It’s odd. I seemed to always think that the written “pay scale” is actually pretty reasonable. However, as I stated elsewhere (probably when Cooley first made his comments), I think the CBA has just too many loopholes that lets the agents abuse the teams a little too much. Correct me if I’m wrong (anyone), but isn’t there a rookie pool that each team is assigned? Isn’t that pool determined by the picks (i.e. slot) the team had?

If what I’m “assuming” is actually true, then where is this all wrong? It’s the way the bonuses can be structured in the contracts. Rookie contracts have clauses that many veteran contracts have, and these clauses allow for the team to pay the rookie more than the slot. In other words, I think the agents (and players) have too much negotiating power over the teams. That power is understandable for a player who’s been in the league for 5 years, but not someone who has yet to set foot on an NFL football field.

How can this be fixed? The renegotiation of the CBA, of course. There has to be a way for the team to NOT have to sign their high draft pick (i.e. like in baseball). If the two sides can’t agree, the team gets a similar pick the next season. Of course, a clause like that in the CBA would probably be almost impossible for owners to obtain. Another possible part of the solution is just to do away with lousy “bonuses” like the “roster bonus” or “workout bonus”.

I’m just kind of spitting out ideas. I really don’t know how the CBA negotiations work, so my ideas may not work at all (there’s probably a reason why they’re not already in existence). This was just a roundabout and long way for me to agree that rookies should not be making the money they’re making. Not that it’s their fault, but busting on a contract that big is just so detrimental to the entire business the way things are.

Although many members lament not being able to dictate a salary based on potential, this is the way of the world when it comes to the ‘professions’. Doctors and lawyers can dictate their salaries based on potential (grades, skills, class position, etc.) So, this isn’t something special about the ‘professional’ athlete. For instance, if a law student is tops in their class and they are enrolled at a school that is renowned, they will get the better corporate jobs that are being offered out there. Same for doctors and such. Even those students in technical trades that graduate tops in their classes will get the best offers from IBM, Microsoft, etc. So, the professional sports model is equally valid and paying a newly graduated employee a higher salary based on their potential works for me, be it sports or the professions.
How often do we hear the stories about an older executive being replaced by a younger, just graduated business school graduate that has graduated at the top of their class. Same rules apply, no matter how fair you might think it is, it is the bottom line that always counts. A top of their class graphic artist or game designer will get a fantastic salary upon graduation, sometimes even sooner (if we want to look at basketball where ‘student’s’ are ‘coming’ out early, the same happens in the computer graphics industry.)
So, whether they be seasoned veterans or Heisman trophy winners, those athletes that are in demand will get the best salaries.
I understand that when talking about the usual employment situation, this probably doesn’t apply. But we are talking about the cream of the crop here at the highest levels, so what applies to the average ‘joe’ isn’t at work here. But the sharpest lawyer from Harvard or the best quarterback from Florida State are basically in the same situation. And they can ‘dictate’ their starting salaries from the best companies, in fact, the athlete is at a disadvantage in comparison, he doesn’t have the luxury of picking ‘who’ he works for, the drafts do that. Just imagine if the athlete came out of school a free agent from the start.
A top flight resident in Plastic Surgery at UCLA’s Medical School can easily get more than a million guaranteed from a top flight Plastic Surgery practice in Beverly Hills. And he can choose which one he wants to work for, athletes are indentured servants in a way by comparison. But that is off set by a 50 million dollar contract, guaranteed. So I guess that makes up for the fact that he can’t choose his employer.
For the sake of argument, 300 new football players are signed each year, out of how many seniors that played all 4 years in college, now that is the definition of exclusive if I ever saw one. Throw in the ‘this is entertainment’ and how much the NFL pulls in every year, the players are probably getting a pretty fair shake out of this industry. It is what the traffic will bare, so why not. We also have to remember that these players ‘life spans’ are pretty short in comparison to other professions, so where’s the ‘rub’ here?
I have a tendency to respond, yea, yea, yea, so, so, so, yadda, yadda, yadda, now can we flip the coin a play some football? I just want to sit here a few hours, raise my blood pressure to unsafe levels, along with my cholesterol levels, let alone destroy my liver in the process. LOL
Peace and Love you guys, let’s play some football…. w.