Barkley, OBJ, and Bitcoin

[Jolly Blue Giant]

One of the pressing problems that Barkley faced during negotiations, was he made a huge mistake (like many NFL players) by taking his entire 2021 salary (10M) in bitcoin. It dropped 5.9M so he only got 4.1M for the season

I have to believe that he put himself in a financial bind with a poor decision and is trying to recoup a huge loss that is probably irredeemable and should just be chalked up as "big mistake...hard lesson learned"

Crypto has burned a lot of high-end athletes looking to make a killing while their talents are at their highest level (albeit for a short time). Getting burned playing the "high risk / high reward" game is NOT the fault of teams who agree to payout salaries (and portions thereof) to their players

And it's not just NFL players, others like NBA's Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson (who lost 20M for his investment in crypto) have been hit hard. Even Michael Jordan lost at least 10M, but for him that's not big deal...like me dropping a penny and not bothering to pick it up

In short, bad investment choices are part of life. Trying to recover those losses NEVER work, but that's not going to prod players to try. I've always felt Saquon's crypto loss has been the driving force behind his standoff with the front office

https://frontofficesports.com/crypto-crash-costing-nfl-players-millions/

https://cointelegraph.com/news/7-nfl-players-that-chose-crypto-over-cash-salaries

[DaveBrown74]

No doubt Barkley lost a lot of money in crypto, but I don't see him as being in any sort of real financial bind. He has still made a huge amount of money the last 5 years, even with the crytpo loss, when you count endorsements.

If by "financial bind" you just mean his net worth isn't as high as it would have been if he never touched bitcoin, then I certainly agree with that, but I don't really view that as a "bind."

[True Blue]

I can understand the issues that come with that, but not to be insensitive to it, it is unfortunately a non football mistake by Barkley, it isn't and wasn't up to the Giants to remedy that.

I would hope that isn't why he wanted more money.

[MightyGiants]

Barkley was investing his endorsement money into BitCoin

https://cointelegraph.com/news/nfl-s-saquon-barkley-converting-endorsements-to-btc-to-create-generational-wealth

It's sad reading the article.  Instead of finding a qualified financial adviser he could trust he decided to copy what wealthy sports superstars were doing.   I couldn't think of a more poorly conceived financial strategy.

[DaveBrown74]

Barkley was investing his endorsement money into BitCoin

https://cointelegraph.com/news/nfl-s-saquon-barkley-converting-endorsements-to-btc-to-create-generational-wealth

It's sad reading the article.  Instead of finding a qualified financial adviser he could trust he decided to copy what wealthy sports superstars were doing.   I couldn't think of a more poorly conceived financial strategy.

It is now readily apparent that Barkley either receives and follows very poor professional advice, or he stubbornly ignores good advice and exercises his own poor judgment with business decisions.

While I continue to think there is just about a zero percent chance he'll actually sit regular season games out, when you look at the insanity of some of his decisions off the field, it's hard to completely rule it out, crazy and self-harmful as it would be.

[MightyGiants]

It is now readily apparent that Barkley either receives and follows very poor professional advice, or he stubbornly ignores good advice and exercises his own poor judgment with business decisions.

While I continue to think there is just about a zero percent chance he'll actually sit regular season games out, when you look at the insanity of some of his decisions off the field, it's hard to completely rule it out, crazy and self-harmful as it would be.

I have watched two long-form interviews with Barkley.  In both of them the host was giving advise to Barkley and Barkley appeared receptive to it.

Hot Boxing with Mike Tyson-  Mike was giving Barkley life advice

The Money Matters Podcast with Jack Mallers (who is involved in various crypto-based companies)- Jack was giving Barkley financial advice

I think most of us have an opinion about getting life advice from Mike Tyson.

I listened to the hour-long pod with Jack Mallers and Barkley.  The stupid crap that Jack Mallers was saying pained me; it pained me greatly.  Jack is a combination of conman and idiot.   Yet, Barkley was listening to the man like he was someone who would give him good advice. 

For some reason, Barkley seems attracted to the wrong people to guide him.

[beaugestus]

I have not delved into the crypto market but from what I understand it's mainly relying on the buying and selling of the crypto itself. There are no assets backing its valuation. We have seen this before from the tulip craze and beyond.

