Fucking no! It would be horrible for the players.

Goodell needs to shut the fuck up. I'm the biggest NFL honk in the world, but Roger is really starting to piss me off. Tagliabue would never even have tried this shit. Goodell is really starting to sound like a shill for the owners like Selig. His primary responsibility is the overall good of the league. If you don't think a potential labor strike would be bad for the league then well... you're a retard.

In the NFL, more than any other sport, you have to get your money as soon as you can and whenever you can because contracts aren't guaranteed and career ending injuries can happen in any game or even in practice. Veterans bitching about rookies making more money should be salivating at the thought that if an untested rookie can bank that much then the next veteran contract they get will be bigger than that. That's been the trend, and will continue to be the trend unless the NFLPA stupidly tries to jump on board with the owners and institute a scale. Rookie pay does not eat up much cap room, it's still only about 3% of the total salary pool, and every year there are literally hundreds of millions unspent under the cap.

7/2/2008 4:09:19 PM

Quote :

"Veterans bitching about rookies making more money should be salivating at the thought that if an untested rookie can bank that much then the next veteran contract they get will be bigger than that. "

And then, the next rookie class makes more than the veteran. I'm all for rookies getting paid, but the fact that Jake Long, who has never taken an NFL snap, is making more than a 5x Pro Bowler like Steve Hutchinson is ridiculous.

7/2/2008 6:08:23 PM

I don't think they should have the same scale as the NBA. I do however think that there should be a cap placed on rookie guranteed money. I mean each year it goes up. Its gonna get to the point when your rookie contract will be everyone's best deal. As a fan every year we have rookie holdouts and it kills their team and the growth of the player. I want to see every rookie in camp on time and agents demands have gotten out of hand.

7/2/2008 6:21:01 PM

i say that they would have the contract...and it could work out, but not guaranteed...id guarantee it on results

make it speculative for 5 years or so and if they perform they get all the money they had been offered


but i WOULD LOVE TO SEE a salary cap in the NFL for the rookies much like the NBA and MLB have...its ridiculous what they have now and makes no sense at all. The owners hate it too, Jerry Jones said he absolutely hated it.

7/2/2008 6:30:06 PM

I also am for a rookie cap/scale of some sort. Not as drastic as the NBA, but definitely some scale. As someone already said, the higher the Rookies get guaranteed, the more the Vets want, then next year the Rookie still makes more.

I heard/read where the rooks making more than Tom Brady...seriously? For real? Really? Should not be. Let them make guaranteed contracts based on some reason, then more on statistics, performance, etc...

Speaking on that, I also think the league and owners should be providing back/subsidizing insurance, medical fees, and giving past NFL player some assistance. These are 2 issues that really bother about the NFL.


III

7/2/2008 6:50:54 PM

rookies should play for FREE for 3 years.. Then sign a contract based on what they've earned at the pro level.

7/2/2008 6:55:13 PM

take away some of the money from the rookies, and give it to the retired players who have shitty pensions and tons of medical bills from giving their bodies to help build this league into a product that allows an offensive tackle out of michigan who hasnt played a single down in the nfl to get 30 million dollars guaranteed

7/2/2008 7:28:52 PM

I like how the OP talks about how it's gonna be horrible for the players when the players are still going to make more in a few years than most of us will in 15+ years.

7/2/2008 8:22:41 PM

Quote :

"rookies should play for FREE for 3 years.. Then sign a contract based on what they've earned at the pro level."

It's not an internship you assclown

7/2/2008 9:27:36 PM

^^Pointless. If you or I had a lucrative skill that could earn our bosses billions of dollars in revenue we'd be making that kind of money too. Also, I can work for 50 years, the average NFL player has a 3.5 year career. That's it, and most guys don't make ridiculous quantities of money so they'd be damned fools to collectively bargain a salary scale.

Look, you have to get that first big contract, because frankly you may never see another one. There's a very good chance that you don't have something to fall back on, or you may be gimping around on 1 good leg for the rest of your life. Besides, the biggest contract a player signs is not the rookie contract, it's that first free agent deal. Additionally, for every Tim Couch or Courtney Brown there's a Tom Brady or a Shannon Sharpe who are massively underpaid.

