League is planning on CBA after 2008?

[G. Host]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=clayton_john&id=3172499

One resolution doesn't appear to be changing, and that's scary. The league held a salary cap seminar recently and the feeling is the NFL owners plan to blow up the current collective bargaining agreement after the 2008 season. That's disturbing. The league needs labor peace. While the strategy is just a negotiating tool, the NFL can't slip back into the threats of strikes and non-salary cap years as it had in the 1970s and 1980s. The NFL has a great game now. It doesn't need to go back into the Dark Ages.

The only reason I see they would is some owners are already busting cap (i.e. Washington) and they see no reason why they can not increase amount of money they pay to baseball levels even if most of teams can not.

[YardRat]

The last agreement was terrible...Some knew at the time, apparently others are catching on.

[G. Host]

I think there is way too much money off the table and rookies get far too much guaranteed.

[Ebenezer]

maybe RW was right in the end.

[SquishDaFish]

The only thing I hate is that rookies are getting millions. They should have to prove their worth first.

[Dr. Lecter]

maybe RW was right in the end.

Really?

I had that figured out 2 weeks after it was signed.

Ralph is sharper than the rest of teh NFL comibined, even at his age.

[djjimkelly]

1st rounders still deserve to get paid but probably half of what they get right now.

guys in 3rd-7th round deserve minimum deals maybe a bit more

[TigerJ]

1st rounders still deserve to get paid but probably half of what they get right now.

guys in 3rd-7th round deserve minimum deals maybe a bit moreNot that I disagree with you, but cut the allocation for signing draft picks and the likely result is that rookie high draft picks will hold out in much greater numbers as their agents attempt to negotiate shorter contracts. If owners play hardball, I can see agents heading to congress complaining about the NFL's antitrust exemption. I'm not sure the league really wants to go there.

[Goobylal]

Really?

I had that figured out 2 weeks after it was signed.

Ralph is sharper than the rest of teh NFL comibined, even at his age.
Exactly. It was apparent after reading the specs of the new CBA that the owners panicked at the 11th hour because they didn't want to have to cut players. I guarantee you that IF the Cowboys, Redskins, and Pats weren't all near the cap, the deal wouldn't have been done. What got me was them caving and giving the players 59.5% of total revenue (down just 0.5% from what the NFLPA was asking), while the owners were holding-fast at 54.5%.

Among the owners that voted "yes," Al Davis put it best/truthfully when he said "this brings labor peace," which it did...for a couple years. The NFLPA has vowed that IF this new CBA is scuttled at the first chance/"opt-out period" (after the 2008 season), they won't agree to a salary cap again.

Congrats to the "brightest business minds" that crafted this CBA. :bf1:

[SquishDaFish]

This is how the rookies should get paid......

By Escalation like the top pick gets 3M or whatever total and then work your way down. No negotiations. EXACT amount depending on where your picked PERIOD!

[LtFinFan66]

The NBA has max rookie contracts regardless of where you are picked. Check and see how much #1 overall pick Greg Oden is making this season.

[Goobylal]

It's unconscionable that a top-5 pick makes more money than more established, sometimes Pro Bowl, players. Again another thing in the NFL's infinite wisdom that they DIDN'T fix.

[HHURRICANE]

You can't have top 5 picks making 30 million dollars guaranteed. It screws up the entire salary cap.

Russell not starting this year is a joke. 30 million and you might suck worse than Ryan Leaf.

[clumping platelets]

No salary cap = No Buffalo Bills

[Turf]

The NFL really should be careful because the product is so watered down and boring that this is honestly the first time I might not care if they went on strike.

[LifetimeBillsFan]

....If owners play hardball, I can see agents heading to congress complaining about the NFL's antitrust exemption. I'm not sure the league really wants to go there.

Unless I am very much mistaken, I do not believe that the NFL has an anti-trust exemption--only MLB has that exemption. Al Davis and the NFLPA have successfully taken the NFL to court as a result.

I believe that a lot of the small market teams have come to realize that RWilson was right about the CBA and are concerned that the new stadiums in Dallas and New Jersey will only further weaken their ability to continue to compete financially.

I've also read snippets here and there that NFL owners find the idea of a NBA-type rookie cap very attractive because the amounts of money that they are having to pay out to their top draft picks is hampering their roster flexibility if it turns out that a top draft pick is a bust--which a fairly high percentage turn out to be. Instituting a NBA-type rookie cap might be something that they could sell to the players because it would allow them to pay the established vets more, even if the total revenue going to the players did not continue to increase.

The revenues that Dallas and the two NY/NJ teams will be able to generate from their new stadiums will really throw the league's salary structure out of whack if the league does not somehow change how its revenues are divided with the players and within the teams in the league. And, the Bills will not be the only team that will find itself in trouble at that point--which would drive down the value and potential sale price of those franchises (yes, you could move one troubled franchise to LA, but what do you do if there are 3-4 franchises--Buffalo, Jacksonville, Cincy, Minny, etc.--that are struggling? you can't move them all).