Eric Berry ‘a bit surprised’ on lack of extension progress

[Quesadilla Joe]

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/nfl...e88612427.html

Spoiler!

Against the backdrop of approximately 352 kids laughing, jumping and playing on a humid summer night, Chiefs safety Eric Berry wore a smile on his face as he stood on the turf at North Kansas City High School and explained what he knew about his current contract status.

And Berry — who has until July 15 to get an extension done with the Chiefs, lest he play the 2016 under the one-year franchise tag — took a break from his sixth annual free youth football camp on Friday and made a few things clear.

One, he absolutely still wants to be a Chief for the long term.

And, two, yes, he is a bit surprised it’s taken so long for a new deal to get done.

“I thought it would progress a little bit more,” Berry said. “But it’s still been pretty much the same since the last time we talked. A lot can change in a week. A lot can change for whenever the deadline is.”

Berry’s surprise makes sense. Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt said at the NFL’s annual meeting in March that he’s hopeful to get a long-term deal done with Berry, and that he’s “certainly” somebody that they “would like to be a Chief for a very, very long time.”

Hunt added that he got a sense that Berry shared the sentiment to stay, a notion the 27-year old Berry — who has spent the last seven years with the Chiefs — also said in March and repeated Friday.

“Obviously I’d love to be a Chief — I want to be a Chief long term, just because of the community, the staff, from top to bottom, the players and everything,” Berry said. “But sometimes things don’t go as planned, and I’m prepared for that, but hopefully it goes as planned, and I’m prepared for that, as well.”

If the Chiefs can’t reach a new deal with Berry before the July 15 deadline, Berry would have to play the 2016 season under the $10.8 million franchise tender. However, he could also hold off on signing the tender, which would allow him to skip training camp and the preseason and return shortly before the regular season and still collect his full $10.8 million salary.

Still, an extension is sensible for both sides. Although the franchise tender is good money (and guaranteed, too) Berry stands to collect far more guaranteed money with a new deal, as he has the same number of all-pro selections (two) and three more Pro Bowl selections (four) than the league’s highest-paid safety, Harrison Smith, who recently signed a five-year, $51.25 million pact with the Vikings that includes nearly $29 million guaranteed.

What’s more, assuming Berry agreed to a richer deal than Smith’s, the cash-strapped Chiefs — who have a league-low $226,818 in cap space. according to the NFL Players Association — would still stand to create a minimum of $3 million or so in cap room this year with an extension. Iit’s worth noting the team already has a significant amount of money committed to 2017 — upwards of $166 million, which already surpasses the 2016 cap number of $155 million.

The Chiefs also have the option of rescinding the tender on Berry, which would create $10.8 million in cap room. However, that would make one of their most popular — and more important — players an unrestricted free agent, which hardly seems like a reasonable option for a team with Super Bowl aspirations.

“It’s a completely different atmosphere (without him),” said center Mitch Morse, who helped out at Berry’s camp on Friday. “I’ve only met a few people who, when they walk into a room full of people, that you feel their presence and people immediately shut up. He’s such a profound speaker, and he has profound things to say, and you inherently want to listen and gain knowledge. You respect the hell out of him.”

Berry, who fast-tracked his way back from a December 2014 diagnosis of Hodgkin lymphoma to return in time for the start of training camp last July, served as the emotional leader of the 2015 Chiefs, which rallied from a 1-5 start to win 11 straight games, including their first playoff win in 22 years.

He did it on the field too, as he looked quicker and faster than in previous seasons — he was back to playing at his college weight of 210 pounds — on the way to racking up 61 tackles, 10 pass deflections and two interceptions and make the Pro Bowl, be named an all-pro and win the NFL’s comeback player of the year award.

“He’s one of the main focal points of this team,” said Morse, whose comments have been parroted by several teammates, including quarterback Alex Smith. “He means a lot to Chiefs Kingdom, and he sure as hell means a lot to us, as players. We’re incomplete without him and we love the energy and passion he brings.”

