That is exactly what it is, but that is entirely too superficial. To take that analogy further, this is a case where it gets much more complicated than the example.Crowder on radio once said, every NFL player is their own company. They are their own LLC Inc. The company has about eight years to generate revenue. Loyalty and team first are a myth. If a productive veteran player got seriously injured, team will cut him without a second thought.
Look at it as two companies entering into contract negotiate while one company is not satisfy with the current arrangement.
First there is a rock solid "no compete" clause built into the system. Two random, public companies would rarely have an arrangement like that.
Second, there are built in punitive consequences to a player defaulting on a contract.
Crowder is not wrong that the player has to look out for himself, but you sign a contract in good faith.
This crap.....yes crap about teams not honoring contracts is absurd.
They honor the letter of a contract. If they didn't, they would be sued relentlessly.
All these contracts have total $ that are an illusion.
Players/agents know (or should know) the ramifications of what they are signing.