Randall Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 Playing Chicken With Golden Goose By Michael Wilbon Thursday, March 2, 2006; E01 For nearly 20 years now, the men who run the National Football League have looked like the smartest guys in sports when it came to labor peace. After learning its lesson the hard way back in 1987 when management hired replacement players to break the union, the NFL sat back and watched three other major professional sports suffer massive labor issues. Baseball missed not only a chunk of the 1994 regular season, but blew the World Series as well and lost its place as the preeminent American sport. The NBA and its players faced outright resentment when they canceled more than one-third of the 1999 season. And the NHL, after missing the entire 2004-05 season and the Stanley Cup playoffs, barely wound up with a national television contract this season. And all the while, the NFL played on, almost with a knowing wink, extending its labor peace, adopting a salary cap. There's been nary a peep about these issues . . . until now. NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and his lieutenants and union boss Gene Upshaw and his lieutenants at the NFL Players Association may still prove to be the smartest guys in the room, but we'll see. This morning, as NFL teams prepare to cut players -- and we're not talking about chumps; there are starters and Pro Bowlers who might lose their jobs -- Tagliabue and Upshaw are presiding over something pretty close to chaos. Because the two sides can't figure out how to divide billions of dollars, 13 teams that expected a salary cap of about $108 million will have to operate with a ceiling of $94.5 million, which means players have to go. Already, players as valuable as linebacker Derrick Brooks and guard Larry Allen face the very real possibility of being cut. Not only might the Buccaneers have to cut Brooks, who just three weeks ago was MVP of the Pro Bowl, they might have to release Mike Alstott, the best fullback of his generation, quarterback Brian Griese, pass rusher extraordinaire Simeon Rice and linebacker Shelton Quarles. Of course, this is all fans really care about: Who do we have to cut? In several cities, the team you started dreaming about weeks ago isn't going to be the team you see when training camp begins . . . or even minicamp. The Raiders are $26 million over the salary cap. The Dolphins are almost $22 million over. The Chiefs are almost $21 million over, the Titans almost $19 million over and the Redskins $17 million over. The Ravens may cut Chris McAlister. The Jaguars may cut their best receiver, Jimmy Smith. The Patriots may cut the heart and soul of their defense, safety Rodney Harrison. ESPN.com's Len Pasquarelli quotes one AFC team executive as saying: "It's going to be ugly. There's going to be blood in the streets, and compared to past years, it's going to be from some bluebloods, guys who can still play." Usually when the NFL flexes, the players get a beatdown. The last time the two sides were dug in like this, in 1987, management brought in replacement players and made the point to the union that the NFL could literally take guys off the street, put them in uniform on Sundays, and people would show up to watch. And they did. But this time, players have the leverage of having already negotiated an uncapped salary year in 2007. The players' logic, understandably, is that they may take their lumps this year but they'll hit the gusher the next year in an open market. And in the nearly 20 years since the last owners beatdown, new owners who think very differently from the old guard have come along -- men like the Redskins' Daniel Snyder and the Cowboys' Jerry Jones, who without a salary cap would be happy to spend $150 million to win a Super Bowl. How many owners are there like Snyder and Jones? At least eight -- enough to break ranks and form a splinter group. In fact, this dispute is much larger than players vs. owners. Owners vs. owners is perhaps as big an issue because the new breed of owners, real moneymakers like Snyder and Jones, don't want to share the locally produced revenues, streams of money that didn't exist years ago when the two sides agreed on how the loot would be divvied up. Presumably siding with Jones and Snyder are the owners of the Texans, Patriots, Browns, Bears, Eagles and Broncos. Those are the owners who want to hold on to as much locally-produced revenue as possible (the Giants and Jets have a decrepit stadium that hinders their earning power). What many of us presumed was that all owners had the same agenda, that share and share alike had worked so marvelously for so long for the NFL, that a new economic model from the management standpoint simply wasn't necessary. Turns out we were wrong. The big-market rich kids with their shiny new stadiums yielding all that gold are perfectly happy to have a higher salary cap because they'd like to keep more of their locally produced revenue and take full advantage when it comes to signing players. This, boys and girls, is not the NFL of Wellington Mara and George Halas and Pete Rozelle. Still, I'm not ready to buy the doomsday scenario that the NFL is about to turn into the NHL. Currently, the union wants about 60 percent of the redefined shared revenues, while the owners want to pay out 56.2 percent. Okay, it comes to $240 million a year or something close to that, which is close to tip money for the owners who as a group really have become increasingly and insufferably arrogant and high-handed in their treatment of players. Nevertheless, Tagliabue and Upshaw and their respective guys have to be able to figure out how to find some middle ground. The owners, as