It started when NFL Network ran a piece talking about the top five defensive tackles in the NFL and put Darnell Dockett on the list. This led Dockett, who has embraced this Twitter thing fully, to say on his Twitter account "I wish I could get paid like the top 5." The issue didn't fade with Dock, though, because this afternoon he tweeted the question (and this is exactly how it looks on the tweet) SERIOUS QUESTION TO THE WORLDDO U THINK NFL PLAYERS SHOULD HONOR THERE CONTRACT IF THE ORGINIZATION DOESN'T?
That has led to a bunch of the 1,900-plus Dockett Twitter followers to answer. Many, not surprisingly, seem to take up Dockett's cause that he needs a raise. Smartly, Dockett has begun simply "re-tweeting" the answers (copying and pasting what others are saying) rather than saying anything inflammatory on his own. A couple he has pasted on his page mentioned "cheap franchises" and that "cheap is a disease." They don't specifically mention the Cardinals though. When Dockett signed his current extension in 2006, he actually addressed that topic (although we call know everyone is in a good mood right after an extension is announced). "A lot of people talk about the Cardinals, 'The Cardinals are cheap, they don't want to spend money,' " Dockett said then. "I don't think this is that. I am a true believer."
It's tough to paint the Cards as cheap right now. They will have committed almost $40 million by the end of the calendar year to just three players – Kurt Warner ($19M), Adrian Wilson ($9.5M) and Karlos Dansby ($9.7M). General manager Rod Graves, speaking generally about reworking contracts a few weeks ago, crystallized the thought: "Players and agents tend to think from time to time we are just printing money in the back," Graves said.
Does Dockett deserve more money? That argument can be made, just like it can be made for Anquan Boldin. Dockett is going to make $3.5 million this season (and is scheduled to make $3.75M and $4M the next two seasons after this). I don't see the Cards making any huge deals from here on out (save for re-working Dansby, if Dansby wants to get something done) so Dockett is going to have to wait. But now that he can have his voice Twitter unfiltered, I am guessing this won't be the last day he speaks to the world about contract philosophy.
