Ian Allen believes if they don't come to some sort of capping agreement, the NFL will never be the same.
The NFL needs to sort it out, or the have-not's will have even less
This past weekend's games seemed to bring up some interesting questions for 2010.
As I mentioned in a previous column, the point spread in the NFL is greater than usual calling into question the parity of teams, and now, for example you have fans publicly stating their collective dissatisfaction of their team's performance; ie, the Cleveland Browns.
Not to mention the looming Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations, that in my opinion, can make or break the momentum, which the NFL has built over the last 10-15 years, that has translated into the NFL being one of the most popular sports worldwide.
Believe me, I understand we are only in week nine, but these things need to be addressed immediately or else the NFL as we know it won't be the same next year.
What I am going to cover here are the winners and losers of what could happen if a deal is not made.
Lets start with the winners if an agreement is not made.
The NFL teams with the most money like the Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, or Washington Redskins. Without a new agreement, the next off-season would be an uncapped year and that means that the teams with the most cake can buy whatever players they want; and a team like Buffalo or Detroit will continue its plummet into oblivion.
Non-sequential
Also, let us not forget about the players who have already made a significant amount of bread. They win because they can afford to stand off with a lock-out, or the fact that they've received big paydays before the ones who have been anxiously waiting for the day that their first four years in the National Football League are complete, and all of a sudden, they have to wait another two years before they can even think about smelling brand new non-sequential greenbacks on the way to the bank.
Are the second bunch of players, losers? Or the same bunch?
The losers are, as I mentioned earlier, are the players who have been anticipating the day for Unrestricted Free Agency.
Take for example a guy like Priest Holmes who came in the league as an undrafted rookie free agent. When his number was called in Baltimore, he delivered, and he was finally delivered the opportunity to become a free agent after his contract ran out in the four years.
That would not have been fair if this is the year for him to have a chance to increase his pay, and at the end of the season, because of differences in the CBA, he would have to wait another two years and be paid at the minimum. Now that's a joke! I know I would be hot.
Lifeline
The other losers that fit into this equation, and I think at times are forgotten, are the fans that are the lifeline of the NFL. And that, actually in effect, trickles on down even further to the stadium crews and all local businesses associated with the viability of the games every weekend.
And I haven't even touched the surface of all of the social implications.
What's the solution you might ask? Honestly, I don't have one except to simply put away the guns, and try to put greed aside (on both sides), and try to find a way to spread the wealth to all parties involved.
For example, making partially-guaranteed contracts would be helpful, but as I have been told in the past by some of our union leaders at the time, that would begin to cut into some of the higher-paid players' pool, and that would limit some of the funds for big ticket free agency.
Whatever... if any of you all have a suggestion on how to fix it, by all means, let me know.
Visit me at www.insidethetrenches.com and listen to my show, and let me know your thoughts. Listen in every Tuesday at 6pm EST.
