Possible Lockout for the NFL during the 2021 season?

[jarntt]

The Colleges are full of guys waiting to take their places...let them eat cake...

 

[mcnabb7542]

I just don’t see how the players have it “that bad” that the owners are taking advantage of them. Look, I’m not siding with the owners but what do the players want that they need to go on strike for a year or more?

I can't believe I am going to type this

But I agree 100% percent!
I believe these guys get paid very well from the league.
They are fully aware there is no medical insurance after they leave the league,
so why not protect yourself (mentally and physically) after your playing days? They are well paid to make sure they can cover those costs then sum more then a normal guy retiring from his day job.

I know this is the push for this lockout, they want to be covered by the league after their playing days are over.
The issue I see is the league has never done that, so why push for it now.

 

[dbldwn711]

I can't believe I am going to type this

But I agree 100% percent!
I believe these guys get paid very well from the league.
They are fully aware there is no medical insurance after they leave the league,
so why not protect yourself (mentally and physically) after your playing days? They are well paid to make sure they can cover those costs then sum more then a normal guy retiring from his day job.

I know this is the push for this lockout, they want to be covered by the league after their playing days are over.
The issue I see is the league has never done that, so why push for it now.

Lol

Feels good doesn’t it. Welcome to “the light”!

 

[fordman84]

Franchise tag I think is going to be the biggest issue. Pot will be done before then. Goodell needs to have less power, it needs to be a 3 person hearing committee and hte NFLPA has a permanent seat on it.

Players should push for only allowing one Franchise tag per player per team. So if you tag a guy you can't tag him again, but if he goes to a new team the tag is on the table again. Won't likely ever come up as an option though. Teams should be rewarded for drafting well though, so perhaps the answer is all draft picks have a 5th year team option. Then you hit URFA unless you are the tagged player. No more RFA, transition tag, any of that stuff. Remove the restriction on when you can sign an extension, but on the flip side sitting out mandatory practices or games while under contract requires missing the checks plus a prorated part of any already paid signing bonus. Hit these guys not just on future earnings but what they already most likely spent. Of course the players won't go for all of that without one thing...full guaranteed contracts.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

No one could be THAT stupid to sit out a year for the insane money these guys make......

IDK...MLB players did it.

I know it seems like an insane amount of money to us working Joes, but compared to other pro leagues...the NFL pay scale is really not that great across the board. Yeah, the top paid players are comparable with other sports, but the 8-12 guys sitting the bench in the NBA make way more than the ST guys in the NFL.

 

[dbldwn711]

What I'm hearing the most.

• players prefer a committee to decide player discipline...i.e. reduce the power of the commissioner
• revisit the Franchise Tag control
• bigger slice of the pie, currently getting less than 50% (reportedly 48.5%)
• more guaranteed money
• a segment wants to see pot taken off the banned list.

Gotta be honest... those ALL sound like ancillary issues to me.

Want guaranteed money then take out an insurance policy. Also, if people get guaranteed money then individual salaries will go down.

Bigger slice of pie... meh. Owners will give something up.

Players deciding their own discipline? Bwhahaha. Laughable. MAYBE an arbitrator but that’s it. Most sports discipline comes from the commissioners office.

The franchise tag has been manipulated. Both sides will look to change it

Pot? Are you serious? Lose a years pay so they can smoke pot? Look, pot may be legal in some states but some companies still drug test. The nfl is no different.

 

[mcnabb7542]

Lol

Feels good doesn’t it. Welcome to “the light”!

I threw up a little in my mouth typing it....

 

[dbldwn711]

I threw up a little in my mouth typing it....

LOL!

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Not sure if this makes me a dick, but I'm glad it favors the owners. It should. They're the ones who keep paying higher and higher salaries every year and updating venues. I don't care if they're already loaded, it's still their money. When a guy like Dak Prescott is being talked about as a $30mm a year guy, the players have more than plenty.

