It's Okay For Things to Be About Money
I've noticed a funny thing over the course of free agency so far. It’s come up again and again and again.
Tyrann Mathieu mentioned it as he was doing his free agency tour. It came up when Kirk Cousins signed with the Vikings. Almost everybody who has signed a free agent deal wants you to know it wasn’t about the money. “I just want to go a place where I can win,” players said again and again.
That may be true, but we don’t have to pretend that money isn’t at least a small factor in these decisions. I mean, come on. If you have the opportunity to make more money or less money, nine times out of ten, probably 99 times out of 100, you’re going to take the chance to make more money.
Money makes almost everything in your life easier. It makes your life less stressful. It allows you to pursue the things you want to pursue and it gives you a lot of security for the future. Money is great when you have it and it’s great when you can get it. It’s foolish to pretend it’s not at least a small factor in the decisions these guys are making, and it’s foolish to suggest that these guys shouldn’t be trying to get as much of it as they can.
On the flip side, let's also not pretend like teams also aren't capable of making decisions soley for money. The Packers have done it this off season. Releasing Jordy Nelson was purely a money-related decision. What else could it have been about? What possibly could you have against Jordy Nelson the human being? He’s virtually unassailable from a character standpoint. He’s been a cornerstone of the franchise for a decade, he’s been immaculate off the field, he’s got a beautiful family, including two adopted kids. Any reason the Packers could have to move on from Jordy Nelson is purely money related, and that's okay.
Football is a business, and it’s a business on both sides.Players are in the business of making as much money as they can in their very limited careers. Teams are in the business of saving as much money as they can so they can use it to build up their rosters in other places. Stop pretending that this whole thing isn't at least in part about money. If we can all admit that, we’ll all be better off.
This post is an adapted transcript of the most recent episode of Blue 58, a Packers podcast from The Power Sweep. Listen to the full episode below, and don’t forget to subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, CastBox and more to stay on top of the best in Packers news and analysis.