[b]Tagliabue appointed Houston, Green Bay, Cleveland, Detroit and St. Louis to the committee in a memo issued around the NFL on Monday, league spokesman Greg Aiello said Tuesday. Aiello said two more teams, representing the league's lower-revenue franchises, will be added soon to complete the eight-member committee.[/u]
Cinci, Tampa or Jacksonville are my guesses. Oakland, New Orleans and Vikings will be too much controversy.
Buffalo was the first team appointed last week after Bills owner Ralph Wilson complained the new collective bargaining agreement reached last month, which added a new revenue-sharing model, threatens the financial viability of his and other small-market teams.
Wilson's concerns prompted Sen. Charles Schumer (D, N.Y.) to meet last week with Tagliabue, who expressed reassurances that the new labor deal would not hurt or force small-market teams to relocate.
Schumer was pleased with the additional teams selected to the committee.
"It appears that the overall makeup of the committee will be sympathetic to small markets," Schumer said in an e-mail sent to The Associated Press. "This is another big step in our crusade to keep the Bills in Buffalo."
Ralph opened mouth otherwise committee would be very different.
The committee will be split evenly among the league's higher- and lower-revenue teams. Houston, Green Bay, Cleveland and Detroit each had revenue above the league average over the last few seasons. Buffalo and St. Louis represent the bottom fourth revenue-generating franchises.
St. Louis with the sweetheart deal they got? Surprises me.
And I would not say higher- revenue teams. I would have said mid-level teams for the true powerhouses which are forcing salary cap to skyrocket are New England, Dallas and Washington and to a lesser extent NY Giants.
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