Merk gets new contract

[xpsyclonex2002]

he should be getting paid. When Nico was here, he was most likely to ride the bench for the next 2 years. Now there's a solid chance that he starts. We were so desperate that we picked up a QB in the portal that we wouldn't have given the time of day a month ago. Now he's supposed to be our savior.

 

[volfan411]

he should be getting paid. When Nico was here, he was most likely to ride the bench for the next 2 years. Now there's a solid chance that he starts. We were so desperate that we picked up a QB in the portal that we wouldn't have given the time of day a month ago. Now he's supposed to be our savior.

Don't worry the ones hailing him the savior today will be the first to criticize come fall.

 

[xpsyclonex2002]

Don't worry the ones hailing him the savior today will be the first to criticize come fall.

We all want him to be our savior. It's unfair to the kid. Merk too. I'll be cussing my TV like everyone else. But I haven't given up on the season yet. Are we going to be dominant? no. Will we win the games we should win? I actually think we will. Are we going to lose to Georgia? yep. Are we going to lose to Florida? Yep. Are we going to lose to Bama? magic 8 ball is unclear. OK, MSST, Ark, Kentucky? I think we eeek out wins unimpressively in all but 1 of them. If we lose 4 games this year, I'll smile and take it.

 

[VOLINVONORE]

We all want him to be our savior. It's unfair to the kid. Merk too. I'll be cussing my TV like everyone else. But I haven't given up on the season yet. Are we going to be dominant? no. Will we win the games we should win? I actually think we will. Are we going to lose to Georgia? yep. Are we going to lose to Florida? Yep. Are we going to lose to Bama? magic 8 ball is unclear. OK, MSST, Ark, Kentucky? I think we eeek out wins unimpressively in all but 1 of them. If we lose 4 games this year, I'll smile and take it.

We will not lose 4 games in the regular season.

 

[VOLINVONORE]

My perspective is the NIL contracts mean there will be a certain number of NIL events, as well as merchandising opportunities for the players. With Nico gone, there are openings to fill. Merc is next in line, so they need him to fill in at different events, as well as sell some jerseys or other stuff. At least until they figure out who will be QB1 next season. They can't just expect him to show up without so.ethung in writing. So, they reworked his contract so he knows the expectations, and the compensation. They aren't paying him to throw 25 TDs. They're paying him to use his name, image, and likeness to make money.

I believe almost all the players coming back had some sort of adjustment to their agreement. Inflations is a way of live, especially in the NIL arena.

 

[mackievol]

If merk is our quarterback, we aren't making a bowl game much less anything else. Total waste of additional money.

 

[volfan411]

If merk is our quarterback, we aren't making a bowl game much less anything else. Total waste of additional money.

Glad the coaching staff doesn’t listen to you and what indications do you have that he will not be a successful QB??

He was a 4 star out of GA that played in a competitive region and several recruiting service thought he could be a 5 star if he had done the elite camps but being a two sport athlete he skipped. Would you think he would be successful if he were a 5 star?

 

[NCFisher]

Well that's interesting. Everywhere else I've read says that there are no binding contracts, hence all the chaos with jumping ship, re negotiations, etc. If there are in fact "binding contracts"... what's the problem? Somebody must be writing some REALLY ****** contracts for us!

The contracts are between the NIL and the player, the university isn't party to the agreement. At the moment, those contracts cannot stipulate that the player has to play or is even on the team. Nor even attend the university who recruited them.

So. the university isn't party to the agreement, nor payments to the athlete. Though we all know this is a 'pay for play system' by any other name, I think the recourse NIL groups have is to stipulate periodic payments based upon the player meeting their obligations - attending functions/events, spokesperson or endorsement for a company's products/services - and sue for non-performance of those obligations. If I'm paying Nico monthly or quarterly instead of advanced lump sums, that's my protection.

Otherwise, let's say Nico's is just lazy and doesn't show up for events, looks like he'd rather have his toenails pulled out rather than heartily endorse the product/service. But he has no intention of leaving TN. Now what's the NIL supposed to do? Bring the hammer down and endanger the NIL deal AND his continuance in the Vol football program? Or not wanting to endanger his status, let it slide and keep the coaches, AD, and fans happy, which ensures Nico will get paid for nothing? That would run afoul of NCAA rules and state NIL law, and clearly be pay for play.

Through that lens, it's easy to see the school and NIL collectives are currently at a disadvantage.

 

[volfan411]

The contracts are between the NIL and the player, the university isn't party to the agreement. At the moment, those contracts cannot stipulate that the player has to play or is even on the team. Nor even attend the university who recruited them.

So. the university isn't party to the agreement, nor payments to the athlete. Though we all know this is a 'pay for play system' by any other name, I think the recourse NIL groups have is to stipulate periodic payments based upon the player meeting their obligations - attending functions/events, spokesperson or endorsement for a company's products/services - and sue for non-performance of those obligations. If I'm paying Nico monthly or quarterly instead of advanced lump sums, that's my protection.

Otherwise, let's say Nico's is just lazy and doesn't show up for events, looks like he'd rather have his toenails pulled out rather than heartily endorse the product/service. But he has no intention of leaving TN. Now what's the NIL supposed to do? Bring the hammer down and endanger the NIL deal AND his continuance in the Vol football program? Or not wanting to endanger his status, let it slide and keep the coaches, AD, and fans happy, which ensures Nico will get paid for nothing? That would run afoul of NCAA rules and state NIL law, and clearly be pay for play.

Through that lens, it's easy to see the school and NIL collectives are currently at a disadvantage.

I personally believe the collectives should be disband and make the player strike his/her own marketing deals. If he/she wants to bust it they may make 2 million but if they don’t want to put in the effort to market themselves they make minimal.

 

[NCFisher]

I personally believe the collectives should be disband and make the player strike his/her own marketing deals. If he/she wants to bust it they may make 2 million but if they don’t want to put in the effort to market themselves they make minimal.

The collectives are simply market agencies performing a free-will service; I don't have a problem with them.

I much prefer that to having guys carrying an academic and athletic load diverting their attention to chasing deals.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

I personally believe the collectives should be disband and make the player strike his/her own marketing deals. If he/she wants to bust it they may make 2 million but if they don’t want to put in the effort to market themselves they make minimal.

The players didn't create the collectives, you know. Schools did because they want to be competitive.

Spyre COULD disband but it's unlikely other SEC schools would also disband and UT is left recruiting without money. How do you think that would turn out in the SEC?

If all the schools got together to disband their collectives, I believe that might be collusion to attempt to disrupt the market or some kind of similar legal issue.

 

[volfan411]

The collectives are simply market agencies performing a free-will service; I don't have a problem with them.

I much prefer that to having guys carrying an academic and athletic load diverting their attention to chasing deals.

I think the marketing should be left up to the players agent. I don’t like the fact of the collective guaranteeing dollars to the players with no way of recouping their money if the player doesn’t uphold their end of deal.

Maybe if the player were forced to sign a contract it would work better but my understanding is the collectives can’t force players to sign contracts.

 

[xpsyclonex2002]

We will not lose 4 games in the regular season.

Bold statement.
Between the QB issues, O line issues, Losing our star RB, The secondary being non-existant, and our schedule.....I can't agree. We play 3 rivals and a cluster of 4 teams that could all do to us what Arkansas did to us last year. That doesn't even consider Syracuse. We should beat the will to live out f them but we are playing them first thing. Our team will be feeling everything out in that first game. If CJH has to strip the playbook to bear minimum to keep the team doing what they do know how to do, even Syracuse could potentially shut us down.