#3) Is The Franchise Tag really a Bad Thing ?

[Kelly the Dog]

With that said, I will gladly play a game for 1 year and take almost $7 million.

A lot of fans say that same thing and I never understand it. Sure, if someone came up to you and said "Would you like to play football for one year for seven million?" you would jump at the chance. But that never ever happens to these guys.

 

What would you say to someone who came up to you and said, "Would you like to play football for one year for seven million if all your friends and enemies, even guys you're better than, we're going to give twenty to a hundred million to pay 5-10 years?" You would never agree to that unless the other offer wasn't an option.

[leh-nerd skin-erd]

I know I am opening myself up for criticism here, but here it goes -

 

I actually feel badly for most NFL players - especially during this free agency. I cannot fathom how they signed a contract with the owners that was so one-sided. Even the draftees get screwed by a reduced salary. Additionally, rookies who are drafted in the 3rd round (and lower?) are not allowed to renegotiate for better contract prior to their rookie contract expiring.

 

I think the players got very nervous as most of them do not have marketable skills outside of football. They felt it was better to get something as opposed to nothing.

 

The veterans who wanted the rookie wage scale probably had never thought that it would be this difficult getting a new contract. They assumed all that $$ would go to more experienced guys. Think not.

 

On top of it all? The sport is dangerous as hell. Meanwhile baseball and basketball enjoys guaranteed contracts for sports that have minimal risks...

Actually numerous people here agree with your opinion.

 

Not everyone believes that all North American professional athletes are "spoiled" and "entitled."

 

I think many people recognize the special downsides inherent in NFL football that differentiate it from the other major pro sports.

 

Fyi, I'm not looking for trouble, to criticize, or to say I'm right. I try not to generalize generally, and certainly know very little about the life and times of a professional athlete. I certainly wouldn't hang 'spoiled' or 'entitled' on most of those guys, there are 1,700+ athletes in the NFL, not counting practice squads and whatnot, and even in a basic thugonomics world, while you hear aout some of them often, you don't hear about most of them all the time. i'm amazed at times by the amount(s) of money some of these guys make, but much past that don't think much about it.

 

But here's the thing, the one word from SJBF that I take from all this is "special'. These are special people with special rules that live special lives. Some make a fortune, others make it and blow it, others never make it at all. I view it through the eyes of a football fan. I want to see JB playing for the Bills this season, and the rules in place say we can franchise, and we decided to franchise, and good for us. i fully agree that he takes risk in playing it out under the tag, and it improves the position of the club in some respects at this time. Still, it's a relative risk, and there's been plenty of time to plan for it. If he's surrounded himself with good people, they likely have a strategy to deal with this issue. $6.9 mill spends well in most places in the country, even after expenses and taxes. the rumor mill suggests he and the bills are $2 mill apart, which seems to imply he sees is value as X + $2m, while the Bills see his value as X. i guess we'll see.

 

i'm hard-pressed to feel badly for anyone in the financial-negotiations-mix here, from the owners to players to agents to the players association.

[San Jose Bills Fan]

As to the previous post by C-Man, I don't "feel badly" for NFL players.

 

I was just agreeing that they have a very different situation than do MLB and NBA players.