The players are the show, the product, the entertainment...in all sports. Yeah, you're going to have that isolated case of a player making way over his production...but on the other end of that you have players like Juju Smith-Schuster a WR1 making less than $1.5 mil....the reality is neither one of those players are being compensated fairly, Dak would be making far too much at $30 mil and Juju not near enough, but according the CBA, it's fair.

When I see commentslike your last one, it just confirms, we equate NFL income to our own and of course they have more than plenty looking at it through those lenses.

 

[dbldwn711]

The players are the show, the product, the entertainment...in all sports. Yeah, you're going to have that isolated case of a player making way over his production...but on the other end of that you have players like Juju Smith-Schuster a WR1 making less than $1.5 mil....the reality is neither one of those players are being compensated fairly, Dak would be making far too much at $30 mil and Juju not near enough, but according the CBA, it's fair.

When I see commentslike your last one, it just confirms, we equate NFL income to our own and of course they have more than plenty looking at it through those lenses.

In the case of JuJu’s pay that’s a byproduct of EXACTLY what the players negotiated. Rookies were coming in and demanding lots of money and not having contributed anything (think Matt Stafford). The PLAYERS demanded a rookie wage scale so that there was more money left over veterans.

 

[rmilia1]

I'm pretty sure this public announcement is more posturing than anything else. I agree with Randy Mac and you that it won't happen but the NFL CBA relative to other team sports leagues is still favoring the owners.

True but there's also more risk for owners in the NFL. This isn't baseball or even basketball where guys can play til their mid 30s at a decent level . Guaranteed money should be less in a sport like football especially given how many more people are splitting the pot

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Gotta be honest... those ALL sound like ancillary issues to me.

Want guaranteed money then take out an insurance policy. Also, if people get guaranteed money then individual salaries will go down.

Bigger slice of pie... meh. Owners will give something up.

Players deciding their own discipline? Bwhahaha. Laughable. MAYBE an arbitrator but that’s it. Most sports discipline comes from the commissioners office.

The franchise tag has been manipulated. Both sides will look to change it

Pot? Are you serious? Lose a years pay so they can smoke pot? Look, pot may be legal in some states but some companies still drug test. The nfl is no different.

I hear ya...however we want to describe them...they're issues to the players.

If other pro sports league can and do guarantee the money, why not the NFL? Because they haven't been forced to. Spot on that individuals would make contracts true to their value...no more $100 mil contracts but it's really only $65 mil guaranteed...then that should be the player's value...that's what you really think he's worth... $65 mil. Then pay him the $65 mil.

The proposal for the discipline committee was to have someone from the NFLPA, the owners, and an unaffiliated.

Pot...dead serious. It will be on the table from what I'm hearing, idk how hard to players will push for it...but I seriously doubt they will miss any games fighting for it.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

True but there's also more risk for owners in the NFL. This isn't baseball or even basketball where guys can play til their mid 30s at a decent level . Guaranteed money should be less in a sport like football especially given how many more people are splitting the pot

Yes, injury is more prevalent in football, and they don't play as long...those risk factors should be factored into the contracts, but as it stands right now...the players get 48% of the revenue. When you consider that every season players get cut, sometimes in lieu of a cheaper rookie contract player. The team shouldn't be able to pocket the rest of McCoy's contract...if so, I don't see how the players actually would achieve 48%.

Let's take the McCoy situation in Tampa, Bucs decided he was no longer a $13 mil player so they release him and signed Suh...call it $10 mil...the Bucs get to pocket the extra $3 mil.

But if McCoy was on a guaranteed deal, he most likely would not be making $13 mil per...say it was $9mil per and they decided they wanted to release him....okay, player get his money, but if he signs with another team for $6 mil...the Bucs should get $3mil back.

 

[Across The Field]

The players are the show, the product, the entertainment...in all sports. Yeah, you're going to have that isolated case of a player making way over his production...but on the other end of that you have players like Juju Smith-Schuster a WR1 making less than $1.5 mil....the reality is neither one of those players are being compensated fairly, Dak would be making far too much at $30 mil and Juju not near enough, but according the CBA, it's fair.

