Comments on: On rookie wage scale, league, players don’t seem to be squabbling over much

By: arcaero

arcaero — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 12:27:16 +0000

Waiting patiently now for today’s bad news post. Over/under is 4pm EDT.

By: deeppurple23

deeppurple23 — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 11:34:08 +0000

You mean I’m miss football for this BS. Sad.

By: mkdave23

mkdave23 — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 08:18:21 +0000

@nfceastisbeast, you surely can’t think those two plays were the same thing? Brian Westbrook taking a knee at the 1 was in order to preserve a victory, scoring a TD would have put 7 on the board but this gives the opposing team a chance to recover an onside kick. A comeback would have been hugely unlikely but not impossible. Jackson started his celebration early in a game that was very much a live ballgame. It was pure jackassery.

By: mikei2

mikei2 — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 04:43:16 +0000

They do seem close.
Owners will still siphon money out of the game and into their lifestyles.
Agents will still drain money out of franchises for unproven college phenoms.
So everybody’s happy, right?
Play ball!

By: nfceastisbeast

nfceastisbeast — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 02:09:28 +0000

If you’re going to throw in the cheap shot DeSean Jackson reference, throw in the Brian Westbrook play where he fell down at the 1yd. line to run out the clock instead of scoring and giving the (Cowboys, if memory serves) a chance to get the ball back. It goes both ways.

By: barronhastoholdorakpo

barronhastoholdorakpo — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 01:56:16 +0000

I didn’t think the Union existed. When was it reformed? Oh yeah….that was an illegal labor dispute tactical move…..although the players said there was no labor dispute….I’m confused.

By: 00reo

00reo — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 01:46:27 +0000

Why ya gotta go w/ the 1 yd short picture??

By: goawayeverybody

goawayeverybody — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 01:39:50 +0000

Oh that photo of Dyson is classic. So close yet so far. That was one of the best Super Bowls of all time and it isn’t given its due.

By: tomwill21

tomwill21 — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 01:37:34 +0000

What happened to right of right refusal?

By: pocketsstraight

pocketsstraight — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 01:36:21 +0000

The fifth year is not about how much the owners will have to pay a player in the fifth year…..

It is about where the long term contract talks begin.

You cannot tell a fifth year player to use the average salary at his position as the starting point for a new salary if he get either top 10 or free ageny…

By: dangonavyboy

dangonavyboy — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 01:27:23 +0000

yeah i would hate to be an owner and give a 1st rnd rookie like 50million upfront and him turn into russell..i dont get why they wont just be like look rookies you get a 5 year deal..1 million for first 2 years..then 2 million last 2 years..and a 5th year option is up to you..like a franchise tag..or you can test the market..or resign..im sorry its just football to me and sports..these guys in general dont need to be making a crap ton of money anyway..thats why i dont care for them losing money..its sad that i have done 4 combat tours to the middle east(2 iraq-2 afghan) and i think total combined i made out at 150,000…thats after 3.. 1 year long deployments and a 15 month long deployment..but i guess running fast and catching and throwin is more important than protecting our country..who knew..

By: tommyf15

tommyf15 — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 01:08:50 +0000

thereisalwaysnextyear says:
Can PFT please explore why a union that represents, you know, current players what to give more money to guys that aren’t even members of the union yet vs. to their own members(vets)? That should be a 100% vote in favor for, unless maybe you had a little brother coming out next year.

I’d like to think the NFLPA and it’s membership would have more integrity than to do that.

During the 1981 baseball strike the owners made an offer that severely limited the free agency rights of the players, but would keep the current system in place for the current group of players, “grandfathering” them in a sense.

God Bless ‘em, Marvin Miller and the MLBPA refused to sell out it’s future members. I hope the NFLPA acts in a similar nature.

By: laeaglefan

laeaglefan — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 00:42:12 +0000

“both sides simply need to find a way to avoid pulling a DeSean Jackson.”

Even DeSean Jackson eventually does a back flip (or other cutesy maneuver) into the end zone. Except for the time he flipped the ball away in Dallas before he crossed the goal line. Let’s hope the owners and players don’t go that route!

By: rugdog100

rugdog100 — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 00:41:42 +0000

Did the lawyers get paid any less because they didn’t squabble over much? Nope… another full day’s pay the the leagal teams. What a joke.