Still, business is business, and Berry understands that. One of his closest friends on the team is outside linebacker Justin Houston, who was franchise-tagged in March 2015 after a 22-sack season and had to wait out the next several months as his agent, Joel Segal, and the Chiefs hammered out a six-year, $101 million extension right before the July 15 deadline.

“It’s crazy because I was talking to him when he was going through the exact same thing — it’s like roles have switched just a year later,” Berry said. “He just keeps telling me to be patient and control what I can control. So I gave him that advice, and he’s given me the same advice. That’s all I can do.”

So Berry, who has always believed in letting his work speak for himself, has spent the last several months training in Florida, getting ready for the season.

He looked trim and happy as he worked with the kids on Friday — the turnout was the best his camp in Kansas City has ever had, by the way — his trademark brown, red-tinged hair and goatee fluffy and full, a stark contrast to the way he looked last summer, even after his chemo treatments had long come to an end.

To be sure, Berry is grateful for that, a fact that came across as he spoke optimistically about his goals for the next several months, despite the uncertainty of his contract situation.

“I definitely want to get a ring, and I definitely want to be a Chief,” Berry said. “Hopefully, we can make that happen.”

And to be clear, Berry hasn’t lost faith, regardless of his surprise at the lack of recent progress.

“You know miracles happen — I’m a witness,” Berry said with a smile. “So it might go down to the wire, you know ... and hopefully they handle their end, and hopefully it comes together like it’s supposed to.”

[Red Dawg]

Originally Posted by Mr. Laz

I think the Chiefs give in and make Berry the highest paid secondary player in the league.

Then Dorsey is ****ing insane. Keeping Smith is bad enough of a **** up.

[RunKC]

Originally Posted by Tuckdaddy

Then Dorsey is ****ing insane. Keeping Smith is bad enough of a **** up.

I'm down with whatever Dorsey does here, even if it's against my opinion to keep him.

He's earned more than enough trust.

[keg in kc]

Originally Posted by Hog Farmer

But seriously, how much money has Berry already made ? $100million ? I don't know what that figure is but I really think he's made more than he can ever spend unless he's a dumbass. He should have a little loyalty and take a fair salary for him AND the Chiefs.
Unless he has his sights set on Atlanta so he can be home, then that would be somewhat understandable.

Yeah, because we all work our asses off for years to maximize our value and then say "oh, sure, go ahead and pay me less, no biggie".

I don't care how many millions he's earned so far. Taking less than he's worth is not fair from his standpoint in any way. That's not loyalty. That's stupidity. That's letting himself get taken advantage of by an entity (the NFL) worth billions.

He's earned whatever massive contract he gets.

[Mr. Laz]

Originally Posted by Hog Farmer

Wrong you are

Why should the Chiefs be nice while the players are all business?

[Mr. Laz]

Originally Posted by keg in kc

Yeah, because we all work our asses off for years to maximize our value and then say "oh, sure, go ahead and pay me less, no biggie".

I don't care how many millions he's earned so far. Taking less than he's worth is not fair from his standpoint in any way. That's not loyalty. That's stupidity. That's letting himself get taken advantage of by an entity (the NFL) worth billions.

He's earned whatever massive contract he gets.

Which is why the Chiefs should have cut his salary when they had the chance.

cut throat, take what you can get when you can get it

[keg in kc]

Originally Posted by Mr. Laz

Which is why the Chiefs should have cut his salary when they had the chance.

cut throat, take what you can get when you can get it

I get what you're saying, but they do that when he's down with cancer and they're killing themselves with literally every other player in the league. Just can't do that in that particular situation.

Which is also why they pay him now. You pay your best players, because that gives everybody else on the roster motivation to excel, and it helps draw in free agents.

[Mr. Laz]

Originally Posted by keg in kc

I get what you're saying, but they do that when he's down with cancer and they're killing themselves with literally every other player in the league. Just can't do that in that particular situation.

