Rookie salary cap is a lock. (1 Viewer)

[Summer Wheat]

On the NFL Network last night and on ESPN they were saying that one thing in the new CBA is already assured and that is a stiff rookie cap.

Gone are the days of a 50 million contract with 20 million up front. This is the top beef of the owners, but more important it is one of the top beefs of the players as well. The owners feel that money should be available to pay players and to get players who are proven. And guess what..the players agree. The high first rd rookies who get huge amounts of up front money are such a small % of the players that nobody is in their corner. Of all the battles to be fought in the new CBA the rookie cap is going to be the easiest to resolve for both sides. In fact that may be a done deal as soon as talks start.

They were saying that instead the 50-60 million Stafford and Bradford got, and the 30-40 million the other high picks received they were looking at the top rookies contracts to be in the area of 15-20 million tops. And that is for the #1 overall pick. Then slotted down from there.

 

[BigTex]

Good to hear and I'm not surprised by the reaction.

 

[mcintyre1]

Seems that along with the rookie scale, they should also reduce the maximum number of years on the contract. There's no reason to stick an actually elite player with a 5 year under paying contract. Has there been any talk of limiting the contract length, like the NBA?

 

[Alex P Keaton]

Seems that along with the rookie scale, they should also reduce the maximum number of years on the contract. There's no reason to stick an actually elite player with a 5 year under paying contract. Has there been any talk of limiting the contract length, like the NBA?

Good call.

 

[captain_amazing]

Seems that along with the rookie scale, they should also reduce the maximum number of years on the contract. There's no reason to stick an actually elite player with a 5 year under paying contract. Has there been any talk of limiting the contract length, like the NBA?

Good call.

Agreed - but at least with the rookie scale, if you lock up a 1st rounder for ~5 years who turns into a bust, you aren't dishing out 30, 40, 50 mill.

 

[Kitrick Taylor]

Seems that along with the rookie scale, they should also reduce the maximum number of years on the contract. There's no reason to stick an actually elite player with a 5 year under paying contract. Has there been any talk of limiting the contract length, like the NBA?

Good call.

I am in favor of the rookie scale, but anything more than 3-4 years doesn't seem right. Most rookies are 23 when they enter the draft pool. If you are a RB, what can you expect to get on the free agent market when you are 28? The days of those guys getting big deals are over.

 

[noneother]

I am sure there are dozens of actuaries on both sides scaling and avereging player performance vs age vs draft position that can "optimize" (for their respective employer) the appropriate average length and duration of rookie contracts based on the outcome previous CBA.

To dumb it down for me, I say bring rookie caps into an appropriate / reasonable amount and duration, and allocate the average difference to the NFLPA "pension" and / or design some kind of Gauranteed contract mechanism.

 

[Michael Brown]

On the NFL Network last night and on ESPN they were saying that one thing in the new CBA is already assured and that is a stiff rookie cap.

Gone are the days of a 50 million contract with 20 million up front. This is the top beef of the owners, but more important it is one of the top beefs of the players as well. The owners feel that money should be available to pay players and to get players who are proven. And guess what..the players agree. The high first rd rookies who get huge amounts of up front money are such a small % of the players that nobody is in their corner. Of all the battles to be fought in the new CBA the rookie cap is going to be the easiest to resolve for both sides. In fact that may be a done deal as soon as talks start.

I doubt it. Why wouldn't the NLFPA use this as leverage instead of just giving it away?

 

[RUSF18]

Because they'd be giving it away in return for something that would benefit those who are currently in the union.

 

[Txns8]

On the NFL Network last night and on ESPN they were saying that one thing in the new CBA is already assured and that is a stiff rookie cap.

Gone are the days of a 50 million contract with 20 million up front. This is the top beef of the owners, but more important it is one of the top beefs of the players as well. The owners feel that money should be available to pay players and to get players who are proven. And guess what..the players agree. The high first rd rookies who get huge amounts of up front money are such a small % of the players that nobody is in their corner. Of all the battles to be fought in the new CBA the rookie cap is going to be the easiest to resolve for both sides. In fact that may be a done deal as soon as talks start.

I doubt it. Why wouldn't the NLFPA use this as leverage instead of just giving it away?

Because the owners know the vets hate it. This piece of the CBA is a blank in their gun.

 

[Sebowski]

Seems that along with the rookie scale, they should also reduce the maximum number of years on the contract. There's no reason to stick an actually elite player with a 5 year under paying contract. Has there been any talk of limiting the contract length, like the NBA?

Exactly. These two issues have to go hand-in-hand, and this is where the owners and players will disagree. Along with cutting down the length of a contract they should also come with playing time and/or incentive clauses. If a 7th rounder ends up starting most of a season or two, they should be eligible for a FA or a wage increase with arbitration.

 

[Nemesis]

And this is why I was surprised that Luck is waiting until next yr's draft...........money can only go down.

 

[coolnerd]

And this is why I was surprised that Luck is waiting until next yr's draft...........money can only go down.

He would be drafted, but not signed until the new CBA is in place. If there is a rookie wage scale (there already is a rookie salary cap), his contract will abide by the terms of that new agreement. This is at least my understanding.

 

[TheWheel]

If anything, after the rookie pay scale, rookie contracts will go up as the salary cap increases. They aren't going to be able to form concrete numbers and expect them to last. They need a very intelligent incentive system to really make things fair.

The meat of the rookie scale is going to be a bargaining chip. To get something else, the specifics will change.

 

[BoltBacker]

On the NFL Network last night and on ESPN they were saying that one thing in the new CBA is already assured and that is a stiff rookie cap.

Gone are the days of a 50 million contract with 20 million up front. This is the top beef of the owners, but more important it is one of the top beefs of the players as well. The owners feel that money should be available to pay players and to get players who are proven. And guess what..the players agree. The high first rd rookies who get huge amounts of up front money are such a small % of the players that nobody is in their corner. Of all the battles to be fought in the new CBA the rookie cap is going to be the easiest to resolve for both sides. In fact that may be a done deal as soon as talks start.

I doubt it. Why wouldn't the NLFPA use this as leverage instead of just giving it away?

Because the owners know the vets hate it. This piece of the CBA is a blank in their gun.

Exactly. It's in the best interest of both the owners and the veterans to have veteran players that have earned big contracts getting them rather than unproven rookies. I can't believe it's taken this long to be honest. I've never understood how this was "leverage" when it's in the best interest of the members of the NFLPA to get a higher percentage of the salary cap rather than next years crop of rookies.