Adrian Wilson has been in the NFL for 12 seasons, and he has worn the same jersey number every year. The veteran safety was always No. 24 with the Arizona Cardinals, but that number is already occupied with his new team. Cornerback Kyle Arrington, who has been with the New England Patriots since 2009, currently owns the hypothetical “rights” to that number.
But Wilson still wants it, and he’s willing to negotiate if Arrington will listen. Arrington and his wife welcomed their first child into the world last week, which inspired Wilson to create a unique proposal.
“I offered him a year’s supply of Pampers,” Wilson told Shalise Manza Young of the Boston Globe. “Hope he gets back to me.”
Wilson later tweeted Young and added that he might have to offer Arrington some formula in addition to the diapers to sweeten the pot.
I like the creativity. Arrington recently signed a four-year, $16 million extension with the Patriots, so simply offering him cash probably wouldn’t have cut it. Like this MLB pitcher could tell you, bringing the offspring into the equation can be a powerful negotiation tactic. For Wilson’s sake, we hope Arrington isn’t as stubborn as Buffalo Bills defensive end Chris Kelsay was when it came to giving up his jersey number for Mario Williams.
