Dorsey Agrees To Terms

From River Falls, Wisconsin

There’s a very simple fact that is the engine that drives all negotiations.  It doesn’t matter if two countries are negotiating a treaty or a parent is trying to convince junior to eat his peas.  The only way any negotiation reaches a conclusion is if all parties want there to be an ending.

On Friday, there were finally two parties at the negotiating table looking to make a deal in the talks between the Chiefs and No. 1 choice Glenn Dorsey.

We can tell you exclusively that Dorsey agreed to a contract late Friday evening.  Terms are sketchy but the numbers that will likely be thrown around the most are $50 million if he maxes out all the bonuses in the contract.  The guaranteed money will be in the neighborhood of $22 million.

The defensive tackle out of LSU is expected here in River Falls on Saturday to sign the deal and get to work.

 For some in the Chiefs Nation, the fact that Dorsey missed the first two days of camp is a big problelm and the villian is one person and one person only: Carl Peterson.

You know the themes … Carl never gets his first round picks signed … the Chiefs always have problems negotiating contracts because of Peterson … Carl is personally responsible for $4 a gallon gas … if it wasn’t for Carl Peterson, there would be peace in the Middle East … yada, yada, yada.

In the vacuum of Peterson haters, fed by his good friends in the media, he’s the only guy in the league that can’t get his No. 1 draft choice signed on time.

Did you notice on Friday that the Seattle Seahawks signed their first-round draft choice DE Lawrence Jackson?  With that signing, Jackson becomes the first Seahawks No. 1 choice to sign before training camp opened since 2003.

I thought only Peterson couldn’t get his guys signed?

Peterson said on Thursday that the breakdown in negotiations with Dorsey came because his agent Joel Segal wasn’t much interested in getting a deal done right now.  Did Peterson intend to send a message with his comment?  Of course he did. 

Segal is notorious in the NFL for being more concerned about recruiting his next client than getting a deal done.  Thus, he wants to see what the players drafted ahead of his client received and what the players selected after him were paid before he agrees to a deal.

In other words, he wants other people to do the heaving lifting of negotiating.  He does not want to be caught with a deal that may be called poor, because it will be used against him in signing players for the next draft.

This isn’t something Peterson made up.  Here’s what appeared on ProFootballTalk.com this week.

Some media pundits think the whole premise is ridiculous.  Why would an agent not get a contract done if the players ahead of him have contracts and have set the market?

Why? Listen to New Orleans GM Mickey Loomis talk about agents.  He’s trying to get the seventh choice in the ‘08 Draft signed, DE Sedrick Ellis:

“They’re all just waiting, not wanting to be first … It’s frustrating because I feel like it’s about the agents of these guys not wanting to look bad as opposed to any concern for getting the player in here and getting him acclimated,” Loomis told the Biloxi (Miss.), Sun Herald. “Frankly [the agents] are looking for some huge increases. Yeah, they’ll do a deal if you want to give them outrageous increases. I just don’t know any business that you hand out 20 percent, 30 percent increases every year. You’re not going to be in business very long if you do that.”

To bring a negotiation to an end, there must be a desire to get it done on both sides.  The Chiefs and Carl Peterson want to get a deal done weeks ago.  Joe Segal finally joined them on Friday.

So say hello to River Falls, Glenn Dorsey.