When I see commentslike your last one, it just confirms, we equate NFL income to our own and of course they have more than plenty looking at it through those lenses.

Yes, they are the show. And they are replaceable. Juju has had one top-end season. One. And he did it with Brown on the other side drawing coverage. Let's see Juju perform as THE man before calling him elite and deserving of more money.

I also wouldn't call it "isolated" that players make way more than their production. Look at guys like Jimmy G, Sammy Watkins, Alex Smith, Matt Stafford, Joe Flacco, Jermaine Gresham, Brooks Reed, Dion Sims, Nick Perry, Travis Benjamin, Williams Gholsten, Malcolm Smith, etc. I could keep going on. The list of guys that are (or were through this year) getting paid WAY above their production is pretty robust, and it'll keep growing year by year. Guys in the NFL can score mega-contracts from one year of solid production. If anything, this is the case for them not being guaranteed further than they already are.

We do equate NFL income to our own, but as fans who spend hundreds, if not thousands each year on tickets, apparel, etc. to support the team, it's difficult to listen to guys making millions upon millions complaining about compensation as they roll up in a Rolls Royce or Bentley.

 

[mcnabb7542]

At the end of the day, the players know damn well what they are looking at for pay and guarantees when they hire that agent and enter the draft. Making Guaranteed money demand able to pay out would cripple this league, and it will never happen.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Yes, they are the show. And they are replaceable. Juju has had one top-end season. One. And he did it with Brown on the other side drawing coverage. Let's see Juju perform as THE man before calling him elite and deserving of more money.

I also wouldn't call it "isolated" that players make way more than their production. Look at guys like Jimmy G, Sammy Watkins, Alex Smith, Matt Stafford, Joe Flacco, Jermaine Gresham, Brooks Reed, Dion Sims, Nick Perry, Travis Benjamin, Williams Gholsten, Malcolm Smith, etc. I could keep going on. The list of guys that are (or were through this year) getting paid WAY above their production is pretty robust, and it'll keep growing year by year. Guys in the NFL can score mega-contracts from one year of solid production. If anything, this is the case for them not being guaranteed further than they already are.

We do equate NFL income to our own, but as fans who spend hundreds, if not thousands each year on tickets, apparel, etc. to support the team, it's difficult to listen to guys making millions upon millions complaining about compensation as they roll up in a Rolls Royce or Bentley.

Juju...(two seasons btw), but you're missing the point...the point is he's the WR1...no one called him elite or anything special...but the league is quite alright with him making $1.5 mil or whatever...now if the player decides he wants to be PAID like a WR1 his only way of getting that money is to force the issue by sitting out etc, and then we want to kill the player.

It's over 1100 players in the league, naturally you're going to be able to give me a list, but in the grand scheme of things I don't think your list will top 10% of the headcount in the league....but trust me if the owners knew they had to actually pay the player, there's no way Joe Flacco EVER would've gotten the contract he did.

Sports entertainment...I guess we care a lot more than other entertainment industries...Will Smith or Tom Cruise can make $20 mil per movie and the movie could stink, the general public couldn't less.

Bottom line, regardless of how good I am at my job, there are 10,000 others right in ATL that probably can do my job...it's not the same in pro sports so I don't equate how much money I make with a pro athlete. The only reason I care at all how much players make is because there is a cap.

 

[dtgold88]

Franchise tag I think is going to be the biggest issue. Pot will be done before then. Goodell needs to have less power, it needs to be a 3 person hearing committee and hte NFLPA has a permanent seat on it.

