it's a shame as we really need a developmental league for football but seems the AAF is going to shut down now after less then 1 season. I don't understand why the NFL doens't invest in this. a good developmental league can add to the talent pool of the NFL as well as keep interest in football going during the offseason
The NFL does need a developmental league, but the problem is there is no money in it. The AAF (while they didn't try to compete with the NFL) tried to fill the void of the NFL. The problem is they aren't the NFL, they aren't as talented and we don't know them. Rather than try to sell yourself as an alternative while the NFL is asleep, they should have pushed as a minor league and tried to partner with NFL, where they could potentially retain rights to players on certain teams. XFL is going for full blown competition, which also doesn't bode well for them, but at least they are saying we are going to be real football. Whether is ends up being so remains to be seen
If they tie it directly to the NFL franchises..in other words..every team has a farm team..I think itd stand a much better chance. This began to happen in the 50’s & 60’s.Jets had the Orbits who were based in waterbury CT & later Bridgeport.My understanding is that attendance was not terrible given the timeframe. I think the game is ready for something like this.I for one would eat up a Jets farm team going against other teams developmental types a helluva lot more than random teams in smaller markets w no afiliation to the NFL or the Jets.
yeah XFL is going a different route. I do like some of their rules though and would be interesting to see how they work as the NFL could adopt some of them (especially the special teams rules are pretty good) but i read more on the AAF situation since posting this and that is exactly what they are doing. the main investor (250 million) is threatening to pull out if the NFL refuses to work with them. he wants it to be a developmental league at 0 cost to the NFL (AAF would pay out for player insurance and everything) but the NFL and NFLPA don't want to as the NFLPA is citing concerns about player injury. all the AAF wants is access to the NFL practice squad players and all the contracts are 1 year only (compared to 3 year for the XFL) so basically the AAF would get to sign PS NFL players to play during the offseason of the NFL in the AAF and develop them for the NFL and cover all the insurance costs and such and the NFL is denying it as of now so the big investor is threatening to pull out which would collapse the league immediately (they need about 20 million to finish the season). I don't understand why the NFL is turning this down i'm guessing it's more of the NFLPA being dickwads as usual
Alliance of American Football. A new football league during the offseason that just started in 2019 and is currently in week 8 of the 1st season but could end before they finish the first season. Has a lot of ex NFL players in it, funny enough the top team's starting WRs are 2 ex jet WRs (jalin marshall and chris johnson)
Yeah, this is dumb. I enjoyed watching AAF, but NFL really needs to get a development league and they should try to work something out here. It's the biggest problem they have. Young QBs never get opportunities and often get buried at the bottom of the roster with extremely limited reps. The NFLPA would rather have these players sit on the bench for years, than get an opportunity to improve themselves just because they MIGHT get injured? That's weak. The NBA and MLB have no problem doing this, NFL should follow suit.
yup i think this is a great way for players to develop especially QBs. PS Qbs get very limited reps and really no competition or anything, but in this case they could start 10 games in an actual televised league during the offseason. most PS players don't make much money and never get a real shot at playing in the NFL anyway. this would also help their income as well. the poor 7th round draft pick how hangs on a PS for 2 years doens't make shit for money and then their career is over
How did the AAF burn thru that much cash so quickly that they couldn't even finish their first season!???
they didn't the main investor is backing out if the NFL doesn't want to play nice with them. if he backs out, the league folds as he takes all his money with him
I have real doubts that any system is workable without massive changes in structure. There's no such thing as a practice squad during the offseason, so how would the players be determined? This isn't at all what the G-League is, or minor league baseball and hockey; those leagues are during the usual season, and are designed (at the higher levels, anyway) in part to provide replacement players if major league players are injured or ineffective. The problem for the NFLPA is the same problem they always have - contracts are not guaranteed, so everyone is effectively a free agent every year. The salary cap might make it prohibitively expensive to cut someone, but everyone can be cut. Baseball and hockey players sign contracts for multiple years (and have control over them, and their salaries, for more years), so it's in the team's interest to develop them (even then, the minor leagues are far smaller than they used to be, because it's a big investment). This system only works if contracts are guaranteed year-round. Insurance for the AAF contract is peanuts - will the AAF pay to insure for injury the NFL contract for the following season(s)? Of course not. And what if the AAF team wants to run a 4-3, and the NFL team wants to run a 3-4? Who decides? In the high minor leagues and in the G-League it's clear, since the major league teams own the minor league ones (or at least pick the coaches). And from the player point of view, does doing this actually benefit them? What if Davis Webb plays and stinks it up? When that happens in AA ball in Sarasota no one notices, but if it happens on NBC it probably ends his career. If a league is truly going to be a developmental league televising games is the worst thing to do - you often want players to be doing things they're bad at, so they get better. Most people aren't interested in watching that, and very few people actually do. Television networks televise events because teams are trying to win, not because they're trying to make their players better.
obviously it's not a perfect system, but it's better then what we have currently (no system) where players lose opportunity to make it in the NFL. the NFL system is kind of crappy. draft college players give them 1 chance and get rid of them if they can't cut it pretty much right away. 2 ex jet WRs are stars for the top team in the AAF right now maybe an NFL team sees that and gives them a chance. we seen it with the XFL too where a few players got a 2nd chance in the NFL. it also gives the low income players a chance to earn extra money in the offseason while developing their skills. sadly fully guaranteed contracts in the NFL can't really work until they change the cap, but the cap is what makes the NFL have parity that we don't see in other sports which is one of the biggest selling points of the NFL. in the MLB for instance small market teams are always at a disadvanatge and it's rare for them to win anything and they have to let players walk becuase they can't afford it. it's not an equal playing field like it is in the NFL. the NFL never has teams who can't afford to pay a player, they only are held in check by the caps. giving the NFL a MLB like structure teams like the cowboys and redskins would have a huge advantage over teams like the bucs or chargers. but that is a little off topic as far as PS goes it's likely any player who was on a PS for the season so for instance take tay for us. UDFA WR, spent most of the year on the PS making not much and only got a chance due to injury. right now he's not getting any experience. i'm sure he's working out and such but not getting real game experience. he could be playing in the AAF and getting paid while auditioning for a better spot in the NFL it benefits the lower tier young players. if course there is risk due to the nature of football but it is what it is
The cap itself is fine. I think that the "penalties" you have to pay for a player you cut is the problem. It probably leads to players getting way less guaranteed money from the get go. Since cap penalties are essentially an accounting rule, they should just remove them hitting against the cap the following year. The owners/GMs should suffer for their mistake not team itself and their fans because now theyre in cap hell and have to let other players go.
