MichiganCardinal Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 2 minutes ago, RandyMarsh said: Different situation but last year it was the Tigers who couldn't get in touch with their player Erod and now its a Lions player that is MIA. Who's it going to be for the Pistons and Wings? Pistons entire roster was effectively MIA for about 50 games if that counts. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRamage Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 I still think the NFL needs a way that teams can put players in a "limbo" state where they're not paid, but also not cut. With how things have played out this would NOT apply to Sutton's situation, but in a hypothetical situation... let's say Sutton turned himself in, cooperated with police, and claimed he didn't do the things he was accused of. What would the Lions do then? Do you keep the player on the team? Did you suspend him, but keep paying him (if the legal issues extend into the season)? Do you cut him and risk losing him to another team it turns out the accessor lied? From a PR perspective the NFL should have a way to distance themselves from the player, without paying him, until the case is resolved. Once it's cleared up the Team has "retroactively" cut him and recoup the money in escrow, or keep the player and he gets his back pay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichiganCardinal Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 1 minute ago, RedRamage said: I still think the NFL needs a way that teams can put players in a "limbo" state where they're not paid, but also not cut. With how things have played out this would NOT apply to Sutton's situation, but in a hypothetical situation... let's say Sutton turned himself in, cooperated with police, and claimed he didn't do the things he was accused of. What would the Lions do then? Do you keep the player on the team? Did you suspend him, but keep paying him (if the legal issues extend into the season)? Do you cut him and risk losing him to another team it turns out the accessor lied? From a PR perspective the NFL should have a way to distance themselves from the player, without paying him, until the case is resolved. Once it's cleared up the Team has "retroactively" cut him and recoup the money in escrow, or keep the player and he gets his back pay. There's the Commissioner's Exempt List, which kind of works in this way. It effectively serves as paid administrative leave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sports_Freak Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 2 minutes ago, RedRamage said: I still think the NFL needs a way that teams can put players in a "limbo" state where they're not paid, but also not cut. With how things have played out this would NOT apply to Sutton's situation, but in a hypothetical situation... let's say Sutton turned himself in, cooperated with police, and claimed he didn't do the things he was accused of. What would the Lions do then? Do you keep the player on the team? Did you suspend him, but keep paying him (if the legal issues extend into the season)? Do you cut him and risk losing him to another team it turns out the accessor lied? From a PR perspective the NFL should have a way to distance themselves from the player, without paying him, until the case is resolved. Once it's cleared up the Team has "retroactively" cut him and recoup the money in escrow, or keep the player and he gets his back pay. With the way the Lions cut him, they had more info than the general public. The NFL should have a conduct clause in every players contract and not penalize a team for such behavior. The cap hit from Sutton's contract isn't all that great but it's the principle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichiganCardinal Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 2 minutes ago, Sports_Freak said: With the way the Lions cut him, they had more info than the general public. The NFL should have a conduct clause in every players contract and not penalize a team for such behavior. The cap hit from Sutton's contract isn't all that great but it's the principle. I'm not sure they had more info. The issue may have been they didn't have more information than the general public. If they called him and he didn't answer, and then they called his agent and he hadn't heard from Sutton either.... at some point, you have to draw a line. "If he doesn't call us by tomorrow morning, we are going to have no choice but to release him and void the deal for violating the contract. Try to get him to contact us." Plausible deniability that he's got a felony warrant goes out the window after the entire world finds out. The day comes and goes and still no contact? Still hasn't turned himself in? Leave them with no choice really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motown Bombers Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 He fled the scene knowing the police are coming and doesn't return home. Obviously he knew there was heat on him before it went public. He's either dead or intentionally evading police. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRamage Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 8 minutes ago, MichiganCardinal said: There's the Commissioner's Exempt List, which kind of works in this way. It effectively serves as paid administrative leave. It's the paid part that I have an issue with. It's a public black eye. Sure, you're not using him on your team (if this happens during the season) but you're still paying millions of dollars to an accused woman beater. And the team is penalized to an extent cause they may want to give the player the benefit of the doubt and a chance to defend himself, but if they keep him on they lose the money and if he ends up guilty they would have been better off cutting him early. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motown Bombers Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 26 minutes ago, RandyMarsh said: Different situation but last year it was the Tigers who couldn't get in touch with their player Erod and now its a Lions player that is MIA. Who's it going to be for the Pistons and Wings? There was Bison Dele aka Brian Williams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motown Bombers Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 3 minutes ago, RedRamage said: It's the paid part that I have an issue with. It's a public black eye. Sure, you're not using him on your team (if this happens during the season) but you're still paying millions of dollars to an accused woman beater. And the team is penalized to an extent cause they may want to give the player the benefit of the doubt and a chance to defend himself, but if they keep him on they lose the money and if he ends up guilty they would have been better off cutting him early. The Lions are going to be able to void the contract. The NFL needs to do an investigation first. I'm sure the NFL will rule in their favor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichiganCardinal Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 1 minute ago, RedRamage said: It's the paid part that I have an issue with. It's a public black eye. Sure, you're not using him on your team (if this happens during the season) but you're still paying millions of dollars to an accused woman beater. And the team is penalized to an extent cause they may want to give the player the benefit of the doubt and a chance to defend himself, but if they keep him on they lose the money and if he ends up guilty they would have been better off