Players should push for only allowing one Franchise tag per player per team. So if you tag a guy you can't tag him again, but if he goes to a new team the tag is on the table again. Won't likely ever come up as an option though. Teams should be rewarded for drafting well though, so perhaps the answer is all draft picks have a 5th year team option. Then you hit URFA unless you are the tagged player. No more RFA, transition tag, any of that stuff. Remove the restriction on when you can sign an extension, but on the flip side sitting out mandatory practices or games while under contract requires missing the checks plus a prorated part of any already paid signing bonus. Hit these guys not just on future earnings but what they already most likely spent. Of course the players won't go for all of that without one thing...full guaranteed contracts.

I'm sure they'd love it, but I think there is zero chance they get full guaranteed contracts with a 53-man roster.

 

[dtgold88]

Juju...(two seasons btw), but you're missing the point...the point is he's the WR1...no one called him elite or anything special...but the league is quite alright with him making $1.5 mil or whatever...now if the player decides he wants to be PAID like a WR1 his only way of getting that money is to force the issue by sitting out etc, and then we want to kill the player.

It's over 1100 players in the league, naturally you're going to be able to give me a list, but in the grand scheme of things I don't think your list will top 10% of the headcount in the league....but trust me if the owners knew they had to actually pay the player, there's no way Joe Flacco EVER would've gotten the contract he did.

Sports entertainment...I guess we care a lot more than other entertainment industries...Will Smith or Tom Cruise can make $20 mil per movie and the movie could stink, the general public couldn't less.

Bottom line, regardless of how good I am at my job, there are 10,000 others right in ATL that probably can do my job...it's not the same in pro sports so I don't equate how much money I make with a pro athlete. The only reason I care at all how much players make is because there is a cap.

Agree 100% with the bold. Never understood why it's always the athletes who get singled out for the money they make. Why we have to hear how an athlete can be paid millions (or tens of millions) more than a teacher.

Maybe it's because 50,000 people wont pay $100 or so each to watch a teacher teach, or because networks wont pay in the billions to broadcast the classes?

As you point out why not the actor or, hell, Oprah, who makes far more than most (all?) athletes? And here's a flash. .......Many athletes could be taught how to be an actor or talk show host. No way in hell anyone is teaching Oprah to be a world class athlete.

 

[Across The Field]

Juju...(two seasons btw), but you're missing the point...the point is he's the WR1...no one called him elite or anything special...but the league is quite alright with him making $1.5 mil or whatever...now if the player decides he wants to be PAID like a WR1 his only way of getting that money is to force the issue by sitting out etc, and then we want to kill the player.

It's over 1100 players in the league, naturally you're going to be able to give me a list, but in the grand scheme of things I don't think your list will top 10% of the headcount in the league....but trust me if the owners knew they had to actually pay the player, there's no way Joe Flacco EVER would've gotten the contract he did.

Sports entertainment...I guess we care a lot more than other entertainment industries...Will Smith or Tom Cruise can make $20 mil per movie and the movie could stink, the general public couldn't less.

Bottom line, regardless of how good I am at my job, there are 10,000 others right in ATL that probably can do my job...it's not the same in pro sports so I don't equate how much money I make with a pro athlete. The only reason I care at all how much players make is because there is a cap.

He's only had one high-end year. I'm aware he's been in the league two years, but his first year was far from some explosion. The league is quite alright with it because he's under a rookie contract. It looks like he very well may outplay his rookie contract, which means his next contract is going to likely be north of $20m per year. But for every Juju, a 2nd rounder who outplays his contract, there are 15-20 guys who underperform relative to their 2nd round pay.

You're mentioning two guys who are extremely well established actors. Of course they're making $20m per movie now. Do you think they were making that much their 2nd year as actors? They also don't have a contract like pro athletes do, which is why so many actors flame out after making a movie or two.

Maybe 10% are playing well below their pay, but to be fair, do you think there are more than 10% of guys playing well above their pay? I'd probably say those two lists are similar in size.

You're right about there maybe being 10,000 people who can do your job. That said, millions of fans aren't spending thousands of dollars every year to watch you do your job.

 

[Kevin12773]

I would hate Wentz to miss any games in his prime due to lock out.