Russell Okung@RussellOkung
“We can’t have the inmates running the prison” – Bob McNair, Houston Texans owner, articulating thoughts of how he views ownership-player dynamic. Statement was recanted then reemphasized. Players are THE drivers of the NFL business.
Gene Upshaw, former executive director of the @NFLPA. once testified at the antitrust trial against the league that one of the members of the owners’ negotiating team compared pro football players to cattle on a ranch during 1987 contract talks.
“He said the players are like cattle and the owners are ranchers and the owners can always get more cattle,” Upshaw recalled.
Something to chew on but open for discussion… Do salary caps, luxury taxes, payroll caps have much impact on maintaining competitive balance in sports leagues? Asking for a friend.
Empirical data please!
With all that said, there are additional judgments to make regarding plenty of legal language in the CBA that works toward the detriment of players and in favor of multi-billionaire owners. If players want change, demand it
It’s up to us, the players, to decide if we want league ownership to finally respect us as partners. Truth is, there is NOTHING preventing agents from negotiating a fully guaranteed salary for an NFL player (see Kirk Cousins deal).
One part of ownership’s reluctance to give players guaranteed money is the structure of our cap system, the “cap” consists of an intricate series of accounting rules that does not fully reflect actual transfers to the pockets of players.
… consider guaranteed money in our current system. Fractions of a team’s cap can be exhausted or locked in by what’s known as “dead money” or a payout to a player because of the form of guarantee…
Many argue that trying to compare the league-player dynamic in the NFL with other sports is apples to oranges. Yes & no. League revenues are skyrocketing, a monster media rights deal is on the horizon, the business of football will never be the same.
J.I. Halsell@SalaryCap101
The Funding Rule forces clubs to place $ into an escrow account for future dated guars; therefore there’s a practical detriment to teams w/ less cash-on-hand. Removal of escrow requirement = less teams impeded from offering true guarantees; thus increasing the likelihood of them
…the lasting legacy of the Cousins deal isn’t necessarily the full guarantee, but instead the short length and how it precluded non-guaranteed yrs controlled by the club. | ProFootballTalk: Fully-guaranteed NFL deals would result in shorter contracts
Max Mikado@MaxMikadoSAYS
I think the owners have played on the misconception that pro athletes are all wealthy and entitled, rooted in class anxiety. They’ve convinced the public that athletes are overpaid for a child’s game, when reality is that proper compensation is all relative.
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Agamemnon
