How Much is To Much ? Will the NFL Ever Put a Limit on Contracts ?

[T master]

Every year we here of each teams salary cap going up & each new QB that comes along like Mahomes is expected to set a new record for the amount of money he receives in his new contract when negotiations start & although i believe that if they are willing to pay what ever amount you ask for get while the getting is good, will the owners or the NFL ever decide that enough is enough & put a cap on the biggest amount you can receive in a contract per position to allow the other players to be able to make decent pay ?

 

As it stands right now Matt Ryan holds the largest overall contract when he signed his extension in May of 2018 which was for 5 yrs $150 million but the player that has the highest amount paid per yr (not over all) is Russel Wilson his extension was for 4 yrs $140 million but he gets paid $35 million per yr & they are saying that Mahomes contract could be in the vicinity of some $200 million if he signs a 5 yr extension with a $40 million per yr pay check !!

 

Just saying HOLY S**T that's a lot of cash !! ?

 

The new CBA contract talks are now on going too & they are talking how if it is excepted that just the average joe players can make a extra $90k a years which heck i believe there's probably not on person here that would turn just the increase down let alone adding it to what they already get per year .

 

I know in my little pea brain $40 million a yr would set me or any of us up for a hell of a long time & i can't even fathom how you would have to live or what you would need to live in order to spend that kind of cash, sure i would first take care of family & possibly a couple of dear friends but after that the what ? 

 

How much more can the cash flow continue to grow & just how much is to much ? Will the owners ever put a cap on the spending when it comes to individual salaries per position to keep the pay for other players relevant, because a team is made up of all the players & not just 1 or 2 extremely high priced very talented players !! 

 

 

Edited February 21, 2020 by T master

[Chandler#81]

I think we ‘aint Seen nothin yet’. With a longer season and more playoff teams, skyrocketing contracts seem likely to follow -based on perceived bigger TV contracts.

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

Cap goes up - contracts go up 

[MJS]

Shouldn't the star QB's of today make more than the star QB's of yesterday?

 

I personally don't see much of an issue. The NFL still gives less of a percentage of revenue to players than many other sports leagues.

[thronethinker]

As long as people pay to see the games and the League is making money, contacts will go up. The question is, how much more are you willing to spend to support the NFL?

[Shaw66]

If they cap the salaries, it just means the owners get richer.   

 

The players are workers in an industry that just happens to generate huge amounts of money.   The players, being the people who make the league successful, have demanded and gotten a share of the profits.   When the profits go up, the players' share, in terms of dollars, goes up.  

 

How would you like it if someone told you that you were making enough and no longer could get a raise?   Why should the players be any different?

 

Now, maybe the players' association might want to revise the contract to limit in some way the difference between the lowest paid and the highest paid players, which would indirectly cap the QB salaries.   It would be something like no player on a team can make less than 1/20 of the highest paid player.   That would mean that if the QB is making $20 million, the lowest paid guy would make $1 million.   I suppose they could do something like that.   But if I'm the QB, I'm asking the players' association what they're doing, because they're supposed to be representing me, and they're taking money from me.   

 

I don't worry about that stuff.  I just watch the games.  

Just now, thronethinker said:

The question is, how much more are you willing to spend to support the NFL?

Well, they ARE struggling.   Let's start a GoFundMe page for the players.  

[plenzmd1]

I thought one of two things would happen in this CBA, but it appears to not be the case. 

 

1) Similar to the NHL, one players % of the cap would be capped ..say 13% or something

 

2) A separate pool or cap of some sort for QBs, with some kind of equation that reflects rookie deals etc.

 

And I am still shocked that not 1 QB has asked for a percentage of the cap as opposed to a flat number. Thats what I would ask for

 

[nucci]

doesn't the salary cap put limits on contracts......who cares how much players make....good for them...owners bring in billions...they can afford this. 

