https://www.dariandurant.com/doubled-tv/2018/5/11/i-have-decided-to-retire-from-football

 

Edited May 11, 20187 yr by M.O.A.B.

What an ahole. You don't even tell the team? Hopefully it works out for us but hurts us potentially in the backup spot and being out 70k. Hope he has to pay it all back.

Always a risk with signing bonus money. You can’t tie any other conditions to signing bonuses....it is in fact literally a bonus to sign the contract. The entire incentive from the International player perspective is that signing bonuses are taxed at a preferred rate of only 15%. Any other roster bonus or conditional money is taxed based on the players income.

4 hours ago, WBBFanWest said:

It would depend on the contract, but I'd think the idea is that the money is payed for signing AND honoring the contract.  I'd imagine it would be different if between signing the contract and now there was some sort of unforeseen circumstance that made him have to rethink his future, but there doesn't seem to be any indication of that.  I'm hoping that the Bombers do pursue this is court and force him to give up that money one way or another, either to the Bombers or to his lawyer.

Exactly. It’s absurd to support that the 70k is just for an “autograph”. Signing bonus is offset against future earnings. It gets money to player before it’s earned, with the parties agreeing it will be earned. Durant didn’t hold up his portion of deal because he never earned a salary by participating as a player. 

What a loser Durant is for not telling the team directly.  I was listening to 1290 and they were saying the Bombers will not be able to recoup the $70k.  Durant partially recouped the bonus money he lost out on from the Montreal Alouettes when they cut him this past winter.  Maybe that was his sole motivation for signing with the Bombers - recoup some of those losses?

Bombers are now in a pickle.  Other than Calgary, we have the worst quarterback depth in the league.  If Nichols is injured for a lengthy amount of time the Bombers are screwed.

Just now, blueandgoldguy said:

What a loser Durant is for not telling the team directly. 

Yep. He's an absolute coward.

11 minutes ago, blueandgoldguy said:

What a loser Durant is for not telling the team directly.  I was listening to 1290 and they were saying the Bombers will not be able to recoup the $70k.  Durant partially recouped the bonus money he lost out on from the Montreal Alouettes when they cut him this past winter.  Maybe that was his sole motivation for signing with the Bombers - recoup some of those losses?

Bombers are now in a pickle.  Other than Calgary, we have the worst quarterback depth in the league.  If Nichols is injured for a lengthy amount of time the Bombers are screwed.

This is where our scouts (need to) step it up this year. We are due to find a legit QB not found by other teams.

 

13 minutes ago, blueandgoldguy said:

What a loser Durant is for not telling the team directly.  I was listening to 1290 and they were saying the Bombers will not be able to recoup the $70k.  Durant partially recouped the bonus money he lost out on from the Montreal Alouettes when they cut him this past winter.  Maybe that was his sole motivation for signing with the Bombers - recoup some of those losses?

Bombers are now in a pickle.  Other than Calgary, we have the worst quarterback depth in the league.  If Nichols is injured for a lengthy amount of time the Bombers are screwed.

To be fair, even with Durant, if Nichols got hurt we'd be screwed cuz he hasn't been very good for a while now. 

There is a lesson to learn here, never sign a former Rider or trade for a Rider their stink never leaves them.

10 minutes ago, bustamente said:

There is a lesson to learn here, never sign a former Rider or trade for a Rider their stink never leaves them.

Not even Demski?

49 minutes ago, HardCoreBlue said:

This is where our scouts (need to) step it up this year. We are due to find a legit QB not found by other teams.

 

I hope so.  Not sure who is out there with previous experience the Bombers could sign.  Cato..no obviously given the disruption he appears to have caused in the past and not just in the CFL.  Crompton?  Not a very good quarterback...erratic, but might be a stopgap.  Tate?  Bit of a headcase and he always seemed to get injured whenever he is inserted into the lineup.

 

I hope one of our inexperienced backups can actually step in this season and resemble something like a respectable backup QB.

52 minutes ago, Goalie said:

To be fair, even with Durant, if Nichols got hurt we'd be screwed cuz he hasn't been very good for a while now. 

I don't think that was the general feeling in Bomberland prior to his retirement.  Most looked at him as an upgrade to Lefevour and Davis, including myself.

15 minutes ago, Brandon said:

Not even Demski?

The Bombers have been making a habit of signing or trading for ex-Riders...Smith, Hurl, Dressler, Durant.

15 minutes ago, Brandon said:

Not even Demski?

