A Brief History of the NFL Salary Cap During the NFL offseason
Youth Teddy Bridgewater Jersey , teams make a multitude of player personnel decisions. Several factors matter in the decision to retain, restructure, or cut a player, but perhaps none have as large an impact as a player’s impact on the salary cap.I realized, as much as I hear about the NFL salary cap, I really didn’t understand why it was necessary and how it came to be. Salary caps are used mainly for two reasons: maintaining league parity among teams and controlling operating costs for league franchises.Back in the days of the All-American Football Conference of the 1940s, the Cleveland Browns, yes the Cleveland Browns, were so dominant that no other teams could compete with their level of spending and ability to hoard the league’s best talent. The league folded after four years in which the Browns won every game but three and took home the title each time as well.When a league employs a salary cap, the hope is that each team holds roughly the same economic power to attract and retain quality players. In the Major League of Baseball, for instance, there is no salary cap. This allows financial powerhouse teams like the New York Yankees to operate a 2018 player payroll of $115,711,450 while the lowly Oakland A’s have to patchwork together a competitive team with a 2018 player payroll of $56,780,833.The 2011 hit movie Moneyball shed perfect light on the struggles of general managers like Billy Beane, who had to resort to a sophisticated sabermetric approach to scouting and signing players. There are a couple of alternatives to the no cap approach of the MLB.A hard salary cap, like the NFL’s, is a set amount that may not be exceeded for any reason. A soft salary cap, like the NBA’s, is an amount which may be exceeded, but will trigger a penalty - in this case, a luxury tax - which is known in advance. The NFL also operates with a hard salary floor that requires teams to spend a minimum amount of the salary cap. In the NFL, penalties for violating the salary cap and/or floor include fines of up to $5 Million per violation, cancellation of contracts, and/or loss of draft picks. The Saints almost drew a penalty in 2010, which, after NFL owners opted out of the 2008 Collective Bargaining Agreement, became an uncapped year. New Orleans joined Dallas, Washington, and Oakland in spending like crazy. Only Dallas ($10 Million) and Washington ($36 Million) were fined, and their fines were divided equally among the other 28 teams (excluding New Orleans and Oakland) who had not exceeded the salary cap. Because teams must remain under the salary cap at all times
Teddy Bridgewater Jersey Stitched , NFL contracts almost always include the right to cut a player before the beginning of the season so his remaining salary cannot be held against the cap. Like my Dad says about the NFL in comparison to the NBA, “the teams aren’t going to guarantee a player’s health until their contracts are guaranteed too.” NFL bonuses, for the purposes of the salary cap, are classified as either “likely to be earned,” and count against the cap, or “not likely to be earned,” and not count. NFL franchises can stay under the cap a multitude of ways but the main effect of a hard salary cap was the release of higher paid veteran players in favor of younger players still playing out their cheaper rookie contracts.The NFLPA had to step in and create the veteran’s minimum salary which paid, without bonuses, up to $810,000, while accounting for only $425,000 (47.5% discount) against the cap. A small reprieve, it’s still going to be hard to keep between 53 (in-season) and 90 (off-season) player salaries from exceeding the 2018 NFL salary cap of $177.2 Million.Divided among 53 players, that comes to an average of $3,342,396 per player. For perspective, the 2018 NBA salary cap of $101.869 Million, divided by a roster of 15, allows an average of $6,791,266 per player salary. That’s about $3,447,870 more in salary per player than the NFL.Maybe that would make sense if the NBA made tons more money than the NFL, but the exact opposite is the case. The total worth of all NBA franchises combined is roughly $40.8 Billion while the total worth of all NFL franchises combined is about $64 Billion. Even though I’d make the argument that the NBA has better international appeal and growth potential than the NFL, NFL players need to bring this misappropriation of profits to the forefront during their renegotiations of the CBA in 2020. Perhaps they could take another note from the NBA playbook and institute mandatory salary increases based on performance accolades.An NBA player coming off his rookie scale contract, for instance, is eligible to receive 30% of the cap if he was named MVP in any of the previous three seasons, named Defensive Player of the Year in the immediately preceding season (or two of the three most recent seasons), or named to an All-NBA team in the immediately preceding season (or two of the three most recent seasons).The main problem with this system, however, is that really good players are often overlooked because they didn’t receive the media hype and attention that leads to winning one of those distinctions. In fact, being left off an Associated Press All-NBA list can literally cost players millions of dollars as they negotiate their next contracts.No matter what the NFLPA’a game plan is for the 2020 CBA
