I e made this point a couple times in the Revis thread...but wanted to see what others thought. In putting together the new CBA, the owners got the NFLPA to agree to a rookie salary cap appealing to the greed of players already in the NFL to screw players that were not yet in the NFL.... Now, go take a look at this years crop of Free Agents. It's almost exclusively top tier high salary guys, not the backups that might be better than your guy as in years past. You could field a playoff contender expansion team from that list. http://www.footballsfuture.com/freeagents.html It appears that the owners have traded a reliance on the incoming guys, to force the third contract Vets to take less money. Supply and Demand. Now the oldest highest paid guys, are competing directly with lower priced longer contracted draftees. And the new length of rookie deals, almost excludes that third contract, given the average shelf life of a player. Fucking brilliant. Thoughts?
Youth definitely has value, nobody likes handing out that third contract anymore unless they are a contender, which makes sense.
looks like a pretty smart move by the owners. it doesnt surprise me though, the nfl owners have been getting over on the players association for a long long time.
Rookie contracts also got shortened. There is no longer a 6th year available to negotiate with first rounders and everything after round one is limited to four years. The rookie cap does not effect guys in after round one nearly as much as it did the top of the draft. Teams no longer have to worry about locking in 50 mill guaranteed to the top pick or 20 mill in the top ten. Teams always relied on rounds two and later for cheap players. Now those cheap players come with less years attached. Very few vets make much on that third contract, but then again it's easier for them to get to the second contract with prime years still ahead of them now. There was a give and take involved in the rookie cap that benefited both current players and the owners. Not much has changed with draftees being cheap labor, only now first rounders are as well. Not quite the brilliant move you try to make it out to be.
I would argue that the unheralded current crop of Free Agents says otherwise. Generally you have a half dozen starter quality FAs, and mostly second tier guys that may be ready to step up. Look at this years crop....
