#1 Sam Bradford- $50M Guaranteed

[CarolinaBill]

It needs to have a rookie CAP. No matter what, no matter where you are drafted, no matter what position you play you can only make X amount period.

 

I would also say nothing less than 5-7 year contracts for first rounders, also cap the guranteed money as well.

if they go to a slotted system then there is No way the NFLPA will agree to 7 yr rookie contract, if anything the deals will drop to 4 yr deals across the board, its only fair.

[CodeMonkey]

Six-year, $78 million contract that reportedly has $50 million guaranteed

 

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/...anteed-to-sign/

Calculating just regular season games, that's a paltry $812,500.00 per game.

NFL salaries are just plain ridiculous. But good for him, set for life now.

[lets_go_bills]

I'm disgusted at this. So ridiculous. We need a rookie cap in the worst kind of way.

[DarthICE]

if they go to a slotted system then there is No way the NFLPA will agree to 7 yr rookie contract, if anything the deals will drop to 4 yr deals across the board, its only fair.

 

 

Fair? Lets see you are the #1 overall pick, you sign a 6 year deal worth 12 million. Now please go tell all the out of work people in the US how 'unfair' it is you were forced to ONLY make 2 milllion per year over the next 6 years.

 

It is past time for some REALITY to hit these players.

[Skoobydum]

There is arguments on both sides about working really hard their entire life for this one moment to make it that high in the draft, you really are more likely to hit the lottery than become a top 10 pick in the NFL draft.

 

~1,700 players in the NFL, ~6 Billion people in the world so you are like 1 in 3.5 Million to play in the NFL much less be the first draft pick which narrows it even more. Please correct the math if I am wrong.

[CodeMonkey]

At some point the NFL is going to implode under the weight of it's own greed and ridiculous salaries.

When attendance drops off because the cheapest ticket is $100+ and the TV contracts shrink accordingly, then they will do something about it (if it isn't too late). Until then, they will just sit back and count the cash of the people willing to shell it out.

 

I suspect right now they believe that American Football is such a great game that people (well, Americans anyway) will pay whatever it takes. And why not, it has held true so far.

[Brand J]

There is arguments on both sides about working really hard their entire life for this one moment to make it that high in the draft, you really are more likely to hit the lottery than become a top 10 pick in the NFL draft.

 

~1,700 players in the NFL, ~6 Billion people in the world so you are like 1 in 3.5 Million to play in the NFL much less be the first draft pick which narrows it even more. Please correct the math if I am wrong.

 

I hate this argument. Teachers use this whenever a little kid states, "I want to be a professional _________ player!". The argument is flawed, because it discounts the fact that genetics, hard work, and the brain, are the primary factors in determining an individual's athletic success. The argument is set up more like a lottery. The study should be gauged against only those who play that sport, considering that if you do, you are not competing against some girl in Malaysia to make it professionally. If you live in the US, you have an even greater advantage. The chances are still slim to make it professionally in any sport, but they are much greater than the, "1 in 3 million" outlook..

[Skoobydum]

I hate this argument. Teachers use this whenever a little kid states, "I want to be a professional _________ player!". The argument is flawed, because it discounts the fact that genetics, hard work, and the brain, are the primary factors in determining an individual's athletic success. The argument is set up more like a lottery. The study should be gauged against only those who play that sport, considering that if you do, you are not competing against some girl in Malaysia to make it professionally. If you live in the US, you have an even greater advantage. The chances are still slim to make it professionally in any sport, but they are much greater than the, "1 in 3 million" outlook..

 

It depends on where you live as well, TX / FL in the right spots can give you an advantage. Give me the math on what you feel it is realistically, if you don't mind.

[lets_go_bills]

Fair? Lets see you are the #1 overall pick, you sign a 6 year deal worth 12 million. Now please go tell all the out of work people in the US how 'unfair' it is you were forced to ONLY make 2 milllion per year over the next 6 years.

 

It is past time for some REALITY to hit these players.

 

Well now you're being a bit ridiculous. Wishful thinking on your part.

 

Four year deals across the board seems about right.

