Rookie Money: How would you fix it?

[DearbornDolfan]

I see you agree to my three year contract suggestion and I like the idea of a contract commitment, but dunno if I like the idea of a team being locked into an exact amount. I'm not going to want to pay 10 mil guaranteed to a guy like Gholston who ends up as a complete bust. Like I said, guaranteed minimums, and raise the minimums if you want, but base all other pay on performance.

Oh, and here's the kicker, no salary cap. I saw a chart about a month ago that pretty much showed no significant difference in wins distribution pre- and post-CBA. That said, I don't want to see some team going all Marlins, so keep the salary floor.

 

[Runnik's Hambones]

I like the idea of a rookie cap being 10% of a vet cap, with that said I also agree with Dearborn. Like I said earlier, I like the way NBA rookies are paid the best. Also, like Wes pointed out, an NFL career is drastically shorter than the other major sports. If the cap were lets say $9 million, you'd also have to set a cap on gauranteed money, in order to make sure that the rookies remain adequetly paid based on their performance.

For example, lets say $9M cap for rookies, Stafford signs a rooke contract of 3 years,and I would suggest it being even back loaded, where the first year the guy makes like $1.5M, 2nd year making $3M, then $4.5M in the final year. If you're to have gaurantees, I'd set to the yearly average. In this case $3M.

 

[Bayton]

Personally, I was trying to stay away from this thread because I don't think you can drastically change the current rookie contract system without changing the entire contract system.

As Runnik said, Nfl careers are only average 4-5 years if even that. That is a little longer than the base rookie contract. Baseball players can play forever in the minor leagues and work up to the majors. Basketball players can always go overseas or even ride the pine for years and still bank well. Football has an incredibly high attrition rate. With the exception of signing bonuses and the current shift to guaranteed money, the power is always with the organization.

The current salary system for rookies is not in that bad of shape. With the exemption of the first 10 picks and respective salaries, they are in line with potential and expected productivity. Bonuses and escalators are what totally inflates the values of the contracts not the salaries. Stop the ridiculous signing bonuses and things will be much better. Outside the top 10, quality players are quite undervalued when comparing their salary and production.

First round picks are expected to be starters/stars for your teams for years to come with the probability of making a pro-bowl. Why shouldn't they be paid according to what their expected occupation/job title will be.
FOX Sports on MSN - NFL - Minnesota Vikings Team Salary
with that link you can view last years salaries of all players on their current team. The rookie contracts are not as out of whack as everyone seems to think they are.
Just looking at the Vikings, there were only 2 players still under rookie contracts that had the a salary in the top 20 players. Numbers are pretty low for other teams I glanced over.
Adrian Peterson, in his 2nd season as the #7 overall pick only made 2.8 million. Arguably the best RB in the league, not even in the top 10 on his own team in terms of salary. Warrick Dunn made more than 3mil last year. Who is saying that vets should get more money? They already do.

If you want a system that is based on performance, the only fair way to do that is to go to arbitration every single year and only have 1 year contracts. Neither of those things are ever going to happen.

Limit the top picks to a percentage of the salary cap. 5% max for #1 overall then decreasing as it goes down. then, as they do in baseball, go to salary arbitration after the 3rd or 4th year. No more of this exclusive rights-free agent non-sense. If a rookie contract exceeds 3 years, the 4th and remain are salary abitration eligible. Obviously, salary arbitration would only exist in rookie contracts, beyond that, good luck.

Get rid of the franchise tag also.

There is currently and has been in place a rookie salary pool that the nfl uses and it is based on which picks those teams have. I did find this and a corresponding link

Even though agents and teams get around the rookie pool with contract escalators, post first-year option bonuses and one-time incentives, the rookie pool was created to somehow slot the signings of draft choices by the position they were selected. Each selection in the draft is given a value, which is a predetermined cap number. All rookies, including undrafted rookies, have to fit within the assigned rookie pool.

Chiefs get largest rookie pool to pay draft picks - NFL - ESPN

Yes, there are and will be talks of a more rigid rookie cap. After searching for information about it, I came across this article which mirrors most of my sentiments.
Why Goodell is pushing for rookie pay scale

 

[Runnik's Hambones]

Love the article you linked there, Ryan. I'm all for a rookie scale.

The NFL is bracing for the potential of Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford collecting more than was in Ryan's deal should the Lions select him with the first overall pick or even if the Seahawks grab him with the fourth pick. It's a problematic position and a major reason why teams don't like being at the top of the draft anymore. It's not only risky business, but it's also very expensive. I mean, $36 million in guaranteed money isn't out of the question should Stafford go in the top four.

And what's interesting about that $36 million number? Well, that's what Pittsburgh gave quarterback Ben Roethlisberger last year on a contract extension — and Big Ben has won two Super Bowls.

That is absolutely ridiculous. Like I stated on the first page of this thread, the rookies (or at least the picks 1-10) should get paid drastically smaller wages than they do. NBA rookies get a reasonable amount. With that said, like I and others have also stated, NFL players generally have shorter careers, so I'm fine with more than NBA rookies, but it's got to be less than a QB that's won 2 SBs.

The NBA's rookie scale virtually assures there is no holdout like Russell's, a move that ruined his rookie season and may ultimately ruin his NFL career. Consider that LeBron James, the NBA's best player, signed a three-year deal out of high school for $12.96 million over three years, or $4.32 million a season. Without question, LeBron proved his worth on the professional court and received a five-year, $80 million contract in 2006.

 

[Arctic Dawgs]

IMO, it became necessary when the sport itself got huge.

Look back in the past, guys got mailed contracts. They either signed as is or went to Canada. Top picks got $5000 a year. No big deal. When your talking about $40 million dollars, it is a big deal.

Quite a bit of truth to that Sarge. I remember back in the 60/70s the CFL paid higher salaries than the NFL. That was why some of the bigger stars coming out of College came to Canada. See Joe Capp amoung others. Moon came up here to play QB not pay issues

 

[WesDawg]

This thread is a perfect example of why this site's growing and remains strong when so many other "MSG Board" sites fizzle and fail.

There's alot to be said for mostly common folks who are intelligent and well-spoken enough to talk about something fairly complex like repairing a major sports league's pay scale.

Brown-nosing complete for today. LOL