Taking less money to win

A-Rod was willing to take less money to go to Boston, but the MLBPA wouldn't let him.

I think Rickey Jackson took the veterans minimum to play for the Niners in 1995, the same year Deion essentially did the same thing.

I don't consider what Brady did as "taking less money to win" he just gave the team a hometown discount and opted to stay put. There's a big difference between that and playing for the minimum or close to it for a shot at a ring.

 

Charles Barkley took the veterans minimum of $1 million the year the Houston Rockets signed Scottie Pippen to a max contract. Unfortunately, Pippen almost immediately turned around and publicly demanded a trade, bashing Barkley on the way out. The Rockets then traded Pippen for the likes of Kelvin Cato, Walt Williams, Carlos Rogers, and a few other guys they later cut. Barkley got a bigger deal the next season, but blew his knee out very early in the season. The Rockets then compounded all of their problems by signing Kelvin Cato to a large, long-term deal after an amazing pre-season in which he racked up a triple double with points, rebounds, and blocks.

 

He did. Signed a minimum contract with a big bonus due if the Niners won the Super Bowl, along with other incentives, IIRC. The 49ers were the king of that type deal in the early-to-mid-90s. Jackson, Deion and a couple others signed similar contracts.

Troy Brown also reworked his contract on an almost annual basis with the Patriots. He was released and brought back several times, and gave up some money here and there to stay.

And didn't John Elway redo his contract in the early days of the salary cap? I seem to remember he had a monster deal that he reworked to get the Broncos out of a bad cap situation. I think I read somewhere they'll be paying him a couple million a year for 20 or 30 years.

 

Yeah, Elway got a lot of money deferred. I don't know how much players should be applauded for that, because it usually benefits them from tax purposes and they're really not giving anything up.

 

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but how could the PA do that?

 

Mitch Mustain, from Arkansas to USC. Er, given that it was USC, it probably was more money.

 

A-Rod was willing to renegotiate his enormous contract signed while with the Rangers following the 2003 season, but was denied by the MLBPA. The deal to Boston fell through, and he subsequently signed with NY.

 

he already had a contract and they were looking to rework it

 

Did he take less money?

 

As I recall, Boston's original proposal provided for more than the maximum allowable cut under the CBA. When it was re-worked to conform to the CBA (still with substantial cut), Larry Lucchino blew up the deal.

Here's a good analysis from Doug Pappas (RIP) from that period:

http://www.baseball-analysis.com/article.php?articleid=2493

Including a quote from A-Rod:

"I advised the Red Sox I am willing to restructure my contract, but only within the guidelines prescribed by union officials. I recognize the principle involved, and fully support the need to protect the interests of my fellow players."

 

Way less, 1 year 7 million. I believeh e was offered a 9 year 81 million dollar deal with the Oilers.