Agent: Jon Asamoah Took Less Money To Go To Atlanta

Aug 30, 2012; Green Bay, WI, USA; Kansas City Chiefs guard Jon Asamoah (73) during the game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. The Packers defeated the Chiefs 24-3. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

File this one away for later use. Jon Asamoah‘s agent, Joe Panos, tells D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Asamoah left money on the table to go sign with Atlanta.

Here’s the quote Panos gave Ledbetter:

"“We have agreed to a deal,” said Joe Panos, Asamoah’s agent. “Jon took less to go to Atlanta, flat out. The reasons are because number one, he knows they are going to win. The stability of the organization and the guy he’s blocking for, Matt Ryan and the coaching staff and Mike Tice.“Those are the big reasons why he left money on the table to play in Atlanta. I think it says a lot about his character and what kind of man that he is.”"

Let’s begin by noting it is in the best interest of the agent to say something like this about one of the players he represents. Early indication is Asamoah signed a five year deal worth 4.5 million annually, which is quite a bit of money for a guard. This could be a  way of Panos saying “I could have gotten him more, too” while also making his client look good.

On the other hand, there was expected to be a lot of interest from around the league in Asamoah. We know for sure the New York Jets were among the “several other teams” interested in signing him. It wouldn’t completely be out of the question for there to have been a significant bidding war that would have made Asamoah a few extra bucks. There’s some legitimate reasons to believe Panos claim, especially given the way money was thrown around yesterday.

As of this writing we don’t know how much money Geoff Schwartz is going to receive from the New York Giants. It is safe to assume it is for around what Asamoah signed for Tuesday. Given those numbers and then taking into account Asamoah may have left money on the table to sign the contract he did, it makes a ton of sense why the Chiefs did not re-sign either of their two free agent guards.

There was simply too much money available to Schwartz and Asamoah on the free agent market and Kansas City could compete with it without causing more cap problems down the road. Add in the fact Asamoah clearly had an idea of where he wanted to be and it makes more sense why Dorsey could not hold on to him.

It isn’t easy but some things are just out of Dorsey’s hands. This, apparently, could have been one of them.