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NFL needs a better rookie salary cap in place. (1 Viewer)

Da Guru

Fair & Balanced
Lets face it. Half of the first rd players are busts or mediocre NFL players, yet they command huge salaries. When a late rd or FA player outperforms a high pick they still can`t make up the cash that a first rd bust has already made.

The situation is getting worse by the year.

 
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They need to set 2 year fixed salaries for these guys at the league level. The teams could then offer them contracts after that time period. 1 million over 2 year seems about right for everyone selected in the 1st round.

All the money saved could be applied to building a free medical facility for veteran players.

 
The NFL has a rookie salary cap.
Correct it is a cap within the cap. My thought is that OP wants a set rookie wage scale as in the NBA. The problem that the union may have is that while the top 10-15 picks (especially the top 5) are inflated, it doesn't want take the money out the hands of its membership and trust that the owners will fairly distribute it throughout the membership. Another point is that the inflated rookie contracts give veterans an additional bargaining chip to work off of. The way the system currently works, there is little incentive for teams to remain bad for years. Eventually overpaying for relative high risk propositions causes any team who has a period of suckatude to place an additional strain on the salary cap. BTW, the money involved with the top picks in the draft is a large reason why teams don't trade up in the NFL draft. Giving up extra drafts picks for a player graded as A versus an A minus and getting opportunity to pay significantly extra money to do so rarely makes sense for the team moving up. See the Falcons and Giants as the most recent examples.Editted some of the grammar.
 
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they do need a rookie cap like the NBA. Rookies are getting more money then a lot of vets. I can understand a guy like LJ holding out.

 
I Agree 100% with you, there should be a lower cap for rookies. No sense that some of them are making tons more than proven veterans.

That said, would the players' union support this? Maybe if they viewed it as "more money for the veterans after you proved yourself."

But on the other hand, it is (mostly) a free-market system. Theoretically it should balance itself out over time.

 
Lets face it. Half of the first rd players are busts or mediocre NFL players, yet they command huge salaries. When a late rd or FA player outperforms a high pick they still can`t make up the cash that a first rd bust has already made.The situation is getting worse by the year.
You do realize if they bust horribly they can just cut them right?
 
Lets face it. Half of the first rd players are busts or mediocre NFL players, yet they command huge salaries. When a late rd or FA player outperforms a high pick they still can`t make up the cash that a first rd bust has already made.The situation is getting worse by the year.
You do realize if they bust horribly they can just cut them right?
True. But since they may have given them $26 million in guaranteed money, the player gets it, regardless.
 
Out of 64 first and second rd players, how many actually outperform their contracts?

I have no idea but I would say less than 20%.

 
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Out of 64 first and second rd players, how many actually outperform their contracts?I have no idea but I would say less than 20%.
I agree with this figure if you restrict this to performing on the field. How many more outperform their contracts in terms of jersey sales or increased season ticket sales?The difference between the NFL and the NBA is that an NFL career is only 4 years on average, so a good chunk of NFL players will only sign one contract, and need to maximize that contract. In the NBA, top 10 drafted players will always sign a second or third contract.If I were running things, I'd probably get rid of the draft for the NFL, and let teams negotiate with players under a rookie salary cap. Maybe you let the teams that finished with poor records spend more money. This way there are no holdouts, and if a team likes a player enough, he'll almost always be able to sign him.
 
Out of 64 first and second rd players, how many actually outperform their contracts?I have no idea but I would say less than 20%.
Out of all the free agent signings, how many actually outperform their contracts?
Those guys have paid their dues and performed in the league to get the FA dollars.
Players (and regular employees) don't get paid for past performance, but for expected future performance. Curtis Martin isn't about to sign a huge contract because he's paid his dues.
 
Out of 64 first and second rd players, how many actually outperform their contracts?I have no idea but I would say less than 20%.
Out of all the free agent signings, how many actually outperform their contracts?
Those guys have paid their dues and performed in the league to get the FA dollars.
Players (and regular employees) don't get paid for past performance, but for expected future performance. Curtis Martin isn't about to sign a huge contract because he's paid his dues.
Curtis Martins career is over, they guys who command the big FA doallrs are guys who have "usually" performed well in this league. Kelly Washington only got 300K from the Pats because he really has not done much. That is a fair one year deal, he performs he will get a nice raise.Guys like Charles Rogers and Mike Williams banked 10-12 million just based on their draft postitons.Steve Smith is a good example, Smith was playing for the minimum, played well..got paid.I just think it is a flawed system.
 
I just think it is a flawed system.
If what you're trying to do is get vets more money, the last thing you want to do is put a salary cap on rookies. Why? Because otherwise the vets won't have any leverage to get more money.Higher salaries are better for all the players in the long run.
 
