Show Me The Skills

Hi all,

It is almost time for camp. I can't wait. This is supposed to be the dead time in sports. Only baseball talk. But, in Basketball, Baron Davis signs with the Clippers, Ron Artest sleeps thru the free agency deadline (I blame his agent for not knowing the deadline), in tennis, the Williams sisters are on the verge of facing each other in the Wimbledon finals, in baseball, the Dodgers are winning games 1 to nothing without getting a hit. That means the other team pitched a no-hitter and still lost. In NASCAR, Kurt Busch wins a race by not racing (Race ended after a rain delay. I can vent on this later). All these things happening in the sports world this week and all I can find to talk about is...NFL Rookie Salaries.

YES! I think it is disgraceful that NFL rookies can sign for bigger salaries than men who have played (and proven) themselves in the league for a number of years. I think that if you are coming out of college (I do mean COMING OUT of college, because most rookies do not graduate, they leave school early.) to play as a professional, you should not make "Big Money" until you have played and proven that you are worthy of the higher salary. How can a wide-receiver who has yet to put on an NFL uniform justify being paid more than someone who was smacked around by guys like Gibril Wilson (notice how I found the opportunity to name a Raider) all last season? How can a defensive back who has yet to put on an NFL uniform justify being paid more than someone who was had to cover Javon Walker (another Raider) several times a year? There are far more (and you may think better) examples of the off-center salary situation the NFL is facing, but I will stop at this point.

I think it is insulting that when an experienced Pro player asks for a raise comparable to the rookies, he is told "You were not a first round pick". Why is that the measure of greatness? Is the rookie an All-Pro? How many Pro Bowls has he appeared in? How many NFL Championships does he have? You tell me, is it fair?

Also, these rookie salaries directly affect ticket prices. NFL ticket prices are out of hand and part of the reason is player salaries. If they lower the rookie max, they can bring down the ticket prices. But, they will not.

The owners and the commissioner have chimed in on this issue. The commish has called the rookie salaries "Outrageous!" which leads me to believe he is going to attempt to change them. The players have chimed in to say something should be done, but they are still soft on the issue. I understand their reason. They want the money the owners would save with a rookie cap in place. I call that greed. Why not be happy making $10 million a year with a rookie making $500,000? So what is the owner is making more money due to having to pay less for rookies.

Neither side is thinking of the fans. I think, if the league starts a rookie salary cap, the owners should take their savings (or some part of it) and put that into lower, more affordable ticket prices. You will put more butts in the seats and season ticket sales for struggling teams will increase. They will be able to afford it, because it will come from money that was going to rookies and so it not like it will be missed.

End of story.

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Look for my 2008 NFL season picks, later this month.

Raider-Man, out.