Goodell Calls Big Rookie Contracts "Ridiculous," Vows Change
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Goodell Wants To Address Issue Of Rookie
Contracts In Next Round Of Labor Talks |
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell Friday said that it is "'ridiculous' to reward untested rookies with lucrative contracts," and he "wants the issue addressed in contract talks," according to John Wawrow of the AP. Goodell: "There's something wrong about the system. The money should go to people who perform." Noting rookie Dolphins OT Jake Long's five-year, $57.75M deal, of which $30M is guaranteed, Goodell said, "He doesn't have to play a down in the NFL and he already has his money. Now, with the economics where they are, the consequences if you don't evaluate that player, you can lose a significant amount of money. And that money is not going to players that are performing. It's going to a player that never makes it in the NFL. And I think that's ridiculous." Goodell said that he "favors lowering salaries offered to rookies, but allowing a provision for those players to renegotiate their deals after proving themselves on the field." Meanwhile, Goodell acknowledged that the NFL and the owners "failed to foresee the economic issues that would face the league when the last CBA was approved." Goodell: "There have been some things that none of us could've envisioned. You have an economy that's weakening. You have aspects of the deal that we didn't realize that we were going to be building billion-dollar stadiums. ... Things happen. I don't look back at it as a mistake. I look back at it as what do we need to do going forward?" (AP, 6/27). Goodell Friday also said that he "expects substantive talks on the league's [CBA] to start in several months." Goodell: "The discussions will probably get a lot more serious this fall. I think we have been working the last two years to evaluate the deal. ... We just finished a series of one-on-one meetings with all 32 teams, where I have a better understanding and people have a better understanding of the economics each team is facing" (BUFFALO NEWS, 6/28).
VETERANS FOR ROOKIE CAP: Cowboys CB Terence Newman said, “I definitely think we need to adopt a system like the NBA. … Right now, (rookies) are getting as much as Pro Bowl players and I don’t think it’s fair to the veteran players who are getting cut in favor of these rookies.” ESPN’s Michael Smith said a rookie cap “would go over well (because) there are a lot of veterans who agree with Terence.” Smith: “I expect in this next (CBA) and these negotiations, the players will certainly agree to this and in this next CBA you’ll see some kind of rookie scale” (“NFL Live,” ESPN, 6/27).
REAX: In Richmond, Paul Woody wrote Goodell is "correct" in calling rookie contracts ridiculous, but a "simpler solution would be to make all rookie contracts two-year deals." Woody: "After that, the players would become restricted free agents who must receive significant salary increases or be free to move elsewhere." Woody wrote the NBA "has it right" with regards to rookie contracts after it reached an agreement as part of the CBA signed in '95 that "established a salary scale for rookies based on where they were taken in the draft" (RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH, 6/29). In S.F., Gwen Knapp noted Goodell "finally said publicly what coaches, [GMs], media members and savvy fans have been arguing for a while." Knapp: "Kudos to the commissioner, with a small asterisk and a big question mark." The sales pitch "didn't entirely work because he tried to drum up sympathy for owners." But the "case of rookie pay scale is a winner, especially if Goodell stresses that $30[M] guaranteed deals for top draft picks can destroy a team if the chosen player doesn't deliver" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 6/29).
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