Mods...not sure if this one belongs in here or not...but with the recent signing of Ronnie Brown, this got me to thinking a bit.
Will there be a strike after the current CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) expires?
I think there will be. Frankly, I have no idea how the players allowed their union to sign such a one sided deal. No where in sports does a player sign a contract that he has to live up to but the owners do not. All of these mega deals that are obviously back loaded will never reach their end and the player will almost certainly never see that money. It's like the owners are negotiating in bad faith...they know they'll never have to pay out the money that they are "promising" to pay. On top of that, if a player does reach the end of his contract and is one of the top at his position, the owner and essentially block him from making the kind of money he may deserve by tagging him and locking him up for a one year deal. I think this poses a huge risk to the player. What happens if he blows out a knee? What happens if he trips on his way to the bathroom and fractures his freaking skull? Basically, he SOL. Sorry, you didn't get to sign a long term deal with a nice signing bonus...so we'll put you on IR and good luck next year....See ya!!!
Now on to my point about rookies....Rookies are signing huge deals for never having even played a down while veteran players who have payed their dues with both blood and time are being asked to take pay cuts and restructure or face being cut. In my opinion, there is a blatant need for a slotted rookie cap that states that if rookie X is picked in X spot he gets no more than X amount of dollars. Paying a rookie based on potential while cutting the salary of a known comodity is flat out ridiculous. There should also be exeptions when dealing with long term veterans and trying to resign them. If this sounds alot like the NBA contract, well, its because I think that it works. The NBA promotes keeping players on the same team for a long time...sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. But calling Franchise and Transitional tags an attempt to keep a player long term is a lie...it is merely another weapon in the owner's aresenal.
If the players allow themselves to be railroaded into another horrible contract like the current one...they will have only themselves to blame.
Will there be a strike after the current CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) expires?
I think there will be. Frankly, I have no idea how the players allowed their union to sign such a one sided deal. No where in sports does a player sign a contract that he has to live up to but the owners do not. All of these mega deals that are obviously back loaded will never reach their end and the player will almost certainly never see that money. It's like the owners are negotiating in bad faith...they know they'll never have to pay out the money that they are "promising" to pay. On top of that, if a player does reach the end of his contract and is one of the top at his position, the owner and essentially block him from making the kind of money he may deserve by tagging him and locking him up for a one year deal. I think this poses a huge risk to the player. What happens if he blows out a knee? What happens if he trips on his way to the bathroom and fractures his freaking skull? Basically, he SOL. Sorry, you didn't get to sign a long term deal with a nice signing bonus...so we'll put you on IR and good luck next year....See ya!!!
Now on to my point about rookies....Rookies are signing huge deals for never having even played a down while veteran players who have payed their dues with both blood and time are being asked to take pay cuts and restructure or face being cut. In my opinion, there is a blatant need for a slotted rookie cap that states that if rookie X is picked in X spot he gets no more than X amount of dollars. Paying a rookie based on potential while cutting the salary of a known comodity is flat out ridiculous. There should also be exeptions when dealing with long term veterans and trying to resign them. If this sounds alot like the NBA contract, well, its because I think that it works. The NBA promotes keeping players on the same team for a long time...sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. But calling Franchise and Transitional tags an attempt to keep a player long term is a lie...it is merely another weapon in the owner's aresenal.
If the players allow themselves to be railroaded into another horrible contract like the current one...they will have only themselves to blame.
