There are rumors of an impending NFL lockout. Richard Sherman flat out said there would be one in 2021, at the end of the current agreement. the NFLPA is warning players to save their money. This is very interesting, as in the past few months, we’ve seen outrageous contract being given to stars in other major sports leagues like the MLB and NBA – many of those contracts to players that aren’t even the premier players in their sports; more importantly, those leagues earn a small fraction of the total revenue that the NFL earns, and even when you account for the roster size, the money allocated towards the salary cap is quite laughable. There is an opportunity for many changes down the line. There four main goals that the NFLPA is most likely looking at are: 1) Guaranteed contracts 2) Reduced rookie contracts 3) Elimination of the franchise tag, and 4) Increased salary cap.
Reducing rookie contracts are a very important move to make. Many players – especially running backs – suffer the most from this. They come out at like 21, spend 4-5 years on their rookie contract (depending on whether they get that 5th year option) that isn’t even that high due to the rookie wage scale, and then get tagged for a year or two. Next thing you know, they’re 27-28, and teams don’t want to pay them any big contract – because they’re running backs, and while decline within the next 2-4 years. Look at LeVeon Bell. This is a great deal for the GMs and Owners, horrible deals for players who spend their best years on rookie deals.
This also leads into the elimination of the franchise tag. Sure the money is guaranteed, but it often gets used to squeeze out another productive year of a player’s career without committing to them long term. Again, great for the owners and GMs, bad for the players. It worked well for Kirk Cousins, but it screws over guys with careers that are shorter term.
Basically, you are starting to see a pattern unfold here. Players are basically made to be expendable; the owners and general managers like to take advantage of the fact that certain positions aren’t built to have careers past 10 years, and exploit the heck out of it. They take advantage so much. the NFLPA needs to take some power back.
And you wanna know the sticker? When you think about it, the lack of guaranteed contracts is CRIMINAL. These players get their heads bashed in for our entertainment, the league earns so much money, and yet… they money they sign for is not even guaranteed?
Yeah yeah, we know, they have to earn it. But it isn’t it a little bit ridiculous how the owners make billions of the dollars, but don’t have the decency to guarantee their players money? Especially compared to other sports leagues that understand the value of their players?
The biggest reason why this point is so important is because – and yes, I’m going there – think about what this means for you at your job. If you’re so damn dismissive and nonchalant about how the players are being treated by their owners, then you shouldn’t be surprised when you as an employee gets treated like shit and underpaid by your boss.
I usually don’t extend this to the outside world, but throughout time, workers have always been treated as expendable guinea pigs. We’ve had revolutions over this fact. And yes, we know that NFL players get paid a lot more than the average person. The point isn’t about the exact amount of pay, but rather the fact that they, as employees, are still being treated like garbage. And again, think about what that means for you.
This is why you have to support the NFLPA with this lockout. It may look far away and different from you deal with everyday, but trust me, this has real world implications you may not even realize. You have to look at the real world implications. We always talk about how the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Yes, no one is poor in this scenario, but the point is to think about what the players and owners represent. They represent the employees and the CEOs/Managers. The common man and the elite. The question to finish up with, is, as a fan: why are you siding with the owners, the CEOs, the elite, the man, and not with the other side?
