Cowboys file complaint against Ratliff

Per David Moore on Twitter.

boozeman said:

Per David Moore on Twitter.

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I don't blame them. The guy was faking an injury so that he could get released and sign a new contract somewhere else.

Cowboysrock55 said:

I don't blame them. The guy was faking an injury so that he could get released and sign a new contract somewhere else.

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Yeah. But unless there is cap relief as an outcome, I don't give a shit.

boozeman said:

Yeah. But unless there is cap relief as an outcome, I don't give a shit.

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Same.

boozeman said:

Yeah. But unless there is cap relief as an outcome, I don't give a shit.

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I agree, although if he is forced to return money to Dallas I think that could give us some cap relief.

Cap relief or not my position is that he is no better than a thief and should have to return what he has stolen. It just the right thing to do.

Cowboys seek money in grievance


Updated: March 24, 2014, 6:07 PM ET

By Calvin Watkins | ESPNDallas.com


ORLANDO, Fla. -- The Dallas Cowboys have filed a grievance against defensive tackle Jeremiah Ratliff.

According to a source, the Cowboys are seeking a portion of a $10 million signing bonus Ratliff received in 2011, portions of a $1,340,000 base salary and monies owed on a luxury suite at AT&T Stadium.

Cowboys officials understand it will be difficult to obtain any money from Ratliff, who now plays for the Chicago Bears, but the source said the team is trying to make a statement.

"It just stems from him not playing for us under the pretense of injury, and then days later playing for someone else," Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones said Monday at the NFL owners' meetings. "We just have a complaint and we'll see where we take it from there."

Ratliff's agent, Mark Slough, declined comment.

Jones spoke with league officials regarding the grievance during Monday's owners meetings.

Ratliff battled team officials including the medical staff regarding treatment for groin injuries suffered in 2012. Ratliff underwent sports hernia surgery toward the end of the season.

Team officials expected Ratliff to return for the 2013 season, but he was slow in his recovery and the team placed him on the physically unable to perform list in late August.

Ratliff was cut by the Cowboys on Oct. 16, 2013, and he signed a one-year deal with the Bears on Nov. 6, 2013.

He played in five games for the Bears last season, which raised some issues with the Cowboys considering he told team officials he wasn't ready to participate in games.

The Bears signed Ratliff to a two-year deal earlier this month.

Any grievance filed is heard by the NFL management council.

After Ratliff was released by the Cowboys, Slough said his client wanted to play football again, he just wasn't sure when he would be available to do so.

"If he could've played [in 2013], he would've been on the field," Slough said the day Ratliff was cut by the Cowboys. "Those people who ever questioned his loyalty or maybe questioned his desire to play, integrity, all those things, those questions were misplaced. But again I think a lot of that was no one really understood the severity of the injury Jay suffered and the result was there were unrealistic expectations for his return being bantered about."

So, no Jay Ratliff appreciation night after his retirement?

It's obvious as hell Ratliff faked or milked his injury to avoid playing.

Since we've been into learning lessons lately, maybe we can learn to recognize a dog when we hear barking. It was pretty obvious for a long while that he was dogging it, yet we not only stuck with him, we counted on him.

It would be nice to get a little cap space back, but I would be pretty surprised if it actually happened.

1bigfan13 said:

So, no Jay Ratliff appreciation night after his retirement?

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I'm thinking Drew Pearson Jay Ratliff Ring of Honor double ceremony.

Genghis Khan said:

It's obvious as hell Ratliff faked or milked his injury to avoid playing.

Since we've been into learning lessons lately, maybe we can learn to recognize a dog when we hear barking. It was pretty obvious for a long while that he was dogging it, yet we not only stuck with him, we counted on him.

It would be nice to get a little cap space back, but I would be pretty surprised if it actually happened.

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Another lesson that I hope they learned is that you can't always buy loyalty.

Ratliff had been grumpy for a while and they thought that if they threw some extra money his way that that would fix the problem.

Sometimes you just have to get rid of problem Soldiers. You can't always buy your way out of problems. I know that's a hard concept for a billionaire like Jones to grasp.

Genghis Khan said:

It would be nice to get a little cap space back, but I would be pretty surprised if it actually happened.

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It's interesting because you have Orton this upcoming year as an example. Supposedly he wants to retire but if he were to retire he would need to pay back a large portion of his signing bonus. What would prevent him from instead just sandbagging it and pretending he is hurt all year until Dallas cuts him so that he doesn't have to pay the bonus back?

The NFLPA is in an interesting position on this. Dallas cut Rat and there is no rule on the books that would make Rat give money back. However, now that Goodell is involved and it's pretty clear that he was being deceptive about his injury-- he is pretty close to being in breach of his contract.

My guess would be there'll be a settlement, where Rat has to pay some money back, but not all so that everyone can save face and the whole things goes away as quickly as possible. It'd definitely be nice to get some of his dead money off the books.

Ratliff may get off scot free due to a technicality.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/03/25/cowboys-will-have-a-hard-time-pursuing-money-from-ratliff/
Cowboys will have a hard time pursuing money from Ratliff

Posted by Mike Florio on March 25, 2014, 10:25 AM EDT
Jones
AP
After the Cowboys released defensive lineman Jay Ratliff, owner Jerry Jones made multiple references to potential legal proceedings.

Now, months after the fact, Jones says the Cowboys may file a grievance against Ratliff to recover some of his money.

It could be too late for any of that. As we’ve pointed out in connection with the potential Jimmy Graham grievance, the labor deal creates a 50-day deadline for filing so-called non-injury grievances. The door swings both ways, for players and teams.

Thus, Ratliff’s initial argument should be that the Cowboys simply waited too long to try to recover money from him. And it will be very difficult it not impossible for the Cowboys to overcome that point.

Ultimately, that could be the kind of blunder that would get a G.M. fired. If the G.M wasn’t also, you know, the guy who would be doing the firing.

I hope this is not true. Haven't we been saying for months we were surprised nothing was happening?

lostxn said:

I hope this is not true. Haven't we been saying for months we were surprised nothing was happening?

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Yep.

You can forget about the avenues from the NFL or NFLPA. So no cap relief, which is all we as fans should care about.

But I am sure Jerry goes after him in court, especially for the PSL thing. He's going to want his money on that. I hope he loses in that event.

boozeman said:

Yep.

You can forget about the avenues from the NFL or NFLPA. So no cap relief, which is all we as fans should care about.

But I am sure Jerry goes after him in court, especially for the PSL thing. He's going to want his money on that. I hope he loses in that event.

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You would rather a thief prevails?

L.T. Fan said:

You would rather a thief prevails?

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I would feel the same way I would feel if someone leaves their fat wallet packed with cash on the dashboard of a car with the windows rolled down in a ghetto.

Does not excuse my contempt for the thief, but if someone is that stupid, they deserve the consequences of their actions.