Out of 64 first and second rd players, how many actually outperform their contracts?I have no idea but I would say less than 20%.
Out of all the free agent signings, how many actually outperform their contracts?
Those guys have paid their dues and performed in the league to get the FA dollars.
Players (and regular employees) don't get paid for past performance, but for expected future performance. Curtis Martin isn't about to sign a huge contract because he's paid his dues.
Curtis Martins career is over, they guys who command the big FA doallrs are guys who have "usually" performed well in this league. Kelly Washington only got 300K from the Pats because he really has not done much. That is a fair one year deal, he performs he will get a nice raise.Guys like Charles Rogers and Mike Williams banked 10-12 million just based on their draft postitons.Steve Smith is a good example, Smith was playing for the minimum, played well..got paid.I just think it is a flawed system.
I'm not really sure what the flaw is. Drew Bledsoe's 100M contract was terrible for the Patriots. So was Vick's one for the Falcons. How's Favre's 100M deal looking right now? Joey Porter just signed a huge deal in Miami, same with Nate Clements in SF. Neither seems likely to be "worth it" in the long run. LaMont Jordan's big deal with the Raiders looked good for one year, then that's it. All types of players sign good and bad deals. I've got no reason to think that rookies do this at a worse rate than veterans, otherwise owners would pay rookies less or trade down in the draft under the assumption that the 20th pick is more valuable than the 10th. I don't see teams doing that.
 
Out of 64 first and second rd players, how many actually outperform their contracts?

I have no idea but I would say less than 20%.
Out of all the free agent signings, how many actually outperform their contracts?
Those guys have paid their dues and performed in the league to get the FA dollars.
Players (and regular employees) don't get paid for past performance, but for expected future performance. Curtis Martin isn't about to sign a huge contract because he's paid his dues.
Curtis Martins career is over, they guys who command the big FA doallrs are guys who have "usually" performed well in this league.Kelly Washington only got 300K from the Pats because he really has not done much. That is a fair one year deal, he performs he will get a nice raise.

Guys like Charles Rogers and Mike Williams banked 10-12 million just based on their draft postitons.

Steve Smith is a good example, Smith was playing for the minimum, played well..got paid.

I just think it is a flawed system.
A rookie salary cap will not fix this. The only guaranteed money in the NFL is signing bonus money. I'm sure the NFLPA will not allow a limit on signing bonuses.
 
I wouldn't mind if the first and second round were set at what they were this year, then by whatever percentage the salary cap raises, all of those numbers raise by the same percentage.

There would be no need for holding out, and rookies would still get the big dollar contracts that they are getting today, and it will still rise almost every year.

 
The system works fine.

Most players drafted won't be in the NFL in 4-5 years. The one's that are will get a better payday because of it.

Yeah Mike Williams and Chuck Rogers were paid too much but so were plenty of big fat DTs that didn't do all that much except clog up space.

 
coolnerd said:
BTW, the money involved with the top picks in the draft is a large reason why teams don't trade up in the NFL draft. Giving up extra drafts picks for a player graded as A versus an A minus and getting opportunity to pay significantly extra money to do so rarely makes sense for the team moving up. See the Falcons and Giants as the most recent examples.
I disagreeFalcs gave up a first round pick(or second?) to pay John Abraham a truckload.Tell me those WRs have earned their $Eli trade?Drafting a backup(Kiwi) in the first
 
coolnerd said:
BTW, the money involved with the top picks in the draft is a large reason why teams don't trade up in the NFL draft. Giving up extra drafts picks for a player graded as A versus an A minus and getting opportunity to pay significantly extra money to do so rarely makes sense for the team moving up. See the Falcons and Giants as the most recent examples.
I disagreeFalcs gave up a first round pick(or second?) to pay John Abraham a truckload.Tell me those WRs have earned their $Eli trade?Drafting a backup(Kiwi) in the first
Think we are talking about two different ideas. I was talking trading up to the top 5 position (number 1 more specifically) in NFL draft. Once a team gets to even pick 10 to 12 it is a very different game. I was probably not clear. The Falcons and Giants were the last two teams to trade up the very top of the draft. For this, the right to pay extra money for vick and Eli, both teams gave up extra draft picks. Multiple years later the team getting the picks (chargers) is better off than either the Giants or Falcons in terms of pure talent on its roster. In short, you are risking more by taking one player and pay more money to do so.
 
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It has nothing to do with "deserve" or "more money for vets".

You're forced to invest 40-60M, killing your cap, on a guy who's never taken a snap. If the draft is to help bad teams, then the rookie contracts shouldn't crush a franchise. If you pick a QB #1, and he busts, you set your franchise back 3-4 years.

Not because you don't have a QB, it's because of the huge cap hits you take each year on a bum. There's a reason no one wants to trade up.

$30mil/10mil bonus 5 year deal is more then enough for a 1st overall pick. Forcing teams to blow 10% of their cap on a rookie is getting out of hand. You cut him, and you get slammed in cap hits. In a salary cap league, the contacts these rookies are getting, its ensuring the bad teams will stay bad.

 
It has nothing to do with "deserve" or "more money for vets".You're forced to invest 40-60M, killing your cap, on a guy who's never taken a snap. If the draft is to help bad teams, then the rookie contracts shouldn't crush a franchise. If you pick a QB #1, and he busts, you set your franchise back 3-4 years.Not because you don't have a QB, it's because of the huge cap hits you take each year on a bum. There's a reason no one wants to trade up. $30mil/10mil bonus 5 year deal is more then enough for a 1st overall pick. Forcing teams to blow 10% of their cap on a rookie is getting out of hand. You cut him, and you get slammed in cap hits. In a salary cap league, the contacts these rookies are getting, its ensuring the bad teams will stay bad.
which team spent 10% of their cap on a rook?
 

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