Quote:
Originally Posted by rubecube
Yeah, until the NFL starts guaranteeing players' contracts, I have no problems with the players being as mercenary as possible. Ethics and loyalty in capitalism just basically ensures you get effed while your employer makes bank.
|
It will never happen;
- NFL rosters are too large
- Highest injure rate in sports
- Players have shortest careers
- Largest influx of new players of any sport annually due to readiness of college players
There are so many factors that make adding guaranteed contracts nearly insurmountable. Besides over 60% of all contracts are guaranteed so players are getting paid. The difference is that in the NFL more than any other sport you get paid for what you can do today compared to what you did in the past which IMO is a major issue in sports like hockey where way too many players are getting paid for what they did in the past. Bell's problem is a little unique compared to say Mack or Cousins as he plays a position where salaries drop big time for players when they hit 30 because RB's are nearly all on the decline by that age relative to their prime. Bell wants guaranteed money on his years of decline and of course teams are hesitant to do that with a position where a player can go from dominant to marginal in the span of a calendar year. Steelers did offer him a deal over $70 million with around $44 million guaranteed. He should have taken that IMO because he's not likely going to get a lot more guaranteed on the market. He's still going to be productive but his YPC average dropped a full yard last season and he's probably going to see slowly declining numbers going forward. Sitting out is the worst thing he can do as if he doesn't play this season he's going to be 27 years old in the offseason and good luck finding a team that's going to guarantee $15+ million to a 30 year old RB. In his case more than any other sitting out will cost him money that he will never, ever make back. Another thing that affects him is the fact that every year you can draft an Elliott, Kamara, Hunt, etc as it's a position where every year dominant RB's are available to draft and not necessarily even in the first round as Hunt and Kamara were 3rd round picks.