[AZGiantFan]

The Money Matters Podcast with Jack Mallers (who is involved in various crypto-based companies)- Jack was giving Barkley financial advice


I listened to the hour-long pod with Jack Mallers and Barkley.  The stupid crap that Jack Mallers was saying pained me; it pained me greatly.  Jack is a combination of conman and idiot.   Yet, Barkley was listening to the man like he was someone who would give him good advice. 

For some reason, Barkley seems attracted to the wrong people to guide him.

I listened to part of that and then couldn't stomach any more.  Some of Mallers' analogies to the stock market were beyond absurd.

And Saquon never seems to acknowledge that by virtue of his draft position he was instantly one of the highest paid RBs in the league, and counting his 5th year option has collected $38 million.  I wonder how many RBs collected more than that over that 5 year period?

The one I have more sympathy is the Raiders guy who has made between 5 and 6 million for his first 4 years.  I had assumed he wasn't a first rounder because they tagged him for year 5 rather than picking up his 5th year option..  I know the amount of the 5th year option is performance based so is it possible that his 5th year option would have cost more than the tag?

[MightyGiants]

I listened to part of that and then couldn't stomach any more.  Some of Mallers' analogies to the stock market were beyond absurd.

And Saquon never seems to acknowledge that by virtue of his draft position he was instantly one of the highest paid RBs in the league, and counting his 5th year option has collected $38 million.  I wonder how many RBs collected more than that over that 5 year period?

The one I have more sympathy is the Raiders guy who has made between 5 and 6 million for his first 4 years.  I had assumed he wasn't a first rounder because they tagged him for year 5 rather than picking up his 5th year option..  I know the amount of the 5th year option is performance based so is it possible that his 5th year option would have cost more than the tag?

Josh Jacobs has earned a hair under $12 million for his 4-year career.  The Raiders didn't pick up Jacob's 5th year option so he has played one less season than Barkley.

[coggs]

I can understand the issues that come with that, but not to be insensitive to it, it is unfortunately a non football mistake by Barkley, it isn't and wasn't up to the Giants to remedy that.

I would hope that isn't why he wanted more money.

exactly what I was thinking.  I am not giving my cleaning lady or babysitter a raise if they go to Atlantic City and lose all their money in the slot machines.

[MightyGiants]

They say that in 2023 Barkley is worth an estimated $45 million

Now admittedly, taxes would eat up some of this, but Barkley earned $38 million from the Giants, and it's been reported he gets an outside income of $10 million per year (he has been in the league for 5 years).   So by my math, Barkley has earned around $88 million but has a net worth of $45 million.   Barkley stated in the interview that he has a great financial adviser, but I am not sure I see it.  Even with taxes, I would think a good financial manager would have Barkley's wealth somewhere between $50 million and $60 million.

[AZGiantFan]

Josh Jacobs has earned a hair under $12 million for his 4-year career.  The Raiders didn't pick up Jacob's 5th year option so he has played one less season than Barkley.

You're right, I misread spotrac somehow.  It's still a lot less than Barkley's 31.6 million rookie contract.  I still don't fully get why they tagged him rather than exercising his 5th year option.

[GloryDays]

STUPID is what a stupid does!

[Ed Vette]

You're right, I misread spotrac somehow.  It's still a lot less than Barkley's 31.6 million rookie contract.  I still don't fully get why they tagged him rather than exercising his 5th year option.

He had a down year in 2021 and hadn't played a full season at that point. Then he had a breakout year and doubled his output in 2022. He would have cost them $8MM but just like Jones and the Giants, they weren't that committed to him.

His Market Value pre-crash was $12.5MM. If the market held up, it could have been worse.

Which gets me thinking, would the Giants have tagged Barkley last year if they didn't exercise his 5th year option?

[AZGiantFan]

He had a down year in 2021 and hadn't played a full season at that point. Then he had a breakout year and doubled his output in 2022. He would have cost them $8MM but just like Jones and the Giants, they weren't that committed to him.

His Market Value pre-crash was $12.5MM. If the market held up, it could have been worse.

Which gets me thinking, would the Giants have tagged Barkley last year if they didn't exercise his 5th year option?

That makes sense.  I don't know the answer on Barkley.