Maybe not Demski and LaFrance they are Winnipeg born and bred and immune to the Rider stink

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I, for one, am ready for the Chris Streveler era. 

Huge CBA loophole here that needs to be closed and has affected other teams too.

Any offseason bonus money should be paid conditional on a player being able to report for training camp.  If they decide to retire or get into legal trouble it should be void and taken off the cap as well.

If the team releases a player, yes they should pay.

13 minutes ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

Huge CBA loophole here that needs to be closed and has affected other teams too.

Any offseason bonus money should be paid conditional on a player being able to report for training camp.  If they decide to retire or get into legal trouble it should be void and taken off the cap as well.

If the team releases a player, yes they should pay.

Folks, the parties that draw up, advise and agree to wording of the contracts are very well trained, undoubtably experienced, and relate these contracts to accepted language and terminology. The CBA, is a result of agreement between the league and the association. A players contract is between the player and the team, influenced and superseded by CBA. 

All parties in the Durant/WBBFC dispute are very sophisticated and certainly aware beforehand of the conditions of this signing bonus and consequences of non adherence of the contract. 

The non advisal of a retirement decision is a pain in the behind. I’d suggest the parties know what they will do to resolve it and probably less flappable than us posters. 

9 hours ago, M.O.A.B. said:

So Ross and Streveler promoted to 2 and 3 respectively. Maybe Nelson will get another call. 

I don't see any free-agent vet QB other than Drew Tate - and this guy doesn't live and breathe football. 

 

On the positive side, we may have gain some cap space. 

Old kick about guys, rakeem cato, mitchell gale, and logan kilgore sat out last year IIRC and could be air lifts. All pretty desperate moves though. 

Durant can suck a rock. What a guy. That cap space could easily be the difference between us having a starting caliber/experienced MLBer going into camp and us having to move guys around or start a rookie. 

28 minutes ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

Huge CBA loophole here that needs to be closed and has affected other teams too.

Any offseason bonus money should be paid conditional on a player being able to report for training camp.  If they decide to retire or get into legal trouble it should be void and taken off the cap as well.

If the team releases a player, yes they should pay.

agree 100%. 

12 minutes ago, Rod Black said:

Folks, the parties that draw up, advise and agree to wording of the contracts are very well trained, undoubtably experienced, and relate these contracts to accepted language and terminology. The CBA, is a result of agreement between the league and the association. A players contract is between the player and the team, influenced and superseded by CBA. 

All parties in the Durant/WBBFC dispute are very sophisticated and certainly aware beforehand of the conditions of this signing bonus and consequences of non adherence of the contract. 

The non advisal of a retirement decision is a pain in the behind. I’d suggest the parties know what they will do to resolve it and probably less flappable than us posters. 

It's really a matter of competitiveness for free agents.  That's the problem.  That's why these good faith bonuses are in contracts.  The CFL needs to make it a league rule under the CBA.  The players won't like it, because it kills this loophole for their members, but really in this situation and others it essentially takes away another players salary in cap space.

Jeff Hamilton on the radio said that the Blue still have not spoke with Durant yet and that the club is very upset at the situation.     From the sounds of it they will fight for the bonus money.   

I will assume that Durant will never show his face up North again after torpedoing whatever reputation the guy had left.   

7 minutes ago, Brandon said:

Jeff Hamilton on the radio said that the Blue still have not spoke with Durant yet and that the club is very upset at the situation.     From the sounds of it they will fight for the bonus money.   

I will assume that Durant will never show his face up North again after torpedoing whatever reputation the guy had left.   

Good.

1 hour ago, blueandgoldguy said:

I don't think that was the general feeling in Bomberland prior to his retirement.  Most looked at him as an upgrade to Lefevour and Davis, including myself.

Thats not saying much tho. 

They just signed a CDN QB out of Syracuse. 

4 minutes ago, Goalie said:

Thats not saying much tho. 

But a likely upgrade nonetheless.  To play devil's advocate (as I think Rick Ralph is doing on the radio), players probably get screwed out of their bonuses far more often when they are cut by their respective teams just prior to the deadline at which point those bonuses are due.

As for Durant not showing his face up north again...I doubt that.  I'm sure in the next year or two, he will have be back in Regina for some kind of appreciation night during a game.

I'm less pissed about the money and more pissed if I know he's had the playbook.

Wouldn't surprise me if Chris Jones and him had an agreement to mess with things. Wouldn't put it past either of them.

Club should fight for this one, and take him to court and make him pay legal fees.