[BigBillsFan]

I think we're close to the time of "peak football" and the decline of the NFL. Baseball had it's resurgence in the 90's with Sosa and McGuire after it's strike and I believe the same is true for football.

 

I think we're only a decade away from more empty stadiums as TV/internet improves and the fan base of going out to the game with dad in the seasons will be seen as too primitive.

 

I also believe a lot of fandom today are not fans at all. Many of our ratings today are based around fantasy people. I think fantasy teams destroy the sport. It's hard not to root for your guy against the interests of your team. It's great for short term gain, terrible for long-term viability.

 

Once we are past the age of peak football I think that's when things get bad: hold-out, strike, and fans don't care as much = decline and less revenue

 

Peak Hollywood was the 90's. Peak baseball was the 90's too. Basketball and football are still doing well. I think CTE, more players retiring early, and less great QBs might accelerate the decline.

Edited February 21, 2020 by BigBillsFan

[DrDawkinstein]

The players should be paid relative to what the league makes. They are the ones performing on the field, they are the ones putting their bodies at risk. No one is paying to see the owners sit in boxes. The owners make enough and have a solid investment.

 

As long as NFL revenues are as high as they are (and growing), so should player contracts. Easy as that.

[Buffalo Junction]

20 minutes ago, plenzmd1 said:

I thought one of two things would happen in this CBA, but it appears to not be the case. 

 

1) Similar to the NHL, one players % of the cap would be capped ..say 13% or something

 

2) A separate pool or cap of some sort for QBs, with some kind of equation that reflects rookie deals etc.

 

And I am still shocked that not 1 QB has asked for a percentage of the cap as opposed to a flat number. Thats what I would ask for

 

I think this has been a sore subject since the early 90’s when GB pissed off the owners by guaranteeing that Sterling Sharpe the highest WR salary. It was a precedent the league didn’t want to set. Still, I’m surprised that no one has bargained down for a 100% guaranteed contract. 
 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.deseret.com/platform/amp/1994/9/16/19131074/sharpe-catches-top-pay-as-receiver

[nucci]

26 minutes ago, BigBillsFan said:

I think we're close to the time of "peak football" and the decline of the NFL. Baseball had it's resurgence in the 90's with Sosa and McGuire after it's strike and I believe the same is true for football.

 

I think we're only a decade away from more empty stadiums as TV/internet improves and the fan base of going out to the game with dad in the seasons will be seen as too primitive.

 

I also believe a lot of fandom today are not fans at all. Many of our ratings today are based around fantasy people. I think fantasy teams destroy the sport. It's hard not to root for your guy against the interests of your team. It's great for short term gain, terrible for long-term viability.

 

Once we are past the age of peak football I think that's when things get bad: hold-out, strike, and fans don't care as much = decline and less revenue

 

Peak Hollywood was the 90's. Peak baseball was the 90's too. Basketball and football are still doing well. I think CTE, more players retiring early, and less great QBs might accelerate the decline.

there will always be players wanting to play in the NFL....for many of these players, it's the only chance they have for a better life....fantasy football has actually increase the interest in sports. The NFL doesn't make as much off of tickets and they used to. They don't care why people are watching, as long as they watch. I don't like some things about the game...."the look at me after i make a tackle" after every play is annoying but I still love watching

[DasNootz]

Until the owners start losing money, players can and should demand more money.  That's the way capitalism works. 

 

We as consumers can decide enough is enough, and stop buying tickets, merchandise, apps etc and support the XFL if we're willing to accept a lower quality product.  If we stop watching games on TV, their next TV deal will be less, and ownership will be able negotiate lowering the salary cap.  Otherwise - accept that they're getting paid a lot more than you or I am, and good for them.  

 

[Malazan]

47 minutes ago, T master said:

How much more can the cash flow continue to grow & just how much is to much ? Will the owners ever put a cap on the spending when it comes to individual salaries per position to keep the pay for other players relevant, because a team is made up of all the players & not just 1 or 2 extremely high priced very talented players !! 

