Dorsey Deal Causes Problems

Jul 27, 2008, 1:19:56 AM by Bob Gretz - FAQ

RIVER FALLS, WI – The PH level here in the northwoods and back home in the Chiefs Nation dropped considerably Saturday.

And no, I don’t mean ph level as in acidity or alkalinity, although there is a bit of acid involved in this situation. This PH stands for Peterson Haters, and right now their levels are dragging pretty low.

You know who I’m talking about. You might have a friend or colleague who has developed this nervous tic of blaming everything bad that happens on Carl Peterson. There are the media dandies who swipe at the Chiefs president-general manager like a frantic driver trying to get an angry wasp out of the inside of the car. The negative energy of the venom and vitriol directed at this man would power small cities. It would be humorous if it wasn’t so sad.

It’s a miserable weekend for the TV guy, the columnist and their sycophants. Peterson has gone and fooled them again. Public enemy No. 1 supposedly has a rap sheet for not getting his No. 1 picks signed and in camp. Massive, lengthy holdouts are allegedly his manner of operation. Listen to these infected souls and they would have you believe that fights over millions of dollars happen only in Kansas City, and only with the Chiefs.

Of course any study of history shows that the Chiefs have been about average among the league’s 32 teams in getting their first round picks into camp for the first day. Five of the last six have signed before the end of July, missing little or no practice time. This week Seattle signed its top draft pick before they started camp, the first time the Seahawks have done that since 2003.

Can’t be! Stuff like this only happens in Kansas City.

Glenn Dorsey, the Chiefs No. 1 choice, the fifth player taken in the 2008 NFL Draft was here in the land of beer and cheese, smiling for the media on Saturday. His smile was as wide as the one he wore back in April when he was drafted by the Chiefs. It was the same toothy grin he wore two days later when he made his first appearance in Kansas City.

Only this smile was coming right in the University Center on the campus of UW-River Falls, the summer home of the Chiefs. Dorsey had missed two days of training camp in another one of those disastrous Peterson holdouts. He could have missed two weeks of camp and it would not have hurt him or his development in this defense. Instead, he missed a walk-thru workout, a rained out on-field session that moved inside and the first padded practice of the season. How will he ever recover?

When Peterson explained on Thursday that the situation with Dorsey was being held up by the draft pick’s reluctant agent, the PHers had all the ammunition they needed. In their minds this was just a ruse, a cover-up of the real problem. Why would an agent drag his feet about signing a deal if the players ahead of his client had their contracts in place?

Of course, those comments showed a great ignorance of the agent business, where many times the potential next client is more important than a player already in the firm’s fold. That’s the history of Joel Segal, the man who represented Dorsey in these negotiations. He drags things out, waiting for others to do the negotiating.

It played out again, because less than two days after Peterson told the truth about negotiations, the Chiefs and Dorsey have a contract. What happened? The player who was drafted after Dorsey in the first round signed a deal. When DE Vernon Gholston reached agreement with the New York Jets late Thursday night that deal created the floor for a Dorsey contract. The ceiling had already been set by the contracts signed by the first four players taken in the NFL Draft. The work had been done for Segal.

Understand that the heavy lifting on this contract was done by Denny Thum, the team’s executive vice-president. He’s the guy who does daily head-to-head battle with agents. Over the years, Thum and Peterson have formed a pretty effective good cop-bad cop routine. When the action needs to be stirred up a bit, Peterson generally does the stirring, just as he did with his comments two days ago.

Here’s an interesting note: Segal could have had similar money back in early June. That’s when the Chiefs made an offer. Segal didn’t make a counter-offer until last Monday and it was so outrageous there was not a second of discussion about the matter with the team.

It’s a hefty payday for Dorsey. Should he hit all the bonus clauses in the deal it could bring him $51 million. A lot of that is contract fluff. The meat of this deal makes it five years and $33 million, with $22.5 million in guaranteed dollars.

And, he was on the practice field Saturday afternoon, beginning what everyone hopes is a long and successful career in the NFL. Dorsey was happy. His agent was happy. The Chiefs and Carl Peterson were happy.

Everyone was happy save the PHers, who must swallow their hate and anger. It’s a bitter, bitter, bitter pill. Expect a reaction. Carl Peterson will soon be held responsible for gas being $4 per gallon and global warming.

The opinions offered in this column do not necessarily reflect those of the Kansas City Chiefs.

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A former beat reporter who covered the Pittsburgh Steelers during their glory years, Gretz covered the Chiefs for the Kansas City Star for nine years. He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Board of Selectors. He has been the senior columnist for the Chiefs web site since its inception.