Put a Lid on It

 As the draft quickly approaches, the unfortunate question on many people's minds will be: How much money will the number one pick get this year?


Last year Matthew Stafford banked $41.7 million in guaranteed money with an average salary of $12 million per season (if he reaches certain incentives). In total that puts him very close to the $14 million per season that Peyton Manning makes and gives Stafford about $8 million more in guarantees (the number that really counts) than Manning's contract, which Peyton signed in 2004.


This year the top pick could bring in roughly $45 million dollars in guaranteed money. This is all before he ever steps on an NFL field.


The NFL had a press release in January regarding a new rookie wage scale. The release states, "The NFL Players Association has presented a proposal that would include redirecting money paid to rookies into veterans' contracts instead. The union's plan would have a scale or cap for how much rookies would be paid, and the 32 teams would use the money saved from those contracts on established players. As much as $200 million could wind up in veterans' pockets."

Also included in the proposed new scale would be "a three-year maximum on rookie deals". The current maximum is six years. In the current scenario, teams with high draft picks that fail are stuck with salary cap issues and unable to bring in free agents.

The new wage scale would dramatically increase the amount of money available for teams to sign veterans. John Clayton of ESPN discussed how the new scale would have affected Stafford's contract,"Under the proposed salary cap, Stafford could (have been) limited to as little as $3.25 million per year as a maximum."

Until the league adopts this new rookie wage scale, we could continue to see teams like the Rams, Lions, Chiefs, and Browns struggle to be competitive if their rookies don't become the best player at their position. That is how they are paid, and that is how they have to perform. The system just doesn't work.




Every Morning Quarterback by Aharon Williams is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

Based on a work at www.everymorningqb.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at www.everymorningqb.com.