No NFL draft after 2011???

[kaldaniels]

That is one of the things suggested that will happen if the owners opt out of the bargining argeement.

If there was no draft would all rookies be free agents???

[AmarilloRed]

I can't see it happening unless the owners/players have a legitimate alternative to the Draft. All major sports have a draft of some sort, and it would make no sense for the NFL to drop theirs.

[guttle11]

This could get real ugly, real fast. Profits are sky high and both sides want bigger pieces of the pie. The salary cap, non-guaranteed contracts, the mess that is free agency in football...there's a lot to hammer out, and lots of options for both sides to hold out for.

I know it's a long way out, but this could get uglier than the 94 baseball strike if both sides aren't careful.

[sonny]

This is just dumb. It seems that the NFL cannot be content with currently having the best product out there.

That being said, I think they'll work something out. Too much is at stake. Don't want our kids wearing MLS jerseys do we?

[Yachtzee]

Originally Posted by sonny

This is just dumb. It seems that the NFL cannot be content with currently having the best product out there.

That being said, I think they'll work something out. Too much is at stake. Don't want our kids wearing MLS jerseys do we?

I'm starting to wonder about whether the MLS might be better anyway. At least I haven't heard about the players on MLS teams being arrested for beating their wife, weapons charges, or drug charges. Maybe I won't have to deal with players signing big money contracts and then trying to whine their way out of town so they can score another big signing bonus.

[camisadelgolf]

Originally Posted by Yachtzee

I'm starting to wonder about whether the MLS might be better anyway. At least I haven't heard about the players on MLS teams being arrested for beating their wife, weapons charges, or drug charges. Maybe I won't have to deal with players signing big money contracts and then trying to whine their way out of town so they can score another big signing bonus.

My guess is that you haven't heard about that because the press and public don't care about MLS.

[Sea Ray]

Originally Posted by guttle11

This could get real ugly, real fast. Profits are sky high and both sides want bigger pieces of the pie. The salary cap, non-guaranteed contracts, the mess that is free agency in football...there's a lot to hammer out, and lots of options for both sides to hold out for.

I know it's a long way out, but this could get uglier than the 94 baseball strike if both sides aren't careful.

I don't know how ugly it'll get. If the players want to play hardball the owners will stomp on them like they always have. If it takes a lockout so be it. The NFL career is too short. They can't afford to stay out long. I'm sure there will continue to be a draft and I'm almost as sure that there'll also be a salary cap of some sort

[guttle11]

Originally Posted by Sea Ray

I don't know how ugly it'll get. If the players want to play hardball the owners will stomp on them like they always have. If it takes a lockout so be it. The NFL career is too short. They can't afford to stay out long. I'm sure there will continue to be a draft and I'm almost as sure that there'll also be a salary cap of some sort

On the flip side, with careers being so short, the players may be pretty stubborn for more guaranteed money in the contracts, not just bonuses. That's where the real ugliness may show.

[Reds Fanatic]

It looks like the owners will opt of the agreement as early as this Tuesday. The other big effect this will have is it will make 2010 I believe a year without a salary cap. Which would mean teams like the Cowboys could crush small market teams like the Bengals on free agents.

[Sea Ray]

Originally Posted by Reds Fanatic

It looks like the owners will opt of the agreement as early as this Tuesday. The other big effect this will have is it will make 2010 I believe a year without a salary cap. Which would mean teams like the Cowboys could crush small market teams like the Bengals on free agents.

As long as it's only one year small markets can survive. Longterm that kind of system absolutely could endanger the league.

I have confidence the NFL owners will handle this situation much better than their baseball counterparts

[LoganBuck]

Originally Posted by Sea Ray

As long as it's only one year small markets can survive. Longterm that kind of system absolutely could endanger the league.

I have confidence the NFL owners will handle this situation much better than their baseball counterparts

Jerry Jones, Al Davis, and Dan Snider may have other things in mind.

[Yachtzee]

Originally Posted by LoganBuck

Jerry Jones, Al Davis, and Dan Snider may have other things in mind.

I can't help but think that Jones and Snyder were well aware of the problems of this deal when it was proposed and saw it as a possible way of blowing up the current system so that they could put in a new system that lets big market teams keep more of their money and spend it on players. I think they'd love to have a system more like the MLB, where they could pay whatever they want without a cap. In fact, I could see them trying to blow up the TV contracts next time around so that they could have their own Cowboys or Redskins cable channel.

[Boss-Hog]

Originally Posted by Reds Fanatic

Which would mean teams like the Cowboys could crush small market teams like the Bengals on free agents.

How is that different than the status quo?

[camisadelgolf]

It wouldn't shock me at all if they ditched the salary cap. Half the teams are in the upper half of revenue and might feel limited by the salary cap. An additional few teams might think, "If we had more money to spend on free agents, we could be good enough to earn enough money to enter the top half of teams with revenue." That's just one example I can think of as to why enough team owners might vote to eliminate the cap.

[LoganBuck]

Originally Posted by camisadelgolf

It wouldn't shock me at all if they ditched the salary cap. Half the teams are in the upper half of revenue and might feel limited by the salary cap. An additional few teams might think, "If we had more money to spend on free agents, we could be good enough to earn enough money to enter the top half of teams with revenue." That's just one example I can think of as to why enough team owners might vote to eliminate the cap.

I agree, and think it is a terrible idea for the Bengals, Colts, Jaguars, and Titans of the world. If they ended the draft it would be even worse.