The rumoured "salary minimum" in the new CBA

Discussion in 'National Football League' started by Jtuds, Jul 20, 2011.

  1. Jtuds

    Jtuds Active Member

    Joined:
    Dec 5, 2004
    Messages:
    6,641
    Likes Received:
    1
    I just read this article from the NY Times which goes into a little more detail about the minimum salary requirement in the new CBA.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/20/s...h-and-inches-as-nfl-nears-end-of-lockout.html

    I guess this is a concession by the owners and a bit of a win by the players, but won't it lead to crappy players being paid more than they are worth?

    Let's say Buffalo/Cincy/St.Louis think they'll be bad in 2012 but know there will be some FAs they want in 2013, shouldn't they just be allowed to make due for the 2012 season with a $98 million payroll? If that article is correct, they will have to find a way to spend 90% of the cap.

    How will this work? If you are going to stand pat on your roster and add nobody new, do you then have to start giving out 1-year bonuses to the players in order to get yourself up to 90% of the cap? Seems like a waste to me....
     
  2. bojanglesman

    bojanglesman Active Member

    Joined:
    Jan 24, 2009
    Messages:
    6,123
    Likes Received:
    0
    I think it will encourage these teams to focus on their good players and spend the money locking them up long-term instead of watching them go bye-bye to the Redskins and Raiders. I'm interested to see what Tampa does with all the money they have to spend. There's a team that could either go all out Super Bowl or bust by bringing in a bunch of expensive hired guns for the short term, or lock up good players long-term and be good for a long time.
     
  3. alwaysthejets

    alwaysthejets New Member

    Joined:
    Jan 31, 2011
    Messages:
    106
    Likes Received:
    0
    Sorry this will be so long, but to answer...

    Jason LaCanfora and Albert Breer have commented on this theory a little bit. These are their allegations. The A guys will get way more than usual-- the rest will not, and maybe get less.

    1. Albert Breer alleges he's heard from some GMs, the teams that have a lot to spend to hit the minimum, they'll use the money to go ahead and lock up the young nucleus of their teams or re-signing and extended, giving raises to their own.

    2. He said some other teams might do a combination of re-signing their own and poaching maybe one big name in FA.

    3. He said a couple of teams might use the money they have to spend to make a splash in free agency by acquiring multiple big names-- but he's heard less teams wanting to do this and more teams wanting to lock up their own for the long term.

    4. He said he's heard from some GMs it could actually lead/create some great disparity in the signings this off season because he said the top tier guys are "going to get theirs" and likely get more than ever before. He cited players like Aso, Holmes, DWilliams, S Rice. I guess they're going to get mass cash.

    5. He said the flip side is, that B players and mid level guys will do best to return to their old teams on one year deals and cash in next season because teams aren't going to want to commit big money or moderately big money to guys who aren't "100% top tier" because they haven't and won't have time to integrate them in to their new systems-- thus the investment of big money won't really have the return they want. They'd rather give more/overpay to retain big names who they deem the real deal than overpay for someone who might be less talented or not be what they feel is a good investment.

    6. Jason LaCanfora reported on this last night on NFLN and said he also has heard from multiple GMs and cap guys that the rich will get richer-- meaning the top guys on the market will greatly benefit and reap the rewards of this, but that the tiers under that might get shafted.

    7. ESPN NFL Live also commented on this yesterday-- and they reaffirmed these theories as well, and they added that it was part of why teams with top tier guys need to drop the usual contract pretenses where you start low with the player and play a cat and mouse game. They said teams of top tier guys who get a 72 hour window need to just pony up right out of the gate and avoid infuriating or insulting the top tier guys and do everything to lock them up in that window to avoid... major bidding issues. They implied teams usually start by low balling and then do a dance with the players... They said that would be a big mistake this time.

    8. Michael Lombardi and Jason LaCanfora said the small team markets who don't normally spend big might have a greater shot at acquiring top tier guys, but again, they think it will be a case of the rich getting richer. Not everyone getting more money, just a select few, outside of teams paying their own, which is different.

    9. They said another reason the top tier theory where the rich will get richer and the rest will be asked to take shorter/smaller money deals is because GMs won't have a lot of time, or any time, really, to digest long term ramifications of the cap and new CBA, and don't want to commit to anyone long term and for huge money unless it's a top tier guy who they have to pay or lose, thus it's worth it to just get them signed and quickly. The rest... The B and whoever guys, they'll figure out what they're worth, and how to take care of them, after they have better handles on the cap, next season.

    Who knows if any of that will be accurate, but they all allege it's what they're hearing. Top tier guys will get more than ever before and will need to be signed quickly-- the rest of the guys will be signed to short term 1-2 yr small money deals.

    All of this can be found in Breer's tweets, or LaCanfora's, or on past NFL Network Total Access (yesterday's especially), etc.
     
  4. CJLang

    CJLang Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 1, 2007
    Messages:
    5,496
    Likes Received:
    548
    Big win for the players! They're not just representing good players, they're representing all the players. Giving big money one year to a mediocre player so they have money the next year is still putting more nmoney in the pockets of an NFLPA* members pocket...
     
  5. TommyGreen

    TommyGreen Trolls

    Joined:
    Sep 8, 2002
    Messages:
    8,564
    Likes Received:
    2
    I can't speculate on what will happen, but I know for a fact that this will make for a very interesting Free Agency.
     
  6. Jtuds

    Jtuds Active Member

    Joined:
    Dec 5, 2004
    Messages:
    6,641
    Likes Received:
    1
    I just feel that it gets in the way of each team and/or GM being able to come up with and apply their own team building strategy. I've been on the players' side through the lockout for the most part, but I don't think I like this aspect.
     

Share This Page