03-01-2023, 04:22 PM
(02-27-2023, 11:19 AM)SunsetBengal Wrote: It's not the cap space that they are needing, as much as the liquidity to spend/escrow all of the up front cash that so many deals are asking for these days.
The salary cap system and later on the slotted rookie contract systems were put in place to maintain some even conditions for teams, so that all teams may be able to enjoy some semblance of competitive balance. I honestly expect the issue of fully guaranteed contracts to be an item of huge contention in Owners meetings and CBA negotiations going forward.
This is why - as much as we all hate the Ravens - I am 100% on their side when it comes to Lamar Jackson. Lamar isn't asking for a fully guaranteed contract, but it's still a ridiculous amount. It's good for the long term health of the league if teams start to balk at these amounts.
Otherwise, this will become a player empowerment league like the NBA, with players signing gigantic short deals and fully dictating where they go and when.
Leaving the majority of teams with little chance to compete for championships, and other teams making tough choices on whether to push all of their chips in on 1-2 guys.
(02-27-2023, 12:31 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: Shouldn't be all up to Burrow to make financial concessions, it will take cooperation on part of all parties involved. I've heard many players over the years say that they want to keep the team together and they hope that the numbers will work out, but ultimately the agent typically reminds them that they need to be paid like the superstar that they are. Then it becomes "football is a business, I had to make a business decision".
We've kinda already seen this happen. Uzomah was Mr. Bengal...until the Jets came calling with significantly more. As much as fans love players, these guys will almost always take "more rich" over "rich".
We just have to hope guys like Burrow will be willing to structure and re-structure their contracts like how Roethlisberger did for several years. That's way more likely than Burrow taking a Brady-like deal.
The training, nutrition, medicine, fitness, playbooks and rules evolve. The athlete does not.
