extension last summer. Portis was 22 years and six months old when he signed his deal last spring. McAllister was 26 years, seven months and two days old when he inked his contract last week.
Green is 28 years, five months and 19 days old. He will turn 29 two weeks before the free-agent period opens next March.
Though he has been healthy and dependable since he became the Packers’ regular starting running back in 2000 — he has played in 77 of a possible 80 regular-season games in the last five years — age and the pounding running backs take can catch up with a player at any time.
Green has averaged 1,369.5 yards per season the last five years, and based on how he looks so far in training camp, the Packers have no reason to think he won’t have another productive season. It seems reasonable, however, to ask how much longer he can maintain that level of play.
“I think he’s got a lot left in him,” said Reggie McKenzie, the Packers’ director of pro personnel. “He’s not even 30. (Age) 28, 29, 30 — that’s three more great years. I think he’s got some years left in him. I don’t think he’s been beaten up at all.”
Green said his agents have told him there’s been a healthy dialogue with the Packers, but there’s no indication an extension will be worked out in the immediate future. If the Packers want to extend Green, they might be more inclined to offer a contract similar to the one 30-year-old Corey Dillon recently signed with New England. Dillon, who will be 31 in October, signed a contract that could be worth as much as $25 million over five years if an option is picked up in 2007, but for now he will receive $10 million in guaranteed money over the next two years.
Green, who appeared on the cover of the latest issue of Sports Illustrated, said he never considered threatening to hold out like Walker did this offseason.
“I’m here to play football,” he said. “If I went to school for eight years to become a lawyer and an agent, then I’d be worried about it. But I play football. I’m out here on the field, and that’s all I’m worried about.”
Though he missed practice on Monday and Tuesday due to tightness in his back, he said feels great but admitted he has no idea how his body will feel in a few years.
“I can’t look at five years from now,” Green said. “I’ve just got to look at it right now. I’m 28. Next year, I’m 29. If I’m still going, I’ll keep going.”
He said he didn’t want to think about the possibility that this could be his last season with the Packers.
“That’s the only part I’m scared about,” Green said. “I don’t want to go anywhere else. If I have to, I’ll understand. But if I don’t have to, I don’t want to. That’s a scary thought.”
 |
Click here to return to the news page.
|