By: tntitansfan10

tntitansfan10 — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 00:27:17 +0000

Go titans!

By: thephantomstranger

thephantomstranger — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 00:07:52 +0000

If this is really the last major hurdle, they’re just stretching it out to mess with us. They could hammer this out in a couple hours.

By: dave20109

dave20109 — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 00:06:30 +0000

Way too close not to reach agreement. But, once again, why are the owners wrong? Why don’t they just meet in the middle of their proposals? (I know they are based on different numbers, but it would be simple enough to figure out a formula that would be close to the middle of where they are)

The only thing that would really change my opinion is knowing where they started. Which side- if either- has given more in the negotiation?

By: thereisalwaysnextyear

thereisalwaysnextyear — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 00:04:33 +0000

“While the owners want to spend $44 million less per year on rookies, that’s $44 million that would go to veterans and retired players.”

Can PFT please explore why a union that represents, you know, current players what to give more money to guys that aren’t even members of the union yet vs. to their own members(vets)? That should be a 100% vote in favor for, unless maybe you had a little brother coming out next year.

By: hobartbaker

hobartbaker — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 00:00:05 +0000

Players doen’t want to throw the rooks too hard under the bus. Who will carry their equipment in training camp?

By: bradjames33160

bradjames33160 — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 23:58:03 +0000

So if they’re not far apart, they just need to do what I do every day in the morning: get your work done! If these players ever finished college while playing collegiate football, they’d know the value of eschewing procrastination.

It is interesting that many of the savvy, erudite veterans, such as Brian Dawkins, know procrastination is bad.

At the end of the day, if we have our deal with all things intact, you can’t really complain, especially when the NFL and CFL play games concurrently. That’s a great time of year my friends!

By: greenbay4ever

greenbay4ever — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 23:54:31 +0000

This should be the easiest issue of them all. Just get it done already.

By: eaglesnoles05

eaglesnoles05 — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 23:46:38 +0000

Then obviously that’s not it, bro.

By: grandsonofcoach

grandsonofcoach — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 23:46:12 +0000

Okay PFT. Please make up your mind. Two articles ago you seemed to believe that an un-named player could be right that the league was feeding the media “were close” talk when the sides may not be All that close. Now were at the 1 inch line?!? Talk about having it both ways.

By: Boola

Boola — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 23:44:26 +0000

Can’t help but wonder whether the anonymous “drop his nuts” player is a 2011 1st-round draft pick…

By: rambo08

rambo08 — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 23:42:46 +0000

So in the past twelve hours we’ve gone from the NFL is close to a deal to the NFL is not close to a deal and back to the NFL is close to a deal again?

They really know how to drive traffic to this site. You’ve got to hand it to them.

By: 3crowns

3crowns — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 23:35:14 +0000

Can someone tell me why the owners care so much about this? It does not affect their bottom line at all – it’s simply how to divide money between rookies and veterans. Seems like they should just go with the players on this one. Lower rookie salaries make sense for everyone but why do the owners feel the need to try to lock up and underpay successful rookies? They’ll still have to pay their minimum salary cap anyway?

By: buc13jcs

buc13jcs — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 23:32:51 +0000

Oh, Ok…So you mean a deal still isn’t done…I know I’m going to get punched in the face, but I can’t stop checking in!

By: mathsimillion

mathsimillion — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 23:31:57 +0000

It seems strange to me that the veterans want to the overall pay to rookies to be higher. I would imagine they would rather have that money go to the veterans and the retired players.

I doesn’t make any sense other than the fact that by paying rookies higher they will have more leverage to bargain higher paying contracts for the elite players or starters when it comes time for their contract to be up.

I’m not sure why the vets would care more about the rookies who are taking their jobs than the guys who paved the way for them to make the outrageous contracts that they are making now.

By: KIR

KIR — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 23:27:54 +0000

Is the purpose of the rookie wage scale to eliminate paying bust. Or to underpay the future stars and Pro Bowlers?

By: irisht53

irisht53 — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 23:27:27 +0000

I am generally pro-owner for many of the issues, but if these are the two options, I am much more in favor of the Players proposal than the owners. If a player makes it to year 4 in the league, the team should have plenty of knowledge on that Player on whether or not sign him long term or cut him loose. If the owners have the option to keep a player for a 5th season, that player should be well compensated, and getting paid in the top half or better of the league at their respective postion seems plenty fair to me.