Salary Structure Mess.

[Pompy]

I sure hope the owners and players change the out of control salary escalation of the rookies coming out of college. We wouldn't have no trouble trading down if it wasn't for the 30+ million guarantee our number one pick is going to receive from the Dolphins for a player that hasn't proved himself. Hopefully the Players and Owners get together and get something similiar to NBA Salaries structure for Rookies. I can see players being slotted for 3-4 year contracts and then the veteran players would reap the reward of production after producing for a short period of time. Another added benefit would be no hold-outs from contract negotiations for traning camps. It looks like the owners this November is going to void the last two years of the current CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) and next year will be the last Cap year which will make a salary cap hell for some teams with no room under the cap. 2010 would be an un-cap year and we are very fortunate to have Mr. Ross (New owner) who is the second richest owners who stated he didn't buy the Dolphins to make money but to win Championships. Unfortunately majority of owners will probably vote on a lock-out and there won't be any season in 2010. What do you think

 

[PJack]

I agree the salaries and guaranteed money for these early picks is ridiculous. I was reading the latest ESPN the magazine draft preview. The first pick this year will receive more salary and guaranteed money than Bob Sanders recent deal coming off the Defensive Player of the Year. More money than the DPOY, without every playing a snap. It's down right moronic to keep this status quo.

Only problem I see with making it similar to NBA rookie set salaries is the average NFL career is substantially shorter than the NBA mainly due to injuries associated with NFL as a contact sport. Something needs to be done, but I doubt the players would agree to the 4 year set salary when that is roughly the average length of an NFL career. I think 3 years may be the best number or better yet, make them incentive based on a sliding scale. Can you imagine a multi-billion dollar corporation (hello NFL!!) paying for performance??!!