OT: NFL Contracts as a % of Salary Cap?

[king_kong_]

For instance: Joe Burrow’s new contract will be for 18% of the overall salary cap number for the Bengals for x amount of years

Brilliant for all sides, IMO

I suspect many folks with a track record of being dead wrong about such issues will disagree, but am interested in discussing

 

[PeliniTheCrutch]

Not a bad idea. I’d also be for not including the QB’s salary against the cap.

 

[c3o]

Not a bad idea. I’d also be for not including the QB’s salary against the cap.

Sell me on it

 

[PeliniTheCrutch]

Sell me on it

Not sure I can do a great job of selling to be honest. I think it’s something worth looking into just because I hate QBs(some that aren’t even very good) taking up so much of the cap and all the other real football players are the ones who get screwed. That way if an owner wants to pay a QB a billion $$ out of his own pocket, so be it.

 

[Redmich]

Not sure I can do a great job of selling to be honest. I think it’s something worth looking into just because I hate QBs(some that aren’t even very good) taking up so much of the cap and all the other real football players are the ones who get screwed. That way if an owner wants to pay a QB a billion $$ out of his own pocket, so be it.

All the “real” football players have to do is provide compelling evidence that their single position on the field is more valuable to the team than the QB and they will be paid accordingly

 

[Huskers123456]

Not sure I can do a great job of selling to be honest. I think it’s something worth looking into just because I hate QBs(some that aren’t even very good) taking up so much of the cap and all the other real football players are the ones who get screwed. That way if an owner wants to pay a QB a billion $$ out of his own pocket, so be it.

But wouldn't that kind of defeat the purpose of the cap in the first place? My understanding is the cap does 2 main things:

1. Creates somewhat competitive balance

2. Reigns in costs for the owners

 

[HuskerJag]

For the player it locks you into the same percent of the pie as the size of the pie grows. Sort of a profit sharing type deal. For the team it’s predictability and you don’t worry about a player falling behind his peers (or lessers in the case of Mahomes) and being forced to redo a contract because the best player in the league is now the 8th highest paid at his position. And I know that Mahomes is not saying that but plenty in the media are and are calling for a new contract for Mahomes already.

It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

1) Will there be a pretty strict hierarchy where Mahomes gets 20% and Burrow gets 19% and Allen 18.5%? Or does the next guy continue to reset the market? Currently, whoever signs the most recent contract makes the most money. Will that change under a percent of cap deal?

2) What will happen to the desire/ability to re-do deals and create cap room - if anything?

3) Will this spread to other positions? Does Tyreek Hill say “I don’t want 31 million, I want 14% of the cap? QB is obviously different and I think we all get that but I’m not sure some of the guys playing other positions will agree that when it comes to sharing in the ever increasing revenues of the NFL they should be left out.

 

[Redmich]

For the player it locks you into the same percent of the pie as the size of the pie grows. Sort of a profit sharing type deal. For the team it’s predictability and you don’t worry about a player falling behind his peers (or lessers in the case of Mahomes) and being forced to redo a contract because the best player in the league is now the 8th highest paid at his position. And I know that Mahomes is not saying that but plenty in the media are and are calling for a new contract for Mahomes already.

It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

1) Will there be a pretty strict hierarchy where Mahomes gets 20% and Burrow gets 19% and Allen 18.5%? Or does the next guy continue to reset the market? Currently, whoever signs the most recent contract makes the most money. Will that change under a percent of cap deal?

2) What will happen to the desire/ability to re-do deals and create cap room - if anything?

3) Will this spread to other positions? Does Tyreek Hill say “I don’t want 31 million, I want 14% of the cap? QB is obviously different and I think we all get that but I’m not sure some of the guys playing other positions will agree that when it comes to sharing in the ever increasing revenues of the NFL they should be left out.

