Hand overplayed and bluff called

Ross Verba was a Cleveland Browns player for 4 seasons. He played well in 2001 and 2002. He missed the entire 2003 season due to injury. He played very good in 2004 and was arguably the teams best player as left tackle. This off-season the team paid Verba a $465,000 roster bonus to activate his contract for 2005, calling for $2.925 million. Likewise, Verba was scheduled to make $2.925 million in 2006. Verba got upset with the prospect of being paid 3 million dollars to play football and claimed he was one of the top three left tackles and should be paid commensurate with that status. The new management team of the Browns felt otherwise and told him he could give the bonus back and they would release him so he could see what he can get on the open market. Verba is not likely to get nearly as much money as a free agent as he would have with the Browns.

I think Verba is a good to very good player. However, we lost 12 games with him on the roster. I think the new management team is sending a message. The message is "good" is replaceable. You may overpay for great but you don't for good.