strident as many have become, have to be smart enough to realize they'll pay out many more millions during an uncapped season. The players, on the other hand, have to realize that 2007 is one uncapped season, not a lifetime, and that eight or nine owners are willing to chase them in a truly open marketplace, but likely not the other 23 or 24 teams in a 32-team league. Another tough truth for players is that a lot of the big-name cut victims will likely be dropped sometime during training camp anyway because NFL teams have become particularly ruthless when it comes to veterans who are due sizeable signing bonuses clubs had no intention of paying in the first place. Many of these high-profile players are in their thirties, such as Junior Seau of the Dolphins, Tyrone Poole of the Patriots, Brad Hopkins of the Titans, Zack Crockett, Kerry Collins and Warren Sapp of the Raiders. It's unlikely even the thirty-somethings remember much about the 1987 disaster when stars like Lawrence Taylor crossed picket lines and returned to play. It's impossible to know now whether that unfamiliarity and decisive victory by management will work for or against the union if this disagreement becomes protracted. But in most labor disputes, in or out of sports, negotiations tend to sputter until members of both sides start to wake up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night and realize what's at stake. Labor negotiations usually drag on and on until deadline pressure comes to bear and the two sides stop posturing or trying to impress their constituents. As agent Leigh Steinberg said this week: "The natural tendency in football is to play contractual matters out until the end. If something doesn't need to be settled at this minute, it isn't. One never gets to the bottom-line negotiating positions until the last minute." Maybe I'm naive, but I still believe the two sides will come to an agreement, even if it takes another week or another month. Tagliabue and Upshaw have looked on with great interest in recent years as MLB, the NBA and NHL were shaken to their very core by the inability to quietly divide up hundreds of millions of dollars. They were smart enough to keep the peace in 1993. One would think they're smart enough to realize how fabulously profitable the last 19 years have been, and how stupid it would be to indulge in what could only be described as self-destructive behavior. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecerwin Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 As the deadline closes in, think they can feel the heat? They know what is at stake. They have a magnificant product and if they let the quality slide, their precious league will not turn near the profits it is now. Here is hopin to the 11th hour agreement! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gdawg Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 Best piece I've seen so far with regard to this SNAFU. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackass Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 Best piece I've seen so far with regard to this SNAFU. 1348844[/snapback] Agreed. Great article. somewhat optimistic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jolly Rodgers Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 Playing Chicken With Golden GooseBy Michael Wilbon Thursday, March 2, 2006; E01 Already, players as valuable as linebacker Derrick Brooks and guard Larry Allen face the very real possibility of being cut. Not only might the Buccaneers have to cut Brooks, who just three weeks ago was MVP of the Pro Bowl, they might have to release Mike Alstott, the best fullback of his generation, quarterback Brian Griese, pass rusher extraordinaire Simeon Rice and linebacker Shelton Quarles. 1348811[/snapback] Wow, thats a little dramatic. If they cut all of those players the Bucs would be about 20 million UNDER the cap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randall Posted March 2, 2006 Author Share Posted March 2, 2006 Wow, thats a little dramatic. If they cut all of those players the Bucs would be about 20 million UNDER the cap. 1349077[/snapback] Brooks has a $11.656 M cap number Allstot $5.168 Griese $7.083 Rice $9.2 Quarles $5.075 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Return Of S&B Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 Ahh...feels like 1987 again. Prepare to enter the NFL's version of the twilight zone folks... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randall Posted March 2, 2006 Author Share Posted March 2, 2006 Ahh...feels like 1987 again. Prepare to enter the NFL's version of the twilight zone folks... 1349706[/snapback] Putting a ex-Raider olineman in charge of the NFLPA is a bit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatman Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 Not only might the Buccaneers have to cut Brooks, who just three weeks ago was MVP of the Pro Bowl, 1348811[/snapback] I don't know that this is the evidence I'd use to support my argument... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chavez Posted March 5, 2006 Share Posted March 5, 2006 Mike Alstott, the best fullback of his generation 1348811[/snapback] Nor this. Everyone knows that Alstoss was a solid RB, not a great FB. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randall Posted March 5, 2006 Author Share Posted March 5, 2006 Mort said negotiations are about to resume but he thinks there will be another extension into next week. There is an owners meeting on tuesday and he thinks it may be hammered out after that. I guess we'll see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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