No Limit Sports and Ricky Williams' Rookie Deal

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No_bammer_weed

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For those who cant watch the video right now, here's a synopsis of the Ricky/No limit debacle:

When Ricky Williams entered the NFL in 1999, he also entered the worst contract in sports history. It was so bad that it's still cited in law school and business school classes as an example of a terrible sports contract

Terry O'Neil, the salary cap consultant for the Saints, met up with Hardy (Ricky's agent) over a round of golf. They discussed how to handle negotiating Ricky Williams' contract. O'Neil convinced Hardy that performance-based incentives in a contract were more important than base salary and guaranteed money. Hardy bought into this logic, even though it runs contrary to what every other agent knows: guaranteed money and base salary always trump incentives.

When Williams signed with the Saints, his contract drew immediate criticism from agents and managers all over the sports world.
  • Williams received an $8.84 million signing bonus, but his base salary was just barely above the league minimum.
  • The contract allowed for up to $68 million in incentives, but most of the incentives were unattainable. For example, he could earn a big bonus if he rushed for 1600 yards in three of his first four seasons. Problem is, no one in NFL history ever did this.
  • Another clause involved playing 35% of all offensive plays. The problem was that he has no control over his own playing time or the play calling.
Some of the incentives were reasonable, like scoring 12 rushing touchdowns and 12 receiving touchdowns could earn him a bonus. However, most aspects of the contract favored the Saints.

Williams was tragically underpaid for the duration of his time with the Saints.
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