Jimmy And Johnny Have To Pay Up

Well it wouldn’t be a week in the NFL without players getting fined for their actions during the previous week. The two high profile players being fined this week are the Saints’ Jimmy Graham and Browns’ Johnny Manziel.

Jimmy Graham is, of course, being fined for violating the rule that has been nicknamed after him. After both of his touchdowns last week against the Titans, he performed his signature dunk over the goalpost, which as of this season, is illegal. Needless to say, the Saints were penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct on both occasions.

The league has fined Graham $30,000 for the dunks.

Johnny Manziel was handed down a fine for his obscene gesture towards the Redskins bench on Monday night. After being harassed by the sideline shortly after an incomplete pass, Manziel gave the Redskins players a “one finger salute” on his way back to the huddle just as the TV cameras flashed back to him. He was fined $12,000 for his actions.

Every team in the league seems to still have a lot of work to do, but Roger Goodell looks to be in mid-season form.

Vernon Davis and the Pointless Holdout

Let me start this off by saying that I am a big Vernon Davis fan. He is extremely talented, a physical freak of nature, one of the top tight ends in the league, and was a main part of my championship winning fantasy team last season.

However, I disagree with his decision to holdout for a bigger contract that he attempted to justify in his article in Sports Illustrated’s MMQB (read it here). Davis signed a 5 year/$36.75 million contact in 2010. That deal included a $10 million signing bonus and $11.1 million guaranteed. He says that he is “playing at a higher level than [he] was then” and that “it’s all about getting paid what you deserve.”

That’s where he’s wrong.

Davis signed his current deal after coming of the best season of his career, 2009, in which he caught 78 passes for 965 yards and 13 touchdowns. The following year he had another stellar year catching 56 passes for 915 yards and 7 touchdowns. These are his two career high seasons in terms of yardage.

The next two years, 2011 and 2012, he saw a drop in production during the regular season, but was a huge part of the 49ers’ playoff runs both seasons. Last season, was a bit of a resurgence of the old Vernon Davis as he caught 52 passes for 850 yards and a career-high tying 13 touchdowns. These numbers are for only 15 games, as he missed his first game in 5 years after suffering a concussion.

When looking at the numbers, you can’t disagree that Vernon Davis is one of the best tight ends in the league. Most people would say the only better tight ends would be Jimmy Graham and maybe Gronk.

Graham’s numbers are miles ahead of Davis’ so it is tough to make a comparison there, and Gronk signed his contract after playing the single greatest season by a tight end ever so it’s hard to compare his worth to Davis’ as well.

Did Vernon Davis drastically improve his numbers last season compared to the rest of his career? No. Did he ever have a season like Gronk and Graham both had in 2011? No.

The only argument you could make against this is that Davis didn’t have Drew Brees or Tom Brady throwing him the football, but Colin Kaepernick’s newest contract shows the 49ers hold him to that level.

In fact, this holdout was most likely due to the monster contract Kaepernick signed, but that contract isn’t what it seems. There are numerous performance milestones Kaep must meet in order to earn the full $126 million and there is also a large opt out for the 49ers if he doesn’t meet them. Realistically, his deal is 2-years/$28 million, pay-as-you-go type of contract (Deadspin broke it down well).

If Vernon Davis believes he should make wide receiver money, like Jimmy Graham is trying to do, he is wrong. He is a true tight end and doesn’t put up the numbers Graham does.

I believe he could probably bargain with the team for another $1 million a year (depending on salary cap space) moving him closer to Gronk’s salary, but his deal would most likely be structured similar to Kaepernick’s with various performance levels he must meet in order to make big money.

Vernon Davis isn’t playing any better or worse than he did when he signed his other contract; he’s merely playing the same game. If he believes he should be paid “what [he] deserves” then it looks like he’s getting paid correctly now.