DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Kokinis taking Browns to Arbitration

Just caught this,, I think it belongs here...not 100% sure however..

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Cleveland Browns fired GM George Kokinis takes team to arbitraton
By Tony Grossi
December 21, 2009, 1:08PM

CLEVELAND -- Former Browns General Manager George Kokinis is fighting the team's dismissal.

Kokinis, fired on Nov. 2, has filed an arbitration against the Browns for both breach of contract and fraudulent misrepresentation.

The case may be decided by Commissioner Roger Goodell or Jeff Pash, NFL legal counsel.

More to come

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http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2009/12/cleveland_browns_fired_gm_geor.html

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I think it belongs here...not 100% sure however..

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It's not about football, which was always supposed to be the litmus test.

Yeah, we knew this was coming when he wouldn't speak to reporters and lawyered up.

We'll see what happens...somebody breached the contract, we'll find out who and probably we won't find out as they'll make a settlement???

JMHO

I think it has more to do with football (particularly the product that is currently on the field) than most realize. I'm okay with it here.

Kokinis files claim against Browns web page
Posted by Mike Florio on December 21, 2009 1:54 PM ET

On the same day that the Browns are expected to get an answer from the guy who could be the next chief of their football operations, the guy who previously held that power (but who apparently wasn't expected to use it and then fired because he didn't) has filed a claim for the balance of his contract.

Tony Grossi of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that former Browns G.M. George Kokinis has filed an arbitration claim against the team for firing him "with cause," which cut off his pay for the balance of the deal.

Per Grossi, Kokinis seeks more than $4 million in "compensation and damages" from the team.

Given that jobs of this nature are rare and the competition for them intense, teams typically include non-negotiable language in the contract giving the Commissioner or his designee the authority to resolve any legal claims arising from the employment relationship. And this gives the teams an inherent edge, since it's the teams not the team employees who determine the identity and job security of the Commissioner.

Still, even with the fielded tilted in their favor, it appears that the Browns don't have much of a chance to prevail. By all appearances, Kokinis' only mistake was to assume that the contract giving him final say over the roster meant what it said. When his "friend" Eric Mangini opted instead to dominate the relationship and Kokinis assumed the back-seat position that Mangini wanted him to take, the team concluded that Kokinis had failed to do his job.

So unless there's evidence that Kokinis did something he shouldn't have done, he should ultimately prevail.

In this regard, "ultimately" gives the team some leverage. These things often can take a while to percolate -- the last time we checked, Lane Kiffin's effort to get the balance of his salary from the Raiders was still pending, well over a year after he was fired. So if Kokinis decides that he just wants to move on (after moving out), he might take less money than that to which he's entitled in order to settle the dispute.



So...
Old GM - 10 months - $4 million
New GM - 10 years - $50 million
Instant Credibility - Priceless!

not sure if that was sarcasm or not, but I'm not sure giving a guy a $50M guaranteed contract constitutes "instant credibility"

$4M is for a 3 or 4 year contract. We're going to pay Holmgren twice that for one season....again, throwing money at a name doesn't mean squat to me. Think it's kind of stupid, but i guess we'll see

I'd sure as hell like to make 4 million and not do anything for it.
Hell,I'd do nothing for 1 million.I could be real lazy for $500,000.00.Not a problem here.

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$4M is for a 3 or 4 year contract. We're going to pay Holmgren twice that for one season....again, throwing money at a name doesn't mean squat to me. Think it's kind of stupid, but i guess we'll see

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keep in mind, we don't know what the money actually is yet, so all of this is media hype only....

So far we have you and Spoonfed saying it's dumb to pay that kinda money...

Think of this as an All In Gamble.. One that Lerner was prepared to take.

Funny thing is,, I would bet you that for each person that thinks its dumb, there would be thousands that think it's smart.. Don't know who will prove to be right in the end.. But I'm thinking that I'm going with the smart move people...

I also guarantee you, had we not offered a big contract and then lost MH,, fans would be calling for Lerners head..

it's a no win situation for Lerner according to some...