Oops!....... Harnish had a "deal" with Chargers before the Colts drafted him

Harnish had a deal with Chargers before Colts drafted him
Posted by Mike Florio on April 29, 2012, 9:33 PM EDT

The rules regarding discussions with players who may not be draft are pretty clear. Before and during the picks process, there can be contact and expressions of interest but no negotiations.

In a video of comments from Chandler Harnish a/k/a Mr. Irrelevant that has been posted on YouTube, the former Northern Illinois quarterback says that, as the draft was winding down, he was being pressured by the Chargers to commit to signing with them once the draft ended — and that Harnish’s plan to sign him as a free agent forced the Colts to use the last pick in the draft to get him.

“I was getting calls from like the Kansas City Chiefs, the Tennessee Titans, St. Louis Rams, Oakland Raiders, just a bunch of teams were — and I’m talking to my agent every three minutes,” Harnish explains. “It looked like we were about ready to set up a free agency deal. I was ready to go to San Diego . . . .

“They wanted the decision 10 minutes after they could put the deal on the table, and this was still at pick 240,” Harnish says. “So there were still 13 picks to go. And they put the deal on the table that they wanted me to be a free agent and I had to say ‘yes’ to it. . . . We tell San Diego we want that deal. Well, my agent tells the Colts, ‘Hey, he’s going to San Diego if you don’t draft him with your last pick.’ So because of that the Colts were like, ‘We want him. We want to take him before he goes to free agency, and then he goes to San Diego.’”

That’s as close to a team getting caught with its hand in the cookie jar as we’ll ever see, short of having the team admit to negotiating with a player before the draft ends. In this case, look for Harnish if/when asked about his words to backtrack and clarify and if necessary claim he misspoke. That’s usually how it goes when players admit that there were negotiations before the draft ended. For now, it’s pretty clear that’s what happened here.

If you aint cheatin...

...... you've already been fired?

Sumthin like that...

I would more than guarantee every team in the league does this, there is no way the Dolphins locked up the haul they had 10 minutes after the final pick without putting offers out early.

The fact that it's expressly against the rules doesn't bother you though.

Yawn. Non-story. (I'd say I want that 40 seconds of my life back, but right now I really don't care that much)

SAN DIEGO – The Chargers got Pro Bowl running back Ryan Mathews some backfield help Saturday, taking Edwin Baker in the seventh round with the 250th overall selection.
Baker, 5-foot-8 and 204 pounds, averaged 5.6 yards per carry during his Michigan State career before declaring as a junior. He earned first-team All-Big Ten honors in 2010 after rushing for 1,201 yards and 13 touchdowns.
Baker was fielding calls from a number of teams interested in signing him as a college free agent when the Chargers selected him with a compensatory pick at the end of the final round, putting a smile on the man known by many as “Rock.”

Somehow this is different?

"Kansas City Chiefs, the Tennessee Titans, St. Louis Rams, Oakland Raiders, just a bunch of teams were — and I’m talking to my agent every three minutes,” Harnish explains. “It looked like we were about ready to set up a free agency deal. I was ready to go to San Diego . . ."

This is a non-story. Being about ready to set up a free agency deal is not the same thing as negotiating a contract. It sounds like all those teams listed contacted the kid and told him they were interested if he was not drafted. His agent sounds like he wanted him to sign with San Diego. There is no violation of the rules apparent in what he says. Mike Florio, the premier douchnozzle covering the NFL, is trying to stir up a controversy where there isn't one.

Fielding calls, and having a deal in place is not the same thing....... is that so hard to understand?

Harnish explains. “It looked like we were about ready to set up a free agency deal. I was ready to go to San Diego . . ."

This is nowhere near having a "deal in place". He is quoted as "..about ready to set up a free agency deal." That doesn't sound (to me) like a deal was already in place. Maybe it's just me or semantics...

I see no harm in (the way I see it)

*RING* RING*

Harnish's Agent : Hello?

