Gmen, Plax, arbitrator (1 Viewer)

[Bri]

This just doesn't make sense to the Giants.

"To think that a player could carry a loaded gun into a night club, shoot himself and miss the rest of the season but get to keep his entire signing bonus illustrates one of the serious flaws in the current system," co-owner John Mara said yesterday.

Yup, that's the way things roll for Plaxico Burress, who won the grievance against the Giants filed by the NFL Players Association on his behalf.

That means the Giants must pay Burress -- released last Friday -- the $1 million portion of a signing bonus that they withheld last season after he accidentally shot himself with an illegal handgun and was suspended for the final four games. The Giants also will be forced to pay an undisclosed amount for a withheld 2008 roster bonus.

Thus was the decision of arbitrator Stephen Burbank, a professor of law at the University of Pennsylvania who served as Special Master for the proceedings and ruled that Burress did not "willfully take action" that prevented him from playing.

By suspending Burress for the final four games, the Giants did not pay him $823,529, or four game checks. He also was fined one week's salary of $205,882. The Giants also withheld the $1 million portion of the $4.25M signing bonus, part of a five-year, $35 million contract Burress signed in September.

The Giants were "very disappointed" and almost incredulous with the decision.

"This ruling represents yet another example of why we need a new and improved CBA," Mara said. "We will have an opportunity in the upcoming negotiations to prevent such illogical results in the future."

According to reports, Burress -- now a free agent -- has attracted interest from several teams. Burress, though, faces two felony gun charges that could land him in jail.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/04072009/sport...ants_163283.htm

 

[Bri]

HORRIBLE precedent to set

I'm waiting to hear more from that arbitrator, some document released or somesuch. Can't even imagine what his logic could have been here.

Think lawyer Roger Goodell is fired up after this?

 

[Banger]

LJ's future guaranteed payments were nullified for being suspended while Plax's remained guaranteed. Strange, seemingly inconsistent rulings. I guess it depends on the arbitor.

 

[Bri]

Also, FWIW it has probably been a real long while since Plax was even at the Giants facility to practice or workout, going back into last season.

 

[GroveDiesel]

I have zero sympathy for the owners. The CBA that they currently have really took it to the owners on the non-financials side. Everyone ripped Ralph Wilson for saying that he didn't understand the CBA and wanted to slow things down to have time to read over it. The owners acted like Wilson was an idiot and didn't belong there anymore. They treated him like he was a little child. And it turned out that he was the only one with any type of head on his shoulders. He was the one that was right.

I'm glad that the other owners are getting burned by things like this. Frankly, I wish that Bob Kraft and Jerry Jones were getting burned by the CBA as well since they were two of the ones that pushed the thing through so quickly.