 

Players will fight tooth and nail against individual contract limits because of the lottery syndrome. Even while most players will never see a 40 million dollar contract, they all want to believe they will.

[plenzmd1]

3 minutes ago, Buffalo Junction said:

I think this has been a sore subject since the early 90’s when GB pissed off the owners by guaranteeing that Sterling Sharpe the highest WR salary. It was a precedent the league didn’t want to set. Still, I’m surprised that no one has bargained down for a 100% guaranteed contract. 
 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.deseret.com/platform/amp/1994/9/16/19131074/sharpe-catches-top-pay-as-receiver

I like that approach as well...

 

In terms of guarantees, i do think you will see guys just eliminate the back years as Cousins did in his contract, and Sammy did in his. They were really always club options anyway, another way to say this is when we can cut you with no significant cap hit. Sammy's was a two year deal with $30M Guaranteed , and a club option at $21M for the third year. Sammy playing the financial game the way it should be played

 

Cousins was 3 year guaranteed. 

 

Only reason you don't see more structured this way is agents like to tout total value of a deal, so they love to add on those club options at the end 

[Buffalo Junction]

6 minutes ago, plenzmd1 said:

I like that approach as well...

 

In terms of guarantees, i do think you will see guys just eliminate the back years as Cousins did in his contract, and Sammy did in his. They were really always club options anyway, another way to say this is when we can cut you with no significant cap hit. Sammy's was a two year deal with $30M Guaranteed , and a club option at $21M for the third year. Sammy playing the financial game the way it should be played

 

Cousins was 3 year guaranteed. 

 

Only reason you don't see more structured this way is agents like to tout total value of a deal, so they love to add on those club options at the end 

That and optimism. People tend to believe “that won’t happen to me” until it happens to them. This is particularly true for younger guys. My attitude changed early, but that resulted from three months in ICU after a car wreck. Without that wreck I’d have probably been an idiot till my 35th birthday. 

[Bangarang]

Mo’ money, mo’ problems.

[Just Joshin']

10 minutes ago, jeremy2020 said:

 

Players will fight tooth and nail against individual contract limits because of the lottery syndrome. Even while most players will never see a 40 million dollar contract, they all want to believe they will.

I think it is the opposite.  If the union wanted a $35 million max for a player, that means more for the other players. A cap impacts 32 players negatively, benefits 1650 players.

[aristocrat]

the qbs pay is going up but they are all in line with the same percentage of the cap allocated to that position.  ryan is something like 17 percent or something of the falcons cap whereas when he signed 5 years ago he was also 17 percent of the cap. give or take i'm sure

[Chaos]

56 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

If they cap the salaries, it just means the owners get richer.   

 

The players are workers in an industry that just happens to generate huge amounts of money.   The players, being the people who make the league successful, have demanded and gotten a share of the profits.   When the profits go up, the players' share, in terms of dollars, goes up.  

 

How would you like it if someone told you that you were making enough and no longer could get a raise?   Why should the players be any different?

 

Now, maybe the players' association might want to revise the contract to limit in some way the difference between the lowest paid and the highest paid players, which would indirectly cap the QB salaries.   It would be something like no player on a team can make less than 1/20 of the highest paid player.   That would mean that if the QB is making $20 million, the lowest paid guy would make $1 million.   I suppose they could do something like that.   But if I'm the QB, I'm asking the players' association what they're doing, because they're supposed to be representing me, and they're taking money from me.   

 

I don't worry about that stuff.  I just watch the games.  

Well, they ARE struggling.   Let's start a GoFundMe page for the players.  

A cap on the highest individual salary is a completely separate variable from the owners getting richer. Conceptually the salary floor and total payroll cap dictate how much is left for the owners.   An individual cap actually disrupts competitive balance. For example  If the Indvidual cap was 20 mm and mahomes and dak Prescott both make 20 that is a huge advantage to the chiefs.  

Edited February 21, 2020 by Chaos