BillsFever
07-14-2003, 12:31 AM
Chiefs G.M. Carl Peterson said on Friday that he'll consider giving running back Priest Holmes a contract extension, if he shows that he is healthy in training camp.
"As I've said all along and as I've discussed with Priest and his agent: We want him back to being 100 percent Priest Holmes," Peterson said, according to the Kansas City Star. "Based on how he's doing, how he's feeling and how we feel about where he is, I certainly will consider a contract extension. Not a new contract, a contract extension."
The potential fudge factor is Priest's health or, more accurately, the Chiefs' perception of it. Peterson and company can stall the process merely by 'splaining that they don't think Holmes has made it all the way back from offseason hip surgery.
And, in our view, the Chiefs surely hope to figure out whether first-rounder Larry Johnson is the real deal before tying up future cap dollars in Holmes, who arguably has benefited from coach Dick Vermeil's high-flying offensive system. If, indeed, Holmes were the second coming of Walter Payton, Holmes would've shown some of that ability in Baltimore -- and the Ravens wouldn't have allowed him to fly the coop.
We also think that Peterson's insistence on a contract extension is a subtle effort to buy more time, if/when the Chiefs concede that Holmes is healthy. Though the issue might be merely a matter of semantics, we have a feeling that Peterson's insistence on keeping the "old" dollars in the "new" contract could be part of an overall strategy that will permit Peterson to appear reasonable if/when Holmes and his agent begin to increase the rhetoric.
The bottom line is that Holmes already is committed to three more years as a Chief. So he can either play and get paid, or he can get a real job.
And if the Chiefs choose to extend his deal, Holmes should be pretty damn happy -- especially with Johnson breathing down his neck.
http://profootballtalk.com/rumormill.htm
"As I've said all along and as I've discussed with Priest and his agent: We want him back to being 100 percent Priest Holmes," Peterson said, according to the Kansas City Star. "Based on how he's doing, how he's feeling and how we feel about where he is, I certainly will consider a contract extension. Not a new contract, a contract extension."
The potential fudge factor is Priest's health or, more accurately, the Chiefs' perception of it. Peterson and company can stall the process merely by 'splaining that they don't think Holmes has made it all the way back from offseason hip surgery.
And, in our view, the Chiefs surely hope to figure out whether first-rounder Larry Johnson is the real deal before tying up future cap dollars in Holmes, who arguably has benefited from coach Dick Vermeil's high-flying offensive system. If, indeed, Holmes were the second coming of Walter Payton, Holmes would've shown some of that ability in Baltimore -- and the Ravens wouldn't have allowed him to fly the coop.
We also think that Peterson's insistence on a contract extension is a subtle effort to buy more time, if/when the Chiefs concede that Holmes is healthy. Though the issue might be merely a matter of semantics, we have a feeling that Peterson's insistence on keeping the "old" dollars in the "new" contract could be part of an overall strategy that will permit Peterson to appear reasonable if/when Holmes and his agent begin to increase the rhetoric.
The bottom line is that Holmes already is committed to three more years as a Chief. So he can either play and get paid, or he can get a real job.
And if the Chiefs choose to extend his deal, Holmes should be pretty damn happy -- especially with Johnson breathing down his neck.
http://profootballtalk.com/rumormill.htm