Which is also why they pay him now. You pay your best players, because that gives everybody else on the roster motivation to excel, and it helps draw in free agents.

So the player gets everything no matter what?


Chiefs shouldn't have extended Charles a few year ago either.


Patriots wouldn't have

[RunKC]

Originally Posted by keg in kc

I get what you're saying, but they do that when he's down with cancer and they're killing themselves with literally every other player in the league. Just can't do that in that particular situation.

Which is also why they pay him now. You pay your best players, because that gives everybody else on the roster motivation to excel, and it helps draw in free agents.

Yeah not paying Berry when he had cancer would have been a disaster. FA's wouldn't want to come here after that.

[MahiMike]

Kinda hoping they let him walk. Rather upgrade the RB position with that $.

[Mr. Laz]

Originally Posted by RunKC

Yeah not paying Berry when he had cancer would have been a disaster. FA's wouldn't want to come here after that.

Fans almost always take the side of the player.

Chiefs treated Berry like a part of the family and now Berry is going to tell them to **** off and bend over.

That's not going to make players want to come to the Chiefs more.

[RunKC]

Originally Posted by Mr. Laz

Fans almost always take the side of the player.

Chiefs treated Berry like a part of the family and now Berry is going to tell them to **** off and bend over.

That's not going to make players want to come to the Chiefs more.

Every player is going to try to get their max. He made the All Pro team this year FFS, so he has that on his resume.

If you were the top performer at your job you would want to be paid like it as well.

[keg in kc]

Originally Posted by Mr. Laz

So the player gets everything no matter what?


Chiefs shouldn't have extended Charles a few year ago either.


Patriots wouldn't have

No, I'm actually looking at it from the franchise's standpoint. You reward the players who really deserve it in order to help yourselves with contracts and signings in the future.

Charles' extension was basically just moving around numbers on a pre-existing contract. That's not really related to this situation in any way. This is more like his 2010 contract.

[Mr. Laz]

Originally Posted by RunKC

Every player is going to try to get their max. He made the All Pro team this year FFS, so he has that on his resume.

If you were the top performer at your job you would want to be paid like it as well.

Once again you are just taking the players side on the matter, ignoring a bunch chunk of the facts. Berry got paid millions when he wasn't playing at all because the Chiefs CHOSE to be nice.

Berry is not returning the favor.

Fans just want those mean owners to pay every player 10 million dollars per game because the fans like the players, not the owners.

"JUST PAY THE MAN HIS MONEY" is the CP mantra just about every time a contract comes up.


FYI Houston and Charles just got paid million this year for not doing a damn thing. So are we going to demand that they return that money since we are basing pay on performance?

[Mr. Laz]

Originally Posted by keg in kc

No, I'm actually looking at it from the franchise's standpoint. You reward the players who really deserve it in order to help yourselves with contracts and signings in the future.

Charles' extension was basically just moving around numbers on a pre-existing contract. That's not really related to this situation in any way. This is more like his 2010 contract.

No, the chiefs didn't just move money around on Charles' contract.

The new deal will add $18.1 million in new money to Charles' contract. The Chiefs running back signed a six-year, $28 million deal in 2010 that would have paid him $3.9 million in 2014. However, under the new deal, which runs through the 2017 season, Charles will pull in $8.3 million this season. Charles will earn about $5.1 million more than he was previously scheduled to make over the first two years.

[Urc Burry]

Originally Posted by Mr. Laz

Once again you are just taking the players side on the matter, ignoring a bunch chunk of the facts. Berry got paid millions when he wasn't playing at all because the Chiefs CHOSE to be nice.

Berry is not returning the favor.

Fans just want those mean owners to pay every player 10 million dollars per game because the fans like the players, not the owners.

"JUST PAY THE MAN HIS MONEY" is the CP mantra just about every time a contract comes up.

It's not a favor. It was treated as a season ending injury which it ended up being. 31 other teams do the same exact thing.

And that "just pay the man his money" is wrong. Poe had been good for us, but people are more than okay with letting him walk.