By: Jake
In the NFL, there is a looming Collective Bargaining Agreement end in sight and it will cause many hectic things to come into place in the NFL world. One specifically is the lack of a salary cap on teams in the league. This salary cap has been an item that has placed all of the teams on a level playing field and kept the league competitive, bringing in more and more fans as such a high majority of the teams were constantly competitive. However, one of the things that may come of this lack of agreement is the implementing of a rookie salary cap.
Year after year, we see many young players becoming some of the highest paid players in the league even though they have proven nothing in the NFL. With the opportunity to fix this problem, the NFL and the NFLPA have the chance to fix a problem that has been bugging the heck out of fans who constantly see their teams shell out monstrous contracts to players who have done just as much in the NFL as they have. Every year the contracts get bigger too, only adding to the pressure to get something done I this golden opportunity. This also comes at the time where commissioner Roger Goodell just got his contract extended and has built a reputation of a strong handed leader who does not tolerate any wrong doings from players. The rookies coming in this year have a valid gripe about an implementation of this sort.
Why should they be the first rookie class to be put up to this rookie pay scale? They did just as much to get where the previous class did and they are losing out on money because of unlucky timing? That does not seem fair and it is something that the NFLPA will argue very animatedly. The incoming rookies will also set the standard of how future rookies will handle the new system if one does come into place. As of now nothing is for sure, but many fans are hopeful for something to restrict these money hungry rookies who sometimes take it to the extreme and hold out into a team’s training camp, therefore causing much confusion and strife amongst the team and the new players.
All in all, there are a ton of things that need to be ironed out with the forming of the new Collective Bargaining agreement in the NFL, but at the forefront is the rookie salary Cap. Although it may not be fair to the incoming class of players, it needed to be done sometime along the line.
