Media day (night?) on Monday provided us with a dearth of sound bytes from all of our favorite members of the Birds, as well as the front office and ownership (SPOILER ALERT: I have something coming on the latter later this week). And I’m going to take this opportunity to comment on yet another reason that Howie has given all of us to solidify himself as the Bonaire unanimous MVP of the Birds this season (colon not named Saquon).
The reason he and Lurie decided not to give any in-season extensions this year was because they did not want the locker room to have ANY perception of “playing favorites” and potentially causing rifts in the room. Now that you read that go ahead and think about it for a minute, the Birds ALWAYS seem to give at least one or two players those nice in-season “pat-on-the-head” extensions to guys, and this year: nothing. He even went on further to say that this may “bite them in the @$$ down the road” but it was the right move to show everyone in the building that they are committed to winning NOW, this year, above all else.
This man is playing chess while others are wiping their asses with pinecones. Why? Because this works on levels…
It’s the ultimate carrot/stick scenario, you want extensions? Go win a ‘chip! Look we know most of the younger starters are staying. We know they’re all gonna get paid to different levels. But Howie dangling the carrot is a nice motivator. But there’s another reason too: he’s gotta see it to determine how much to spend and where.
We’ve argued several times on the flagship show about who Howie is going to prioritize re-signing in the offseason and depending on how this story ends he’ll have the flexibility to make the best decision moving forward so we can sustain this run.
Truly a Masterclass, if he had a jersey, I’d probably get a DHGate knockoff of it.
Go Birds.