These teams have no issues with using up and spitting out players or screwing them whenever they can - so why shouldn't players use their leverage or look out for their careers?
This is all true. I think that many fans have somewhat of a naive hope that star players can just mentally block out all concerns about money, future career, etc. and always concentrate fully on playing great right now and helping their team win. That "team" and "winning" matter to a player, like, 100 times more than money and career.
And while, academically, we know that's not realistic in a
business like pro football ... many of us will still hold it against any player who shows us a peek of the reality behind the curtain: "I'm ALL. ABOUT. ME! MY CASH! MY NEXT CONTRACT! ME!
ME! ME!!!!"
Yes, it's totally honest. Some may find it refreshing. Many, if not most, find it unpalatable.
I can't say I disagree with the "unpalatable" stance -- I'd rather not see how the sausages are made, but we have Twitter and a 24-hour news cycle now. Still, I can't really fault the "me!" guys -- they see themselves in the teams' eyes as commodities and respond accordingly.
For me the concluding thought is this: Once a player gets it into his head that his future needs to be protected, can his current efforts on the football field be anything but compromised? How can you go nuts and be reckless with your body to squeeze out all those extra yards and totally sell out to win when you know playing that way threatens your next contract?
How can a player serve two masters: the competition on the field being one and the future contract on the other?
...
Alvin Kamara is getting some flak for this among the more pessimistic of Saints fandom. Some say that since this season's high ankle sprain was his first real injury, his potential lost career earnings flashed before his eyes and he's now protecting himself in games. Playing more cautiously than in 2017-18 to ensure that he can cash in.