Skip to main content

Center of Attention: Eugene Parker


Richard Seymour's holdout means I am forced to talk about it. I don't think this is news, but I feel the need to balance what is being said in the media and spread across cyber space faster than herpes at a Shawn Merriman/TilaTequila party.

Ann Killion wrote a piece this morning for SI about how agent Eugene Parker is the most powerful person in bay area sports right now. He has the 49ers and the Raiders by the "shorts." If only that was true. In fact, agent Eugene Parker needs the bay area teams more than they need him.

If Crabtree sits out the season, he walks away from millions without a chance of getting drafted anywhere near where he was this year in the 2010 NFL draft. Parker can't let a client walk away from millions of dollars, he would lose a lot of his big clients and future clients if he let that happen, 49ers or not.

If Parker is seriously considering the same kind of sit out the season with Seymour he also walks away from millions. The Raiders don't lose the 2011 draft pick unless Seymour reports. So in a sense, nothing changes for the Raiders. They are under no obligation to do anything with Seymour.

You would think the Raiders might want to lock up the man they gave up so much to get. If Seymour is seriously considering sitting out, he does so at a time where he is turning 30 and NFL pundits already believe he is declining in skill. If he reports there is a good chance Al Davis will sign him to a lucrative extension or franchise him next season and guarantee him in the neighborhood of $11 million for one season.

Whatever the case, Parker can't let his clients leave millions on the table no matter how dysfunctional the Raiders and 49ers are perceived to be.

Jason Peters (a Parker client) was a holdout in Buffalo until two days before the season started last year. Expect similar from Seymour even if no contract extension is in place.

Crabtree is a different animal, because he has other people around him telling him lies about his own ability. Still, you can't walk away from millions, so he will ultimately sign. The 49ers know that at this point his season is already lost, so why crack and offer more? Stick to your guns and he will come around.

While Eugene Parker may be the center of attention in the bay area sports scene, he really has very little leverage. Is he the Brett Favre of sports agents? He may have the bay area teams by the balls, but the bay area teams have control over his air supply.

Eugene Parker has a long history with the 49ers and Raiders, except this time, Parker has more to lose.




Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Oakland Raiders Swing for the Fences in 2016 NFL Draft

[embed align="center"]http://gty.im/153039819[/embed] These aren't your daddy's Oakland Raiders or even your younger self's Raiders. If anything, these are your newborn's Raiders or your puppy's Raiders. These are the Raiders we've never seen before. Indicative of the freshness of the franchise was their 2016 NFL Draft. No longer slave to a high draft pick and desperate needs, the theme of the draft for the Raiders was upside. It's as if general manager Reggie McKenzie got so used to hitting his draft picks out of the park that he started swinging for the fences. We'll have to wait a couple of years before we know if he struck out or if he'll continue his Ruthian ways. First, McKenzie boldly went with a safety at No. 14 overall. Kyle Joseph is coming off a torn ACL and fills a major need, but safety isn't a premium position. Only a handful of safeties have been drafted in the first 14 picks in the last 15 years and include names like Ea
Post a Comment
Read more

The Raiders aren't who we thought they were....they're better

The Oakland Raiders are tired of being the team that will be good in a year or two. The team expects to win now and it is winning now. We thought the Raiders needed more talent. We thought that being in the playoff hunt was a year away for this team, but we were wrong. This isn't the team we thought they were, they're better. On Sunday, they moved to 3-3 on Sunday with a 37-29 win over the San Diego Chargers that wasn't close until the final minute. It was also the Raiders second road win of the season. The last time the Raiders had two road wins by their sixth game was 2011. Before that, a five-year streak from 1998-2002. The Raiders went 8-8 in 1998, 1999 and 2011 and narrowly missed the playoffs each year.  They made the playoffs in 2000, 2001 and 2002. They didn't have a losing record in any of those seasons because teams that can win on the road are usually pretty good. As the season matures, there is more and more evidence that some of the "best-case scenario
Post a Comment
Read more

2012 NFL Strength of Schedule

  Disclaimer Some strength of schedule models calculate strength of schedule based on the opponents the team has faced to date.  My model calculates strength of schedule based on all the opponents on a team's schedule.  The reason for this is because it reduces weekly fluctuations. For example, when a team plays their Week 17 game, in the traditional model their strength of schedule would change by 31 games...their Week 17 opponent's 16 games plus the additional game played by each of their prior 15 opponents.  In my model, when a team plays their Week 17 game their strength of schedule will only change by 15 games...one additional game for each of the opponents on their schedule.
2 comments
Read more