damanref10
Little Lebowski Urban Achiever
OK...this may take a little, but please listen to this logic. This DOES NOT APPLY JUST TO LONG!
Before the current CBA, contracts for early draft players and good vets was going through the roof.
Why was that? It was because of the large cost of the early round rookies. If you wanted to replace someone with an early pick, YOU HAD TO PAY BIG TIME FOR IT. The contracts for veteran players was actually getting to be less than a 1st round rookie.
Now we have the new CBA. What is that going to do?
Well, now if you want to replace someone like Long, you can draft a rookie...and actually pay less than what it costs to keep the veteran.
This is not going to work out for the vets like they may think. I think a lot of the vets with REALLY BIG contracts are going to just be let go as the NFL adjusts to the new CBA. The incentive to keep the vets just won't be there.
Now, someone might say, "well, you have the cap an you have to spend a certain amount." I agree. In that case, I think you are going to start to see a MORE EVEN DISTRIBUTION of the money. You will no longer have a few guys on the team making all the money...
This will take a couple of years to work itself out....but I believe you will see this trend.
So, IMHO we might as well be ahead of the curve on this. I would franshise him, but if we can't get a decent deal done....let him walk, and get his replacement in the next draft at a much cheaper price.
A few guys with big contracts is the old days...time to move on....spread the wealth...one guy isn't worth the coin he gets relative to the others.
i understand where you are going with this... but i just don't see it playing out like that and here's why.
Lets say you have a few teams, who will take on the trend you are presenting. They have a few carryovers from the previous CBA, who are elite players but have a potential to regress, whether it is age, injuries, or just performance issues, and rather than resigning them to a massive deal with all the new money that was freed up by the new system, they decide to let him walk and draft a cheaper replacement.
Said player, is now a Free Agent, and I don't see any situation where teams wouldn't spend the money the previous team decided not to to acquire him. They determine his market value, and much like all the other players in similar situations, will find a team willing to pay max dollars for great players.
There will be some teams who could "spread the wealth" just like there are some teams who by an large refuse to partake in free agency (steelers and colts come to mind), but as far as a league wide trend?.. i have a hard time seeing it happen.
Elite Vets command elite money, and if there is more money in the pot now for vets, you will be hard pressed to find teams spreading the wealth rather than paying up the big bucks to keep or sign the top players in the league, just the way it is.
In basketball for example, although its a soft cap, you don't see a "spread the wealth system" even though the salary cap allows for way more money than is deserved. You get superstars being paid like superstars, and teams trying to compete.... still paying mediocre players like superstars... and the rest make marginal dollars in comparison. Joe Johnson, Steve Francis, Gilbert Arenas ect... teams will make out on a player because they can... that trend wont be stopping very soon