When NFL owners assemble in Fort Lauderdale this week for an annual May meeting, discussion of a potential rookie wage scale is expected to be one of the priority items on their agenda, according to Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times.
As the league contemplates how to structure a new collective bargaining agreement after opting out of the current deal with the players’ union, the current practice of paying highly-drafted rookies, in many cases, more than proven veterans continues to fly in the face of logic.
Indianapolis Colts rookie running back Donald Brown, a first-round draft pick from the University of Connecticut, agrees that the system isn’t fair to the older players.
“If you look at it, it’s kind of a shame for the guys who have been in the league for eight, nine years and have really established themselves,” Brown told the Times. “The rookies come in and they haven’t done anything. . . . But it’s part of the game.”
Meanwhile, the owners are also expected to discuss expanding the regular season and reducing the preseason length while also deciding whether to award Super Bowl XLVII to Arizona, Miami, or New Orleans.
The meetings begin Tuesday.