League Notes
 |
Writer Questions Cowboys'
Deal With WR Roy Williams |
SI.com's Peter King reported the "danger of a job action hangs over the [NFL] and is beginning to influence many business decisions the owners and player agents are making." The Cowboys this weekend signed newly-acquired WR Roy Williams to a six-year, $54M contract extension, and with the potential of the salary cap not being in place during the 2010 season, the "key to the deal for Dallas was making the Williams' cap number palatable this year and next, when there will be a cap, but not worrying much about 2010 and beyond." Meanwhile, the "key for Williams' agent, Ben Dogra, was to get as much money as he could by the end of 2010." Williams will earn $27M by the end of the 2010 season through salary and bonuses, which "ratchets up the Cowboys' 2010 current cap obligations, with 33 player contracts signed, to $138.8[M]." That figure is $27M more than any other team in the NFL and is "still by far the most onerous cap situation in 2010." King: "Add to all of this the fact that the players, after the death of [NFLPA Exec Dir] Gene Upshaw in August, won't have a labor leader to begin negotiations until sometime next year, and what we have here is a league on a fast track to a capless 2010. And trouble" (SI.com, 10/20).
DRIVER DEVELOPMENT: In Charlotte, David Poole wrote NASCAR is "at a crossroads," and the next couple years "are going to be challenging for NASCAR and for many of the companies whose sponsorships have been the financial foundation for the circuit." Due to that, it is "more important than ever to identify and develop drivers who might have the talent to be racing's next stars." The "overall job is to find good drivers, no matter the age, color or gender, and help provide points of entry for promising drivers." Driver development is "very important to NASCAR's future." NASCAR "needs to spend its own dollars -- and its got plenty -- on establishing and operating a comprehensive driver development program" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 10/19).
GENDER BENDER? In Seattle, Jerry Brewer wrote under the header, "Baseball Needs Someone Like Kim Ng." The Dodgers' Assistant GM is a finalist for the vacant Mariners GM position, and Brewer wrote during a year in which the presidential election "has showcased diversity, it's appropriate that Ng stands close to crumbling a gender barrier." MLB "needs her to get" the job of Mariners GM. Every sport "needs her to get this job." It is "time to transform the male-centric, narrow-minded nature of athletics" (SEATTLE TIMES, 10/19).
|
