Think of Panthers' contract talks like marriage counseling

When a player signs a large contract, Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson pulls out a piece of paper.

"This is the number you’re thinking of," he says, talking about the dollar figure on the contract. "But this is the number you should be thinking of."

He knocks off taxes and writes down a new number.

"And then you pay your agent, and the number you should be thinking about is this," Richardson says.

He knocks off the agent’s fee and writes a new number.

"And if you get married, you should be thinking of this number," Richardson says.

And he cuts the previous number in half and writes a new number.

Instead of thinking about the first figure, the player should be thinking about the last.

Richardson recently had lunch with Tshimanga Biakabutuka, the former Panther running back who owns a business here.

"Do you remember our talk?" Richardson asked, meaning the talk about what a contract is really worth.

"I do," said Biakabutuka. "I never got married."

Comments

[Mark Bridges]

What is this article saying? Are you saying that Jerry Richardson is telling players not to get married?