You never give me your pillow

It’s a fine art of picking a player when they are at the crest of their years……

Its tough, it’s no fun when you have to say “your best years were from 18-25, and things don’t look like they’ll be getting any better”…..

Sometimes you’ll pick up a veteran desperately hungry for that ring and they’ll play really hard for that year…but then when they get it everything changes……………. come time for a contract negotiation and then they’ll be wanting big money…….

so then you have a choice…re-sign the vet for a max contract and make them the face of your franchise or say ” we appreciate everything you’ve done for the franchise, but it looks like we’ll be going in a different direction” then you unload the veteran and make your roster younger……………perhaps bringing in a younger player who has been on the bench a couple of years and is finally ready to step their game up for some crunch time minutes…….

if you choose to re-sign the vet, make it a year or two with bonus incentives…….because once an older vet gets a ring and a fat contract………they become more worried about comfort… and they aren’t as hungry to impress the franchise…..then they come to camp overweight and get lazy…..and don’t want to earn their keep…………………………………
then what do you do???? can’t trade them. Who wants an aging veteran with no legs left, injury-proned, and who’s been known to be a serious head case when the chips are down and you need them the most????????………….can’t release them…….cheaper to keep em……..all the money invested will screw you for years to come in cap penalties…………..then you just have to wait it out…hope for the best……….retirement or career ending injury still counts against your cap space…….and the franchise is fucked for years to come………….
and that’s why I’ll never get married.