As the Chiefs march off the field with yet ANOTHER AFC title, I could not help but think about all the "experts" who demanded a hard salary cap in the NFL to promote "parity" The following is the list of AFC Champions since the Salary Cap was enforced in 1994: Chargers 1994 Titans 1999 Ravens 2000, 2012 Patriots 1996, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2011, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018 Raiders 2002 Steelers 1995,2005, 2008, 2001 Colts 2006, 2009 Broncos 1997, 1998, 2013, 2015 Chiefs 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023 Bengals 2021 At what point can we acknowledge that the salary cap is not doing anything to achieve parity, and allow teams unlimited ability to outbid other teams to get superstar players on their rosters?
It was never about parity. It was just about giving the fanbases of losing teams enough hope to continue tuning in year after year. Mission Accomplished.
What possible incentive to fanbases of losing franchises have to tune in year after year when 30 years of results have given what I have listed above?
Because free agency, in theory, gives those teams hope that didn't exist when you basically keep the same players year after year like what they had before. You occasionally get one of those teams who turn it around quickly (the Kurt Warner Cardinals, for instance), but for the most part, it's like you said, the same few teams over and over again. But it's the false hope of the playing field being leveled, which a salary cap would, again in theory, accomplish, that keeps the fans returning. In the pursuit of actual parity, the salary cap has done absolutely nothing. But it gives the feeling of parity to the fanbases, which is all it was ever mean to accomplish, IMO. As we see in other areas of life, cold hard data isn't as meaningful as how someone feels when it comes to making decisions.
The salary cap changed the winners from the rich teams to the smart ones. Not the cap's fault that Woody Johnson is so dumb.
Everything you said regarding the mindset of the fanbases makes complete sense to me at the inception of the Salary Cap. How ANY fan can STILL feel that way now, 30 years in, is beyond me.
Every NFL team collected $249 Million in 2022 just from the broadcasting agreements with various channels. They would manage just fine.
There are several reasons. First is that football is so ingrained into the culture in America that people are going to tune in anyway. Second, I doubt most fans are breaking things down in terms of how many teams have reached the title games since 1994. They're going more on the feeling that they have (which is partially provided by the existence of free agency) that their team is only a couple of pieces away from being those other teams. That's pretty much the foundational bedrock of what it means to be a Jets fan. People also generally have an easier time going on gut feeling than analyzing data, which is why advertising is so effective.
Woody Johnson was smart enough to turn that pig into a cash cow and he never once really had to learn what it takes to put a successful product on the field. Is he really dumb? Or is it just us?
Just like in baseball, there would be some owners from big market teams who would pay tons of money to win. We'd see contracts way bigger than anything we have now that even $249 million wouldn't cover.* And then instead of fans complaining that the owner or front office is dumb, they'd complain that their team's market is small or their owner is cheap. Of course, this would be good for the players since they'd get more of the owners' money, but that's a different story. *Unless the owners collude to suppress player salaries, but then that's just a salary cap going by a different name.
I think Woody's actually dumb. Like if you did an IQ test of the 32 owners, Woody or Mark Davis would probably come in last. Tepper may be an even worse owner than Woody, but he's more malicious than dumb. Though what it says about the fans that they keep giving money to the team (I haven't in years fwiw)...
There’s been a whole lot of “darling” calls gifting certain postseason teams 1st downs in key moments of games, especially in the AFC over the years. Never reciprocated. I loved that the refs were staying out of it this postseason, and the first two rounds were great as a result. It didn’t feel that way today with KC game tho.
Well the way I see it is that the cap and the shared revenue gives every team a chance. It’s not like baseball where the Yankees can outspend everyone else, and many teams by a huge factor. The cap doesn’t guarantee parity, but it does even the playing field for all teams. Then it’s up to the ownership to make smart decisions.
This will be the fourth Super Bowl rematches among head coaches all-time: Chuck Noll-Tom Landry Jimmy Johnson-Marv Levy Tom Coughlin-Bill Belichick Andy Reid-Kyle Shanahan In each of the previous 3 instances, the coach to win the first one also won the second one.… *swiped from twitter
It would be a lot easier to lure away a QB from another team if you were allowed to pay them whatever you want.
While I agree that not everyone would do the detailed breakdown that I did, you don't think there are any fans today saying "The Chiefs are going to the Superbowl AGAIN?!?!" You don't think the same was ever said about Brady and the Patriots?
The Current NFL Salary Cap is $240 Million. That is less than the $249 M from television, plus allows virtually every other avenue of revenue (Ticket Sales, Merchandise, Advertising, Licensing) to be added on top of that for the purposes of gaining talent. You have a LONG way to go before we have to worry about big and small markets in the NFL.
