Eels star Nathan Brown left stranded in no mans land after $1.2 million bungle
Eels wrecking ball Nathan Brown is reportedly facing the prospect of a sheepish return to the negotiating table with Parramatta after Manly pulled its rich offer.
The NSW State of Origin representative’s contract saga is back at square one with the Sea Eagles this week following Parramatta’s decision last month to withdraw their contract offer.
It leaves Brown in no mans land after his management first knocked back a reported $1.2 million deal from the Eels to extend his contract through to the end of the 2023 season.
When Brown failed to accept the deal by last month’s deadline, the offer was taken off the table. It was reported at the time of the Eels’ brave move that Manly was prepared to trump their offer and table a longer-term deal.
However, The Daily Telegraph now reports Manly has also walked away from Brown after he refused to accept any offer worth less than $2.6 million, across four years.
Nathan Brown is regretting that $1.2 million decision.Source:Getty Images
The report reveals Brown has lost ground from where he was with the Eels last month with the club now prioritising an open look across the market place before returning to negotiate with the 28-year-old.
The contract mess comes after the Dragons also bristled at reports they were interested in Brown. The Dragons flatly denied Brown’s management’s claims to the Eels that the club risked losing Brown to St George Illawarra unless the club offered a longer-term deal.
Manly’s interest in Brown was rumoured to be going cold earlier this month.
“He is now off Manly’s radar. They will not be pursuing him,” Peters told Sky Sports Radio.
The Eels are also trying to keep back-rower Ryan Matterson and the club may face having to lose one to keep the other.
Brown’s preference is to stay at the Eels. He made his Origin debut playing two games for NSW last season.
Replies
Lol his manager sux
gets more post contact metres
I like NB but dont think he is worth to us what he wants. We have a number of players who could play lock well for under $500K
I'm pretty sure the club wants to keep him and will work something out with him, I'm guessing something in the range of 1.8m over 3 years
Well he wanted a pay raise, which he thought he was going to get from Manly, that's not happening, now he's basically going to be on the same money to stay with us.
That's a win for us.
No, it's a win for us if we get to keep him for 3 more years on the same money as we are already paying him. For a guy in his prime, that's a win. Normally this is the time of their career when they are expecting a big pay day.
So, lock him in @600k for 3 years, hell make it 4 years.
It's a steal.
Not necessarily. Under Mark O'Neill, the club has usually started with 2 year extensions as a starting point, or are you saying that the club only feels like Mitch Moses has only one year left in him ?
In three years he will be 31 years old. Definitely worth less than he's on now. If he wants a longer offer we should go something like 1.5M over three years ($600k+$500k+$400k).
No, because we're still getting him for the same money we're getting him now. Remember this is the time in a players career when he is expecting a big pay rise, but he's not gonna get it because of circumstances. If he's worth 600k a year right now, then he's worth 700k next year & 750 the year after, then he comes back to about 650k.
600k a year for 3 or 4 years is a steal, I'm tellin ya.
The only players expecting a pay raise at 29 are playmakers. Other players might hope for a big pay raise at that age, and some might get it from a weak club desperate for experience/leadership, but I doubt most players approaching 30 are getting any notable upgrades.