In some recent discussions on this board the opinion has been tossed around that NFL QBs are overpaid. (Especially the mediocre ones.) As the position is seen as so important in the league, this shows no sign of slowing down. Players at all positions feel slighted if they are making less than others at their position, so threaten to hold out or entertain offers from other teams if they feel they’re not offered what they’re worth (especially when a team is trying to extend/re-sign their contract).
I had an idea that might stop this trend, one that I think would be beneficial to most parties. I was curious what others thought about this. What if the league implemented a rule (codified into the CBA) that set a maximum yearly salary of any player at 10% of the cap. In 2019 the salary cap is $188M, which would mean no individual player would be paid more than $18.8M in 2019.
Looking at the highest-paid players in the NFL there are many that are well over that limit currently. The highest-paid are slightly over 15% of the salary cap, and 18 players are getting more than $18.8M this year, including one wide receiver and one defensive end.
If this rule was implemented, any new contracts signed would have a ceiling of $18.8M or 10% of whatever that year’s cap is. There would still be some negotiation for those at the top end; how much is guaranteed, what strings are attached to bonuses, hoe long is the contract, etc. But you’d end the inflation we see.
The advantage to this for a team is obvious; you don’t have to worry that if you don’t throw enough money at a player that he’ll walk. He can’t.
The advantage to players is that there’s more money to go around. You might have the highest player on a team making less but then the other players on that team are eligible to make more.
The disadvantage of this is that the best players getting super-contracts will get a reduction, seeing their contracts cut as much as 1/3. But again that’s only 18 players, only slightly more than half of the current teams even have a player making more than half and no team has more than one.
So what do people think? Do you think the owners and the NFLPA would go for it? Do you think it would help? Do you think 10% is too high or too low? Do you think the current situation is fine and there is no problem to fix?
Sounds good. The only objection I can see is that this might prevent some of the worse loser teams from being able to upgrade themselves by signing a marquee QB - say they have been saving a lot of cap space, so that they can spend 20% of their cap on a great QB - assuming that the additional money could lure a great QB into playing for a lousy team - but now the rules say that they have no advantage in this.
I have no idea if it would work but I’m for any plan that cuts down on the amount of money professional athletes make. As much as I love professional football I get sick and tired of players making as much money as they do holding out for more just because they think they deserve it. As a “regular Joe” who’ll never see in my entire lifetime as much money as those players make in just a few years I have exactly zero sympathy for any of them when they whine and cry that they’re not making enough money or that they’re being “disrespected” when teams won’t restructure their contract. On that count all greedy professional (team sport) athletes can suck it as far as I’m concerned.
Who, in this scenario, do you figure would wind up getting the money that would’ve gone to these QBs? I mean, yeah, okay, fine, rail against the athletes for whining and crying about wanting to make more money; but what’s in it for a ‘regular Joe’ if that money instead ends up with the guy who owns the team?
(Heck, for all I know, maybe that guy whines and cries! Likewise, you seem to think it’s worth mentioning that you’ll never see in a lifetime what the athletes make in a matter of years; isn’t that also true of the guy who would’ve paid this money to the QB, but under this scheme gets to pocket the cash?)
The salary cap per team is calculated by totaling the revenue made by the NFL and taking a percentage of that. I won’t go into the formula and all the math but it works out to slightly less than half. So about half the money made goes right to the athletes. If you gripe that they’re making too much, you’re effectively asking that all of the non-athletes should be making more.
Also, each team is required to spend at least 89% of the cap on players, they can’t “sit on” more of the money then that.
My suggestion doesn’t change either rule. I personally have no problem with the amount of money going toward the players who are out on the field (game and practice) week after week, pushing themselves physically and mentally and playing through injuries that would keep most regular people in bed. Risking permanent damage, either immediately (like spinal injuries) or in the long run (like brain injuries). Their efforts generate a lot of money and I like that the CBA has so much of it going to them rather than owners and executives.
The NFL has a salary floor, as well as a salary cap. The expectation is that other players will get the money.
As for the OP, how about we don’t bring the worst of the NBA’s salary fuckery into the NFL? This concept means Marcus Mariota makes the same as Aaron Rodgers, and that alone should tell you it’s a stupid idea. It also removes the advantages of convincing a QB to make LESS money in order to help his team.
As for the “whining and crying”, who is the last quarterback to hold out? These guys are generally regarded as the leaders of their respective teams, and they show up. Hell, Dak Prescott is making a whopping $2 million this season, with no contract beyond it, and STILL came to play, even as draft buddy Ezekiel Elliott held out to get another 6 years and $28 million GUARANTEED.
Flacco, Eli, and OLD Peyton have shown that all you NEED to win a Super Bowl is a mediocre quarterback that can get hot (or not die on the field), provided you have a world-class defense. All you need is for your quarterback to not fuck it up. That alone is worth a lot of cash, given the wonders of the league like Mitch Trubisky.
An “average Joe” who whines about how much athletes are paid probably should stop watching that sport and do some introspection: they’re making the money they are because they’re the best in the world at what they do, and everyone likes to pay money to watch them do so. Are you one of the best in the world at what you’re paid for?
Average NFL QB annual salary is ~$5.7M. Let’s assume “just a few” is 3 years, so our QB pockets a total of ~$17M. Joe will work about 45 years, so he’ll need to make ~$377K per year to match this.
But this is a silly comparison. Why should QBs be an exception to the general rule that those with a scarce, valuable, highly-sought-after talent can sell their labor for a fancy price? In particular, why should they not take money from billionaire team owners eager to give it to them?
I don’t know that Mariota would. Yes, both are currently over my proposed cap but I predict that a GM would tell Mariota that since Rodgers is only making $18.8M, Mariota doesn’t deserve that because he’s no Rodgers.
And what you’re worried about is already happening. Is Mariota as good as Tom Brady? Because they are almost making the same money (only half a million apart).
And the QB still has the same option to take less if he wants, it’s just that it’s less likely to be an issue.
I found this amusing, because incidentally, yes, I am actually one of the best in the world at what I do. Of course, what I do is done by only a few hundred people in the U.S. (it’s a very niche field) and I am one of the senior employees.
Sadly, of course, this does not mean I get paid millions…
I agree. I’d much rather see that money go to the people who really deserve it: the billionaire owners of NFL teams. Those are the guys who are really struggling, and they put their bodies on the line every Sunday in order to bring an amazing product to the people of the United States. They deserve every cent they get.
I totally agree. If Mike Brown’s 80 year old ass can limp from his '94 Lumina into his luxury box for his afternoon nap, then those crybaby primadonnas can get their asses on the field, used jockstrap sharing or no!
This is vaguely similar to the situation in the NBA. Teams will end up measuring how many “max” contracts they have.
Inevitably, two things will happen. Star QBs who are used to making $30M+ and usually deserve every penny of it will be slighted. It will be impossible to argue that Brady, Rodgers, Brees, Wilson and eventually Mahomes and Watson aren’t dramatically underpaid. And middling QBs who teams desperately hope make the leap into being elite will get those max deals, it will probably get to the point that every non-rookie QB will be making the max. Teams will just budget 10% of the cap to the QB and move on.
Also, a bunch of other guys will probably end up getting max deals. Every team will probably have 3-4 other guys getting max money at DE, CB, OT, WR or wherever.
Honestly, I think the only way this kind of thing gets through the CBA is if it comes with fully guaranteed contracts for all veterans.
