During contract disputes, NFL players often go public in hopes of rallying sympathy for their cause and pressuring their teams to give in and pay them what they want.
Well Washington defensive tackle Chris Baker took the strategy to quite the extreme Monday, crashing general manager Scot McCloughan’s press conference (held to discuss the signing of cornerback Josh Norman) to ask, “Guys wanted to know is there any more money left for guys like Chris Baker or Jordan Reed?”
#Redskins GM Scot McCloughan ends his press conference with a funny question from guest-reporter @cbaker92redskin. pic.twitter.com/xjeQHomgg7
— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) April 25, 2016
Baker guffawed pretty heartily, so he’s obviously just messing around, but did you see the nervous laughter from McCloughan? He leans back, touches his head and sways around a little before meekly saying, “I got you, Bake. You’ll be all right.” You have to figure a player storming into a press conference to demand a raise sounds like something a GM would have night terrors over.
This isn’t the first time Baker has meddled in general managing. Back in March, the tackle publicly campaigned for Washington to keep his good friend and fellow Windsor, Connecticut native Terrance Knighton, who ended up with the Patriots.
Come on let's make it happen @Redskins @MisterRoast98 #POTROAST2DC KEEP US TOGETHER PLEASE🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿😩😩😩😩
— Chris Baker (@cbakerswaggy) March 15, 2016
For what it’s worth, Baker, a fifth-year defensive tackle with 75 career tackles, is due to make $2.75 million in base salary in 2016, with bonuses that could bring him over $4 million.
He’ll be a free agent after the 2016 season though, so maybe this press conference guest appearance is just part of a long game to get re-signed a year from now.
