CBA Question... (1 Viewer)

[GRIDIRON ASSASSIN]

The one thing that bugs me the most about the NFL is rookie holdouts and how much coin these guys are guaranteed prior to taking one snap.

NBA players sign VERY QUICKLY. In most cases, all NBA first rounders are signed before half the first rounders have signed.

Has anybody read anywhere with this latest CBA if 'rookie contracts' were going to be under the microscope?

I feel it puts a lot of NFL teams behind the 8-ball. The fact that they guarantee so much signing bonus money to guys that don't pan out (see the Cleveland Browns as an example... not to mention my beloved Chicago Bears).

 

[GRIDIRON ASSASSIN]

No news on this I guess.

I'd love to read about it. It's the biggest bone of contention I have with how the NFL is run.

 

[Maurile Tremblay]

I agree that something should be done to discourage holdouts.

The current CBA with a separate salary cap for rookies keeps rookie contracts lower than what they'd otherwise be. (Average productivity associated with all draft choices is higher than average productivity from similarly priced veteran free agents -- link.) But the current system does cause a lot of holdouts since it basically creates a bilateral monopoly situation between clubs and rookies.

I'd like to see the "slotting" that occurs -- that is, the use of draft position to determined salaries and bonuses -- more explicit and more formulaic so that both the teams and the players have less room to deviate from the amount slotted for the player's draft position. But I don't really have any specific practical ideas for how to impliment that.

 

[SoloMatisse]

Grid-

Seems most people just arent interested, but count me in as one that is. But realistically, nothing will change. In a perfect world, something would be drawn up that would prevent unproven 20 year olds from snatching millions of dollars from the hands of proven veterans, but we all know its not a perfect world. The NBA tried it by limiting rookie contracts by $ value and by years (3), and all its done is make it easier for young players to change teams after 3 years if theyre not happy with the situation. The NFL is going in the opposite direction by extending the # of years a player must serve with his current team before reaching FA to 6 yrs, which Im not at all in favor of. In many cases, players will be at or close to 30 yrs of age before that day comes and will have no great leverage because of their age. If this happens, again the owners will win. Good for the league probably, but not for the individual player. There's no easy solution to the problem dealing with rookie contracts, but Im hopeful that some day down the line they'll figure it out.

 

[GroveDiesel]

I'd like to see the "slotting" that occurs -- that is, the use of draft position to determined salaries and bonuses -- more explicit and more formulaic so that both the teams and the players have less room to deviate from the amount slotted for the player's draft position. But I don't really have any specific practical ideas for how to impliment that.

Isn't this basically what is done in the NBA? I could be wrong but I think the NBA has certain dollar amounts for each draft slot and every year they go up by a certain percentage. Although it would be much more complicated/probably impossible to do that in the NFL since contracts include both guaranteed and non-guaranteed money.