NFL Owners Look At Capping Top Draft Picks To Relieve Salary Stress

The NFL grossed an estimated $7 billion in the fiscal year that ended March 31.

Think about that for a moment and then ponder what’s about to happen next.

Labor trouble.

For the fifth consecutive season, paid attendance increased at NFL stadiums, and the average salary increased to $1.7 million.

With the NFL draft six days away, owners and even some players agree on one thing. They believe the large sum spent on salaries needs to slow down.
Not for the veterans, but for rookies.

The top three picks in the 2007 NFL draft signed contracts that totaled $174.5 million. Several NFL owners have complained that spending that much is hurting the game, especially when players don’t have an immediate impact. JaMarcus Russell, last year’s No. 1 pick by Oakland, played three games after signing a six-year contract for a rookie-record $68 million. By contrast, Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson, the seventh pick and the NFL’s rookie of the year, signed a five-year deal worth $40.5 million.

A rookie salary cap could be a solution for a league that is making billions of dollars yet is faced with the possibility of labor unrest.

“We do want to look at that,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said. “I think it’s important to veteran players. As a veteran player, you have proved your performance on an NFL field, and I think that should be rewarded. So when you see players come in that have not played in the NFL and it’s still unclear whether they can still play on a certain level in the NFL, I think that’s a fair point.”

Rookie contracts are so high that Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones is hesitant to trade up from the No. 22 and No. 28 picks in the NFL draft to the top 10. Doing so to get Arkansas running back Darren McFadden might cost Jones more than veteran Marion Barber, who is negotiating a new deal.

Excluding Cleveland’s Brady Quinn, a quarterback drafted at No. 22 last year, players selected between 20 and 27 signed total packages for no more than $13 million. Quarterbacks normally receive larger financial deals. Quinn signed a five-year contract worth $30 million. Linebacker Anthony Spencer, the Cowboys’ No. 1 selection with the 26th pick, signed a five-year deal worth $7.353 million.

“Certainly, none of us are as healthy as we want to be, because player costs are so high,” Denver owner Pat Bowlen told the Rocky Mountain News. “Ask any owner right now, and they would give you the same answer.”

McFadden’s agent, Ian Greengross, understands how owners feel, yet he’s in a difficult position, having to represent a potential top-five pick.

“As a whole, I don’t see a salary cap for the rookies,” Greengross said. “You’re talking about picks one to eight that get high money. Some teams are not picking one to eight. What about the seventh-round guy who outperforms his contract? Shouldn’t he get a new contract?”

Greg Ellis, the Cowboys’ union representative, said he is against a rookie salary cap but is willing to listen to suggestions if veteran players can receive more guaranteed money up front.

“The money in the NFL is really good,” Ellis said. “The structure has room for growth. When you say more money, people might say we’re greedy, but that’s not what we’re talking about. We’re not too critical of the rookies getting that money up front, because they drive our salaries.”

Roger Noll, a professor of economics emeritus at Stanford, has consulted with several NFL teams and the players union in the past. He said a rookie salary cap isn’t the answer.

“You can cut the rookie salaries, but I don’t think it will affect very much,” he said. “The owners can’t help themselves, and they go out and spend, spend, spend. There is no necessary reason to do it. There is nothing at stake here, other than how the money is divided up.”

A rookie salary cap could curtail spending by NFL teams.

The NBA has a rookie salary cap. First-round picks receive a four-year contract, and the club has the right to exercise the option for a fourth season. For example, the No. 1 pick receives a base salary of $4.01 million, then it moves to $4.32 million, $4.62 million and up to a 30 percent increase for the fourth season. The No. 2 pick starts his rookie season with a base salary of $3.595 million, and it escalates in the same fashion as the No. 1 pick.

NFL owners are expected to opt out of the current labor agreement in November. If that happens, the 2010 season will be an uncapped year.

If there isn’t a lockout or strike, salaries, especially those of rookies, could skyrocket.

Owners have yet to present a rookie salary cap to the union. They haven’t decided if they want to take that approach for the next negotiation.

“The cap began in 1994,” players’ union president Gene Upshaw said. “We’ll have to wait until 2010 to test owners’ discipline on spending, but it will be a welcome time. Once the cap is gone, it’s gone forever.”

- Calvin Watkins, The Dallas Morning News.