2005-07-28

Caddy still not under contract

With Bucs reporting to training camp in Orlando, Bruce Allen has still not been able to make a deal with Carnell Williams and his agent. There are three reasons for this.

1. Neither of the runningbacks selected ahead of Williams have signed deals either. Negotiations between 4th overall pick Cedric Benson and Chicago have been rough, and it's more likely you will see Ronnie Brown as the first of the group to sign a contract. Both Benson and Brown are demanding a signing bonus in the area of $20 million.

2. Williams has demanded a signing bonus in the $15-$18 million range, but the Bucs do not currently have the cap room to pay Williams that kind of money. Allen needs to make some cuts before he can give Williams that big of a signing bonus.

3. The current Collective Baragining Agreement (CBA) for the NFL runs out in two years, and the owners are looking to renegotiate a new CBA after this season. With the influx of money from the new television contracts it is expected that the salary cap will be raised under the new CBA. But since agents have no idea how much the cap will be raised they are left asking for as much money as possible now, and trying to leave open the option to renegotiate deals in the future. Imagine a group of highly payed lawyers looking at tea leaves, and you have some understanding of what NFL agents are going through right now.

Oh yeah, rookie tightend Alex Smith needs to sign a contract too.

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