The player can opt to sign short term deals if he wants to prioritize pay rank at his position

If Mahomes only signed 2-3 year deals he would likely be the highest paid QB as long as he continued to perform - when you sign a long term deal you’ve made the decision to prioritize guaranteed money and forfeit being the top paid player at your position on a per annum basis

The salary cap already grows as revenue grows. It is 48% of the revenue sharing profits

 

[Dean Pope]

All the “real” football players have to do is provide compelling evidence that their single position on the field is more valuable to the team than the QB and they will be paid accordingly

QB is the most important position on the field no doubt. But QBs are also the most overpaid. Check out these new deals. Should the Saints really have paid Carr $33 million? The Giants gave Jones $40 million. Is a Lamar Jackson who is supposedly not going to do any more designed QB runs really worth $52 million? Garoppolo is gonna get $25 million for playing on one foot? Unless you have a superstar at QB, teams are probably better off letting their free agent QB go and drafting a new QB (on a rookie deal) plus bringing in a cheap vet.

 

[litespeedhuskerfan]

Just looked at cap hits for 2023 QB's...Tannehill is #2 behind Mahomes, at 36mil. Dak was #4???? I'd say the owners/GM's of those teams were not good stewards of their teams resources. I'd say placing a percentage would help some teams protect them from.... themselves...but in all honesty, I don't care one way of the other. My team has the best QB ever, so whatevs. When MyHomey cycles out of the league get back to me. Hahaha.

 

[Redmich]

QB is the most important position on the field no doubt. But QBs are also the most overpaid. Check out these new deals. Should the Saints really have paid Carr $33 million? The Giants gave Jones $40 million. Is a Lamar Jackson who is supposedly not going to do any more designed QB runs really worth $52 million? Garoppolo is gonna get $25 million for playing on one foot? Unless you have a superstar at QB, teams are probably better off letting their free agent QB go and drafting a new QB (on a rookie deal) plus bringing in a cheap vet.

You aren’t wrong - my point is that it is up to the players to convince management to devalue the QB position and invest more heavily in position players

The other consideration is marketability - the nfl makes a ton of money from merchandise sales and if it works like MLB - merchandise sold in stadium goes directly to the team and isn’t revenue shared

In 2021-2022 9 of the top 10 sales were QBs

 

[king_kong_]

The player can opt to sign short term deals if he wants to prioritize pay rank at his position

If Mahomes only signed 2-3 year deals he would likely be the highest paid QB as long as he continued to perform - when you sign a long term deal you’ve made the decision to prioritize guaranteed money and forfeit being the top paid player at your position on a per annum basis

The salary cap already grows as revenue grows. It is 48% of the revenue sharing profits

The NFLPA would never allow this for a player of Mahomes’ stature

They have a lot more sway over these mega deals than many realize

It’s not always entirely up to the player

 

[HuskerDrew]

the way the caps work, that will never happen and would be dumb. That’s because teams are able to “borrow” from future years, convert base pay to signing bonuses, and all sorts of crazy crap.
For players, you might have a Peyton Manning in his prime and want to pay him 24% of the cap, and some might have a mediocre bottom level starter that is 4% of the cap. And that works.
That’s why the NBA is so effing stupid… the best players around the league get the same pay with the max and super max contracts, so that the single best player in the NBA makes the same as the 12th best. Kinda silly IMO

 

[cornhustler]

As far as contracts go I try to be more like Bobby Bonilla and less like Scottie Pippen.

 

[IM4NUalways]

But wouldn't that kind of defeat the purpose of the cap in the first place? My understanding is the cap does 2 main things:

1. Creates somewhat competitive balance

2. Reigns in costs for the owners

Owners don't need to be reined in. They print money basically.

I like the idea of no cap on QB's. Although now it certainly makes things go in cycles of who can win based on how it is managed.

 

[litespeedhuskerfan]

Owners don't need to be reined in. They print money basically.

I like the idea of no cap on QB's. Although now it certainly makes things go in cycles of who can win based on how it is managed.

No cap on QB's?? Hahaha. Just think what Jerrah would pay for one more title? MyHomey could get $200mil for one season, easy.