[FloridaSnow]

Fair? Lets see you are the #1 overall pick, you sign a 6 year deal worth 12 million. Now please go tell all the out of work people in the US how 'unfair' it is you were forced to ONLY make 2 milllion per year over the next 6 years.

 

It is past time for some REALITY to hit these players.

 

It will never happen, but I agree with you completely. The incredibly high salaries are also one of the reasons the average fan can no longer afford to go to many games. The way prices to attend sporting events have sky rocketed since the 80s is sickening. I know, I know, it's a business, free markets, supply and demand and such, but it's still a sad state of affairs.

[Brand J]

It depends on where you live as well, TX / FL in the right spots can give you an advantage. Give me the math on what you feel it is realistically, if you don't mind.

 

Focusing on football,

there are 254,000 seniors who play high school football.

Varsity Edge Article

This article does a good job to break down the odds of getting a scholarship at a D1 program. Even though all 254,000 high school seniors do not wish to play in the NFL, I think this number would be a good one in sizing up one's odds. 254,000/1,700 - roughly 1 in every 150 seniors that play high school football, will play in the NFL.. If the math is configured to only focus on those who actually play college football - D1, D2, and D3, the odds get even better. Of course, none of these numbers factor in talent, ability, and skill - all factors that would make an athlete's chances to play professionally, even greater..

[Dan]

It will never happen, but I agree with you completely. The incredibly high salaries are also one of the reasons the average fan can no longer afford to go to many games. The way prices to attend sporting events have sky rocketed since the 80s is sickening. I know, I know, it's a business, free markets, supply and demand and such, but it's still a sad state of affairs.

I think the high salaries and, subsequent, high ticket prices are here to stay regardless. There are most certainly a few sticking points in any new CBA discussion. If you limit rookie salaries, how do you guarantee that the money saved goes to the veterans? So, essentially, the player salary pool stays the same; they just shift it away from rookies and more toward veterans.

 

What would be the length of rookie contracts? 6-7 years is a little much for most all players, I'd imagine. For the bulk of players that would mean one contract. I'd guess 4 years is more appropriate, but the players would probably prefer 3 years.

 

How does this all affect free agency? Are rookies RFA or UFA after their initial contract? If all rookies have a 3-4 year contract at relatively low prices and then they become UFA; small market teams could very well become the farm teams of the NFL. Imagine all these great draft picks emgerging and in 3 years getting to go to the highest bidder. Dallas and Washington would hoard talent like no one else. So, it seems you have to add some sort of RFA clause to each rookie contract.

 

Of course, you need to cap/limit the signing bonuses. As well as add some sort of guarantee into each contract. You can't have players or owners backing out of contracts/demanding more money just because they played really well or had a season ending injury in year one.

 

Lots of sticking points. And I'm sure I've barely hit the tip of the iceberg.

[San Jose Bills Fan]

Jeebuz, what a gamble! $80M for a 50/50 chance of getting a serviceable QB. I know a lot of folks here wish we could pick a QB at #1. To me that is too scary.

 

PTR

True, our plan is much better.

 

What drives the price so high? The market of course! This is a negotiated price--to which both sides willfully accept. Every year this same discussion comes up and "shock" is expressed at how much these guys are making.

 

As they say---it's not our money. Who cares if crappy teams want to blow boocoo ducats on "unproven" rookies?

Firstly, Promo was NOT writing about "what the market will bear." His post is much more a comment about how the top 5 rookie contracts are ridiculous in terms of HUGE money for an unproven player.

 

Secondly, it IS actually our money. At least a lot of it is. Every game we attend, every game we watch, every NFL show we watch, every football magazine we buy, any NFL merchandise we buy….these are all revenue streams for the league that are distributed to all the teams. We the fans, pay most of the players' salaries. And it violates the sense of fairness that most people have that unproven players are getting contracts like this, while good, proven professionals will most likely not. So in answer to your last question, many people care.

 

if they go to a slotted system then there is No way the NFLPA will agree to 7 yr rookie contract, if anything the deals will drop to 4 yr deals across the board, its only fair.