Youth Larry Warford Jersey , hopefully it includes discussing the topics of guaranteed contracts, retooling the rookie wage scale for fairer pay earlier in contracts, and, most of all, raising the hard salary cap more than a meager 6-8% annually. The profits are there, even after a year of downward ratings and fan favorability.NFL players are getting hip to this. They are starting to demand guaranteed contracts. Word on the street is Aaron Rogers may very soon sign the largest fully guaranteed contract ever. But until the hard cap goes up as astronomically fast as recent player salaries, all Rogers’ contract will mean is a win for him and a loss for the four or five guys who the Packers now can’t afford to pay. TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The Buccaneers pulled off the biggest upset of the opening week of the NFL season, beating the Saints in a high-scoring shootout. Three months later, neither team is looking back.New Orleans (10-2) is on the verge of clinching another NFC South title. Tampa Bay (5-7) is trying to escape a deep hole and climb back into playoff contention.“It does feel like it’s been quite a while,” Saints coach Sean Payton said, reflecting on his team’s 48-40 loss to the Bucs in Week 1.“Obviously, a lot’s taken place since then. We will be seeing a different quarterback in this game,” Payton added. “I think there are some similarities relative to what the teams do scheme-wise and yet through the course of the season, there’s been injuries, new players playing at different positions for both sides and a big enough gap to where you’re watching a lot of other tape, not just the tape of your past game.”That’s life in the NFL, which doesn’t afford much time to dwell on wins or losses.When the division rivals meet again Sunday, the Saints will be eager to rebound from a 13-10 road loss to Dallas that stopped a 10-game winning streak.The Bucs beat Carolina 24-17 last week, improving to 2-0 since Jameis Winston regained Tampa Bay’s starting quarterback job.“You don’t win 10 straight in this league if you’re not pretty good,” Bucs coach Dirk Koetter said,cautioning against reading too much into New Orleans’ only loss since Ryan Fitzpatrick led Tampa Bay past the Saints on Sept. 9.“As we’ve said many times, this is a week-to-week league and there’s good players on both sides,” Koetter added. “I don’t think the Saints are going to be losing too much sleep over losing (and) being 10-2.”New Orleans can clinch its second straight NFC South title with a win Sunday or a Carolina loss or tie.The Bucs, who haven’t made the playoffs since 2007, have won the past two meetings in the division rivalry.“We’re playing for a lot, in the position we’re in. I think our team knows that,” Payton said.“The bottom line is we control our destiny right now,” quarterback Drew Brees said. “We win this game, we win the division and that’s the first step, first goal that we set for ourselves this season. … Then, we’ll worry about the next goal.”Some things to know about the Bucs
Larry Warford Jersey Stitched , who won two straight after a stretch in which they dropped seven of eight games, and Saints
ERSONAL RIVALRYTop Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore could be seeking a measure of redemption when he lines up against receiver Mike Evans.A year ago, Lattimore memorably frustrated Evans to the point that the big Bucs receiver leveled the cornerback along the Tampa Bay sideline as Winston and Lattimore exchanged words. Yet, in Week 1 of this season, Evans had a huge day in the Superdome against Lattimore, catching seven passes for 147 yards, highlighted by his 50-yard touchdown catch.But Lattimore, the 2017 defensive rookie of the year, has come back strong from that game and Payton was highly complimentary of his play this season while, to some extent, also excusing his Week 1 performance.“Marshon, we feel like, is one of the better corners in this league,” Payton said, “and I’m glad we have him.”IMPROVED PASS RUSHSince Week 7 when Tampa Bay fired defensive coordinator Mike Smith and promoted linebackers coach Mark Duffner as his replacement, the Bucs have the second-most sacks in the league with 24. The only team with more over that stretch is New Orleans with 25.RAIN READINESPayton tends to be very particular about reviewing weather forecasts for outdoor games and particularly so this week, where the forecast is calling for rain and some wind.“It doesn’t ‘look like’ it’s going to rain. It’s going to rain — 95 percent chance of rain. There’ll be some wind — 10 to 12 miles an hour. We know the direction; it’ll head from their locker room toward the pirate ship. I think the footing is going to be important relative to the shoes that we’re wearing.”To that end, the Saints were practicing outside Thursday, when Payton said their work included “wet ball drills, the whole 9 yards. It’s just understanding ball security, understanding the conditions.”Payton recalled that in September 2013, a Saints game at Tampa Bay was delayed by weather.“We’ve been there before when we were sent in … to go eat oranges for half an hour and then stretch and come back out and play,” he said.BALL SECURITYWinston, who sat out the season opener while serving a suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct penalty, has not turned the ball over since regaining his starting job two weeks ago. In his past three games, including starts vs. the 49ers and Panthers, the fourth-year pro completed 61 of 84 passes (72.6 percent) for 760 yards and six TDs vs. one interception for a 119.1rating. “He’s playing with a lot of confidence,” Payton said.“I’m sure we haven’t seen the last of turnovers. … (But) I think as long as Jameis continues to make good decisions, then he’s going to play good football,” Koetter said. “That’s really all we’re worried about.”
