Ty Law Demands All Other Cornerbacks Take Pay Cuts

FOXBORO, MA--After publicly berating Coach Bill Belichick over a perceived slight in contract negotiations, All-Pro cornerback Ty Law has his back against the wall. Belichick and GM Scott Pioli have cut off talks and refuse to be intimidated by his hard-line stance. Faced with the prospect of playing for a coach he despises, and a contract that pays him less than his peer, Champ Bailey, Law has changed his strategy and is now demanding that all other cornerbacks in the league make less money.

“I am an All-Pro cornerback. I had the best season of any other cornerback in the league last year,” said Law. “I don’t think it’s too much to ask that I make more than the other corners. It’s really just a sign of respect. So if these guys have any respect for me at all, they’ll take pay cuts. I will be the highest paid cornerback in the league, one way or another.”Law and his agent, Carl Poston, have already started phoning players and GM’s around the league demanding that the average salary for all other cornerbacks be lowered. They’ve received a mixed response so far, but the aggressive Poston will not be deterred from his goal.

“My client deserves to be the highest paid cornerback in league history,” said Poston, during an interview with the Boston Globe. “He played a huge part in bringing the Lombardi trophy to Foxboro in 2001 and 2004. Clearly, he is underappreciated by his liar coach, Bill Belichick and that criminal, Scott Pioli. Who do they think they’re dealing with here? I’m Carl Poston, the NFL’s biggest asshole. I once killed a General Manager for not succumbing to my contractual demands. OK, well I didn’t actually kill him, but I did give him a nasty look.”

At the end of last season, Law indicated that he would be willing to renegotiate his current deal in order to accommodate the team’s salary cap needs. But when Champ Bailey signed his 7 year, $63 million deal, the landscape changed drastically. Bailey’s deal has raised the bar for cornerbacks, and Law wants to be paid accordingly. Unfortunately, the Patriots aren’t playing ball.

“A lot of people have been saying I’m unreasonable, but I think that’s an unfair accusation,” said Law. “I just want to make it clear that I am perfectly willing to play for my current contract, with no pay raise whatsoever, as long as Champ Bailey renegotiates his contract down. Then, of course, the average salary in the league would go down, and I would expect all other cornerbacks to lower theirs in response. Is that too much to ask? Jesus, it’s not like these people are going to starve or something. They have more money than they’ll ever spend.”

The NFL is divided on Law's proposal. Most GM’s in the league support the idea, and have expressed great willingness to lower their cornerbacks’ salaries. In fact, several GM’s have approached their players with pay cut proposals in line with what Law is asking. Unfortunately, the players are unanimously against it, especially Champ Bailey.

“I understand Ty’s position. Everyone wants to be the highest paid at his position,” said Bailey. “But come on, Ty. Do you really expect me to lower my salary to meet your demands? I earned this 63 million, and frankly, I’m a little surprised by your greed. You’re making plenty of money. What’s a few extra million that you won’t even miss? That being said, I wouldn’t lower my contract one penny if someone kidnapped my family and held them for ransom.”

But Poston and Law are insisting that it’s not about greed. It’s not about dollar signs, either. It’s about respect, plain and simple.

“I’m so sick of people dragging my client’s name through the mud with all this talk about money, money, money,” said Poston. “As someone who is close to Ty, I can tell you he is damn tired of hearing about dollars and cents all the time. This is about pride, respect, and competition. What good is being the best cornerback in the league if your getting paid like some shitty second stringer? You’d think that, in a show of solidarity and respect, the other cornerbacks in the league would take a pay cut for Ty. But I guess they’re too greedy. I swear, this league makes me sick to my stomach sometimes. I mean, what kind of example are we sitting for the kids out there?”

One person who, surprisingly, is in Ty Law’s corner, is Belichick himself. The cerebral head coach is said to be “100 percent in favor” of all other cornerbacks in the league taking pay cuts. He has already contacted several GM’s in an effort to push the new initiative through.

Said Belichick: “I think Ty is making a reasonable demand, here. It truly is in the best interest of the New England Patriots for him to retire a Patriot. Unfortunately, the only way we can do that is to make him the highest paid cornerback in the league. And you all know damn well we won’t be springing for the few extra bucks, so it’s really the responsibility of the rest of the league to bring salaries down. So let’s all stop being greedy and get this thing done.”

The latest news out of the Law camp is that the cornerback is willing to sit out the preseason if his demands are not met. Though holding out would be a last resort, Law insisted that he’ll do whatever he has to do to get a deal done.

“Hey, if I gotta sit, I’ll sit. I don’t care. I won’t be intimidated by the rest of the guys in the league refusing to cut their own salaries,” he said. “This just comes down to doing what's best for me and my family. It's not about me. It's not about my contract. It's about other people’s contracts. That’s my biggest concern. Trust me, if my demands aren’t met, I’ll go the way Lawyer Milloy went—to a horrible team that gets left in the dust by the Patriots. Wait a minute…maybe I should rethink this whole thing.”