Fair? Lets see you are the #1 overall pick, you sign a 6 year deal worth 12 million. Now please go tell all the out of work people in the US how 'unfair' it is you were forced to ONLY make 2 milllion per year over the next 6 years.

 

It is past time for some REALITY to hit these players.

Darth, your passion is always admirable. But CB is right. If the new CBA curbs ridiculous spending on rookie salaries, the trade off will be that players will not have to wait as long to enjoy the right of becoming free agents. These careers are very short. What you (Darth) are saying with your comment about 6-7 year rookie deals would mean that 90% of the players in the NFL would never reach free agency. Regardless of your feelings about this, it will never happen. Four years is a very likely outcome of the negotiations.

[show_me_the_baby]

True, our plan is much better.

 

What drives the price so high? The market of course! This is a negotiated price--to which both sides willfully accept. Every year this same discussion comes up and "shock" is expressed at how much these guys are making.

 

As they say---it's not our money. Who cares if crappy teams want to blow boocoo ducats on "unproven" rookies?

 

in alot of ways it is our money...

[DarthICE]

Firstly, Promo was NOT writing about "what the market will bear." His post is much more a comment about how the top 5 rookie contracts are ridiculous in terms of HUGE money for an unproven player.

 

Secondly, it IS actually our money. At least a lot of it is. Every game we attend, every game we watch, every NFL show we watch, every football magazine we buy, any NFL merchandise we buy….these are all revenue streams for the league that are distributed to all the teams. We the fans, pay most of the players' salaries. And it violates the sense of fairness that most people have that unproven players are getting contracts like this, while good, proven professionals will most likely not. So in answer to your last question, many people care.

 

 

 

Darth, your passion is always admirable. But CB is right. If the new CBA curbs ridiculous spending on rookie salaries, the trade off will be that players will not have to wait as long to enjoy the right of becoming free agents. These careers are very short. What you (Darth) are saying with your comment about 6-7 year rookie deals would mean that 90% of the players in the NFL would never reach free agency. Regardless of your feelings about this, it will never happen. Four years is a very likely outcome of the negotiations.

 

 

Yeah I know but I look at my mom at American Airlines in their union getting paid **** to keep planes flying, you know a REAL JOB!

 

I am about to the point the NFL can go breasts up for all I care. It has become nothing but greed. Paying kids millions of dollars to play a friggin GAME! Go work a !@#$ing JOB for a few years then see if you are willing to play a game for a few hundred thousand or maybe a couple million.

 

I am sick of the average fan not being able to afford to take their families to games anymore. Even if the economy wasnt so ****ty, ticket prices, parking, concessions etal are WAY out of hand to suppport these stupid salaries.

[scoring is not hardy]

Yeah I know but I look at my mom at American Airlines in their union getting paid **** to keep planes flying, you know a REAL JOB!

 

I am about to the point the NFL can go breasts up for all I care. It has become nothing but greed. Paying kids millions of dollars to play a friggin GAME! Go work a !@#$ing JOB for a few years then see if you are willing to play a game for a few hundred thousand or maybe a couple million.

 

I am sick of the average fan not being able to afford to take their families to games anymore. Even if the economy wasnt so ****ty, ticket prices, parking, concessions etal are WAY out of hand to suppport these stupid salaries.

This argument drives me crazy. I will most likely be able to walk after I retire.

[San Jose Bills Fan]

Yeah I know but I look at my mom at American Airlines in their union getting paid **** to keep planes flying, you know a REAL JOB!

 

I am about to the point the NFL can go breasts up for all I care. It has become nothing but greed. Paying kids millions of dollars to play a friggin GAME! Go work a !@#$ing JOB for a few years then see if you are willing to play a game for a few hundred thousand or maybe a couple million.

 

I am sick of the average fan not being able to afford to take their families to games anymore. Even if the economy wasnt so ****ty, ticket prices, parking, concessions etal are WAY out of hand to suppport these stupid salaries.

You are a hard core NFL fan. I know this pay issue pissus you off.

 

But you and I know you would never turn your back on NFL football.