cutting him early. I don't know. I think in a world where Sutton's attorney releases a public statement on Wednesday afternoon disputing him having been contacted by police and claiming innocence, he deserves his day in court. That ship has sailed by now, but I worry of snap judgements costing players millions and permanently ruining their reputations based solely on accusations. Trevor Bauer's case kind of speaks to this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motown Bombers Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 It's really Sutton going AWOL more so than the allegations right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnoxP Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 (edited) The longer this plays out the more it has the potential to get wild (more than it already is). My mind can go to lots places trying to come up with possible explanations. But, I heard someone say, usually the simplest one is the right one. Edited March 22 by KnoxP typo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandyMarsh Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 A guy with his resources could be anywhere in the world at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gehringer_2 Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 57 minutes ago, RandyMarsh said: Different situation but last year it was the Tigers who couldn't get in touch with their player Erod and now its a Lions player that is MIA. Who's it going to be for the Pistons and Wings? Whole Wings team went MIA, apparently they only left their forwarding address with Larkin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motown Bombers Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 Just now, RandyMarsh said: A guy with his resources could be anywhere in the world at this point. It's a serious charge but it doesn't seem like a flee the country type of charge. He can easily come up with bond. I also feel like if he got on a plane we would know about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gehringer_2 Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 Just now, Motown Bombers said: It's a serious charge but it doesn't seem like a flee the country type of charge. He can easily come up with bond. I also feel like if he got on a plane we would know about it. it was in Florida so going out to sea is always a possibility, but it means that he pretty much instantly decided/realized there was no way back and was able to put together an effective sailing plan quickly. That part seems unlikely. He may just have friends locally that have been willing to hide him for the time being, but that's a dead end proposition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motown Bombers Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 2 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said: it was in Florida so going out to sea is always a possibility, but it means that he pretty much instantly decided/realized there was no way back and was able to put together an effective sailing plan quickly. That part seems unlikely. He may just have friends locally that have been willing to hide him for the time being, but that's a dead end proposition. That's what I suspect. I'm just confused what he thought his end game was? Did he think if he stayed hidden long enough he can just show up in Allen Park like nothing happened? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandyMarsh Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 I watch so many fugitive and cold case type documentaries my imagination goes a little wild in instances like this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichiganCardinal Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 It's a serious charge but it's definitely not a flee the country kind of charge. He may have some sort of prior conviction. The picture released by the Sheriff's Office looked like a mugshot, though it may have been a DMV picture. It's hard to say, but at least in Michigan, he'd still probably just be looking at a lengthy probation sentence for a first offense with something like this. And that's if he's convicted. DV charges are notoriously difficult to prosecute, and it's not out of the realm of possibility that a less-than cooperative victim would lead to a lesser charge being offered, like simple DV, which is a misdemeanor. Despite saying all that, it's not really fair to speculate. In the words of John U Bacon, no one knows anything...... But he's got to turn himself in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motown Bombers Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 Just now, MichiganCardinal said: It's a serious charge but it's definitely not a flee the country kind of charge. He may have some sort of prior conviction. The picture released by the Sheriff's Office looked like a mugshot, though it may have been a DMV picture. It's hard to say, but at least in Michigan, he'd still probably just be looking at a lengthy probation sentence for a first offense with something like this. And that's if he's convicted. DV charges are notoriously difficult to prosecute, and it's not out of the realm of possibility that a less-than cooperative victim would lead to a lesser charge being offered, like simple DV, which is a misdemeanor. Despite saying all that, it's not really fair to speculate. In the words of John U Bacon, no one knows anything...... But he's got to turn himself in. I was looking at the penalty and the same charge in Michigan would be double the time vs Florida. I'm guessing the picture is a driver's license picture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason_R Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 Maybe Al Cowlings has seen him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motown Bombers Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 What if it's all a marketing ploy by the Ford's to introduce their new electric Bronco Raptor? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichiganCardinal Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 27 minutes ago, Motown Bombers said: What if it's all a marketing ploy by the Ford's to introduce their new electric Bronco Raptor? He wasn’t released for the allegations, he was released for driving a Jeep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.TaterSalad Posted March 22 Author Share Posted March 22 When Titus Young sucker punched Louis Delmas in the locker room years back was he released right after the incident? Did the Lions recoup any of the money/cap hit for him having violated any type of conduct clause in his contract? I suppose I could just Google this. But I remember Young being cut right after the incident but don't remember the cap ramifications. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motown Bombers Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 Titus Young was on a 2nd round rookie contract. I'm guessing the cap implications were small. The most comparable case is Charles Rogers. Rogers was suspended for violating the substance abuse policy and eventually cut. An arbitrator ruled Rogers owed the Lions $8 million in signing bonus. He didn't pay because he didn't have the money and the Lions sued him and won a $6 million settlement. It forced Rogers into bankruptcy. This is why I have no sympathy for Calvin Johson whining about $1 million. The Lions doctors got Rogers addicted to pain killers, bankrupted him, and he ended up dead before age 40. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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