With the The National Players Association (NFLPA) and the NFL owners going at it over a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), money seems to be the main focus. The NFL owners are complaining about the rising salary cap and the rising cost of NFL rookies, particularly first round draft selections. According to the NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, “Player salaries are increasing faster than NFL revenues.” So what are some actions the new CBA can put into place to prevent the loose of revenue for owners? How about making a stiffer rookie salary cap.
From the year 2003 to the year 2007 the NFL’s salary cap has gone up from $75 million to $109 million. (USATODAY 2008) That is just about a 69%. Is this increase surprising? Yes but not really. If you take a look at the earning of a first round draft selection from 2003 to 2008 than you’ll understand it better. A first round draft selection average guaranteed money has gone up from $6.482 million to $10.853 million since the year 2003 to 2008. This is a 60% increase in the guaranteed monies of players drafted in the first round. This increase directly influences the increase in the overall salary cap, which has resulted in the players salary increase at a faster pace than that of the NFL owners. League owners paying first round selections so much money has changed the market value of veteran players, which is on of the arguments at hand. According to NFLPA executive director Gene Upshaw, "Those rookie contracts play a role in what a veteran gets," For example, when JaMarcus Russell signed a player contract worth $61 million dollar with $35 million guaranteed, veteran Quarter backs in the league used that as negotiating leverage to increase their pay. |
| Jamarcus Russell |
So should there be a stiffer cap on NFL rookies earning, in my opinion absolutely yes. The amounts of money these first round athletes are being paid are ridiculous because they’re not proven players yet. In any other career are you paid before you perform or are you paid as you perform? The money should be disbursed among the veteran players who deserve it. Placing a stiffer salary cap on the rookies would prevent a huge lost of money for NFL owners if the player is a bust or don't perform as well as they liked. It would also slow down increasing the rise of the overall league salary cap.