The fact of the matter is that people get too wrapped up in the total dollar amount of the deal, Jake Long's "57 million" of which he'll likely only collect around 45 million over 5 years. Now, explain to me how 9 million a year is such a bloated figure for a guy you expect to be a rock at arguably the 2nd most important position on the field? Shit, there are tons of MLB guys who make that much or more and nobody bitches.

Bottom line is that it's up to the owners to make these deals, if they don't want to pay these salaries they don't have to. Nobody forced the Falcons to shell out Peyton Manning type money for Matt Ryan, they did that all on their own. They're quite capable of scaling this back without creating a point of contention that will cause a labor strike.

7/2/2008 10:24:53 PM

7/2/2008 10:39:04 PM

What an excellent way to refute an argument. You really got me there!

7/2/2008 11:10:41 PM

i agree that football, more than any other sport, has a short window and it is important to make some money because you never know when your career could get cut short

however...i also dont think its fair that Chris Long is getting $30 million GUARANTEED without playing a snap and offensive linemen who have been busting their asses and PRODUCING IN THE NFL FOR YEARS don't get compensated as well

but like i said before, i think the retired players, especially in the 60s and 70s, got shitted on financially and deserve some of that money for helping make the league a place where you can get $30 million guaranteed without playing a single down

7/2/2008 11:13:46 PM

^^ i wasnt talking to you dumbass

7/2/2008 11:33:13 PM

Quote :

"The fact of the matter is that people get too wrapped up in the total dollar amount of the deal, Jake Long's "57 million" of which he'll likely only collect around 45 million over 5 years. Now, explain to me how 9 million a year is such a bloated figure for a guy you expect to be a rock at arguably the 2nd most important position on the field?"

Because he's going to be making more per year than players who are perennial Pro Bowlers. Don't try using the "you'll make more on your first free agent contract" card, because while that is true, the way things are going, there will be a rookie making even more than that within a year or two every single time.

The great example of this is Steve Hutchinson who signed the largest contract ever for an offensive lineman in March of 2006. Less than two years later a kid, who has proven and earned absolutely nothing at the NFL level, makes more money than him.

It's ridiculous to say in one breath "you're one of this league's best players, so you've earned this deal" then with the next say "you've never played a snap, but you might be good, so here's even more money".

[Edited on July 3, 2008 at 12:52 AM. Reason : .]

7/3/2008 12:52:22 AM

They should just limit the guarenteed money. That's the problem. Let Matt Ryan sign for 60 Million, but half of that shouldn't be guarenteed.

A simple solution would be to cap bonuses and move the money into actual salary. The bonus should be no more than a players first year salary.

Take Ryan's deal for example, structure it like this instead:
5Mil signing
1yr. 5Mil
2yr. 6Mil
3yr. 8Mil
4yr. 10Mil
5yr. 12Mil
6yr. 14Mil


He still gets money to fall back on if he gets hurt, but it's not as obscene. If he sucks, it doesn't destroy a teams cap as bad. If he can play, he's got a good contract already.

[Edited on July 3, 2008 at 9:38 AM. Reason : ]

7/3/2008 9:35:13 AM

You're acting like they're going to be destitute if they don't make it past their rookie contract when that's stupid. The contracts are ridiculous, we don't give people CEO money in the real world on the first job. It's not exactly the NFL's fault if rookies don't make it in the league.

[Edited on July 3, 2008 at 10:03 AM. Reason : fail]

7/3/2008 10:03:24 AM

I don't think people are arguing that they should not make the money that they are worth, but damn, let them prove their worthiness first. Of course in NFL you have the shortest avg. career span, but I think they just adds to the point that you giving Major money on a bet that player produces for so many years.

At the same time, I don't want rookies coming in and getting chumped at 1 or 2 million. I would like to see them get paid, and have guarantees on their productivity. And put clauses in that if they get hurt they still receive a certain amount, and include a medical plan that covers their procedures if needed in the long term.

The whole pay system should be addressed in actuality.


III

7/3/2008 10:23:05 AM

Rookie salary scale is the greatest idea I have heard out of Goodell yet.

The draft is put into place to HELP teams that are at the bottom, but when the teams with the top picks have to pay MORE to sign their untested players than the top teams have to pay to re-sign their all stars, then the system needs some work.

[Edited on July 3, 2008 at 10:44 AM. Reason : I don't care about it from a veteran players veiwpoint, but a competition viewpoint]

7/3/2008 10:41:33 AM