NFL contracts need changing - Page 2

jakethebake · #11 08-22-2005, 02:41 PM

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They have by far the worst deal in the major sports...

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Everything is relative I guess, but this hardly means they're underpaid.

JayLear · #12 08-22-2005, 03:30 PM

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It seems to me that the players need to win some concessions from the NFL. They have by far the worst deal in the major sports (and I would say that even includes the new NHL deal, at least they have no-cut contracts and unrestricted free agency at 27 in a few years). Meanwhile the NFL has been fantastically successful and the owners are getting rich while players have "7-year" contracts that everyone knows aren't worth the paper they're printed on.

I also think the NFL could survive a strike just fine. Of course it would be horrible for the fans, but how many of us would stop watching the NFL if there was a short strike? Almost nobody, I'd bet. Meanwhile the owners are really making too much money to let a strike go on too long.

With the uncapped year coming up, I don't see any reason for the players to agree on a deal early unless it's an amazingly favorable "take it or leave it".

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It's amazing -- some of the things mentioned in this post are issues commonly complained about in other sports -- and that's what football is missing? That's tough to swallow.

Sluss · #13 08-22-2005, 04:48 PM

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As far as the Gates situation goes, I've heard he wants a 3 year deal, which just makes no sense. The Chargers can tender him this year and next, then franchise him after that, so what motive would they possibly have to give him a big 3 year deal?

[/ QUOTE ] How about giving the best Tight End in Football a big deal. I mean how sick is it that Gates has to play for 380,000 and Cedric Benson is holding out because $17 million isn't enough.

JayLear · #14 08-22-2005, 04:55 PM

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How about giving the best Tight End in Football a big deal. I mean how sick is it that Gates has to play for 380,000 and Cedric Benson is holding out because $17 million isn't enough.

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That's where the system is broken -- not because of non-guaranteed contracts, or signing bonuses. It's in guaranteeing money to players like Alex (Akili?) Smith or Cedric (Curtis Enis?) Benson that have never played a down in the NFL.

BreakfastBurrito · #15 08-22-2005, 07:23 PM

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That's where the system is broken -- not because of non-guaranteed contracts, or signing bonuses. It's in guaranteeing money to players like Alex (Akili?) Smith or Cedric (Curtis Enis?) Benson that have never played a down in the NFL.

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These situations are far from the norm and really big money only goes to the top 8 picks or so every year anyway. And unless you use that pick on a QB or a Penn State RB they're usually pretty safe bets.

And as far as the Gates situation goes, I haven't heard what he's turned down, but I'm sure he doesn't "have to play" for $380,000. I'm sure in his case something on the order of $8-10 million isn't enough either.

JayLear · #16 08-23-2005, 12:01 AM

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These situations are far from the norm and really big money only goes to the top 8 picks or so every year anyway. And unless you use that pick on a QB or a Penn State RB they're usually pretty safe bets.

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I have to question this. Obviously '05 and '04 are too soon to make judgements (Rivers, Manning, etc.), and possibly even '03. I'd be interested to see what the top 8 picks in recent drafts have done in recent years. I haven't looked at it closely, but it seems to me that for every Daunte Culpepper and Donovan McNabb there is also a Cade McNown and Akili Smith. Even if it was at a 50 or 60% rate that those top 8 picks are hitting, is that good enough for the money they're commanding?

Bulldog · #17 08-23-2005, 11:39 AM

He said UNLESS you pick a QB it is a safe bet.

JayLear · #18 08-23-2005, 12:20 PM

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He said UNLESS you pick a QB it is a safe bet.

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OK. A little research -- these are all top 8 picks, and I'm only listing Non-QB and Non-Penn St. RB's:

1998
#3 - Andre Wadsworth
#8 - Greg Ellis
Taking out Ryan Leaf and Curtis Enis, per the criteria, that's 2 of 6, or 33%.

I'm leaving out '99 becuase 3 QB's were taken in the top 8, 2 of which were huge misses (Couch and A. Smith). And other than David Boston, the rest are solid players, but with those three it's still a 38% miss rate.
2000
#1 overall, Courtney Brown
#3, Chris Samuels
#4, Peter Warrick
#7, Thomas Jones

50% miss rate . FWIW, Travis Taylor was taken #9, and Ron Dayne was taken #11 in this draft.

2001
#2 - Leonard Davis
#3 - Gerard Warren
#4 - Justin Smith
#8 - David Terrell
50% -- FWIW, Koren Robinson and Jamal Reynolds taken at 9 & 10.

2002
Goes against my argument, but in the interest of fairness, I have to include it. It may be too soon to tell for some, but the only real miss here is Joey Harrington, and being a QB he doesn't qualify under the listed criteria.

My point is, given some of the monumental failures listed here (and the fact that removing QB's and Penn State RB's shouldn't be done, since they're still overpaid), giving these kids millions of dollars guaranteed without playing a down of NFL football is ludicrous. That being said, that's the system, and you can't fault them for maximizing it. But in my opinion, the system is broken.

Now, as a Bears fan, I'm hoping that Cedric Benson signs a contract soon, and doesn't show up doing a Rashaan Salaam impersonation.

Wes ManTooth · #19 08-23-2005, 12:21 PM

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That's where the system is broken -- not because of non-guaranteed contracts, or signing bonuses. It's in guaranteeing money to players like Alex (Akili?) Smith or Cedric (Curtis Enis?) Benson that have never played a down in the NFL.

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These situations are far from the norm and really big money only goes to the top 8 picks or so every year anyway. And unless you use that pick on a QB or a Penn State RB they're usually pretty safe bets.

And as far as the Gates situation goes, I haven't heard what he's turned down, but I'm sure he doesn't "have to play" for $380,000. I'm sure in his case something on the order of $8-10 million isn't enough either.

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The problem with the Gates situation is that he wants a 3 year deal, the chargers want to sign him to 5-6 year deal. The NFL bargaining agreement deal ends after the 2007 season, thats why Gates wants his contract to end then.

BreakfastBurrito · #20 08-23-2005, 12:52 PM

In all fairness, you should also consider how often an established player will sign a big contract and badly underperform it as well. I'm sure you could find quite a few Hugh Douglas, Dana Stubblefield, Sean Gilbert, Jake Plummer type deals out there where guys took big money and didn't earn it on the field. All players are given contracts based on potential, and sometimes even previous performance in the NFL isn't an accurate indicator.