AJ: Hello this is AJ Smith just giving you a heads up if Harnish goes undrafted we'd love to work out a deal so he can come into camp with us

I think the way this kid is telling it, It sounds as if (the way Im reading it) is he's whining and complainning about it like AJ wants to rape him or something

plus if thats how this went down then AJ in fact did this kid a favor, he's going to get a giant check and a parade and all this stuff even Luck isn't going to get

How can you agree to sign a deal within 10 minutes of free agency opening without knowing what you're signing?

By telling the Colts that they had to draft him or he'd sign with the Chargers, indicates they knew what the deal was already.

No it's not just you. It's Mike Florio being incapable of comprehending English, or just deliberately misrepresenting a situation to be salacious and get page views. He was ready to go to San Diego, meaning, of all the teams that expressed an interest, SD was the team he and his agent wanted to sign with. This does not mean that a deal was in place.

No, it means that they knew they were going to sign with the Chargers, not what the deal was. Undrafted free agents don't sign with teams based on money offered. They sign with teams based on fit and opportunity. He didn't say anything about agreeing to sign a deal. He said he was getting read to "set up a free agency deal." That's not "signing a deal."

To "set up," as in to "establish" a deal. That suggests a deal was not in place.

As long as they didn't actually discuss terms, then they are OK........ if they did, the league office will come calling.

No, they sign because of both opportunity and money. If a player is coveted, a team may offer more money to entice them to sign. This happens often.

with goodell making an example out of everybody these days i just hope this gets swept under the rug and we avoid any penalties

The money is usually chump change. Fit and opportunity is usually the motivating factor. If a player is torn, money might play a factor, but we're usually talking a few grand. Most undrafted free agents are much more interested in trying to make a roster, not getting a couple grand more to go to training camp and get cut.

Depends on how poor the guy is........ a "few grand" is still real money to most people.

pretty clear-cut non-story. This happens every year. The rule is to avoid having players in contract situations in the event that they are drafted by another team. The trouble with usage of the word "negotiating" is that both sides can counter that they were "discussing each others values and expectations", which isn't actually a negotiation.

So, let me get this straight: Florio says the "no negotiations" rule is "pretty clear."
Florio's a lawyer...he knows better.

His job at PFT is to blow smoke. Does that mean there's actual fire? Not from anything he's saying.
Is agreeing to later negotiate a deal in minutes now re-defined as negotiating?
Do we really think that minor player terms can't be agreed upon in 10 minutes?
(the overwhelming majority of a modern NFL contract is boilerplate)
Or that, if 10 minutes stretched into 15 or 20 minutes, (because they were slow to agree whether
Harnish gets one box of Pop-Tarts or two) the deal would necessarily blow up?
Could Harnish simply be trying to puff himself up a bit by exaggerating the interest of
teams better than the NFL's worst, that drafted him? Who knows?

Should the commish ask a few questions? Sure.
Is there any solid evidence of actual rule-breaking at this time? Nope.

OMG!

College players do it all the time, agree to go to one school then change their minds, what’s the big deal? So they had a verbal agreement, did he sign anything? I am pretty sure nothing is binding until a contract has been signed.

How do you know that when some team drafts someone they haven’t already started negotiations? OR……

How much money will you sign for? And how do you know teams do not draft someone because they want too much money?

in the NFL that is chump change, we are not talking about everyday people here.

I'm willing to bet UDFA contracts don't take a lot of time for negotiations. They don't exactly have the leverage a prized draft pick or an established vet free agent has.

To play Devil's advocate, the guy's fresh out of college so a few grand may seem like a lot to him even if it wouldn't to an established NFL player.

That being said, unless the guy is a dumb rock, he'd realize that going to the team with the best shot at making a roster would give him a much better opportunity to make more money over his career (however long it lasts) than a couple extra grand would going to a team that's just going to cut him because there's no room/very minimal opportunity.

OMG YES SUSPEND AJ AND NORV FOR THE SEASON PLEASE!!!

Just link them to bountygate.

And the fact that other teams were doing the same exact thing doesnt bother you?