[sportscurmudgeon]

That Guy:

The reason Samuels number for next year is so high is because he has already resturcutred twice and "tyaken one for the team". Now, from his perspective, it is his turn and someone else needs to take one for the team so he can have his payday. He needs only sit there and make the squad next year to haul in some sizeabole coin. If you want him to give that up and take a base salary of only $500K and time up his rights for the next 6 years, you better be ready to lay some huge bread on the table.

In his circumstance with the leverage he has, here's what I would have told Danny Boy by this time:

You need to put a minimum of $15M up front if EVERYTHING else in the deal is what I want. If any other parts of the deal are "imperfect" the signing bonus is $18M or even $20M if the deal doesn't smell right to me - and it is in one lump sum not spread out over a couple of years so you can hose me over later on as you seem to be doing with LC as we speak. If all of that is unsuitable to you, I have a contract already and I certainly plan to folfill my end of the deal. I presume your checks won't bounce...