Richard Sherman: "Players Have To Be Willing To Strike"

[fearsomefour]

That has nothing to do with it.

NFL revenue: about 13 billion

Player salaries: about 5 billion


The NBA players get about 50% (or more) of the total revenue. To get to that point, the NFL would have to increase their salary cap by about 25%

I know there are other factors for running the leagues, but considering how much more strict the NFL is too....this next round of negotiations won't be pretty. And I'm definitely on the players side.

Me too.
Anyone who is full of bitter sour grapes would be as well I would think.

 

[fearsomefour]

They already do. The end

Ahhh, you're the guy who decides what everyone should be paid.
Got it.

 

[Ramfansince79]

I absolutely hope they strike. The current deal is soooo bad its embarrassing. F the greedy owners.

 

[Ramfansince79]

NBA players are more overpaid than the NFL players are overpaid, so lets strike?
Good grief
League minimum is around 500k, gimme a break

Blow your knee out Sunday, get cut on Monday. Don't get your pretend 500k

 

[LesBaker]

The current CBA is so skewed in favor of ownership it's ridiculous. Players need better leadership and the willingness to take real action if they keep getting hosed in labor negotiations.

It was designed to help veteran players get bigger deals than rookies who had never even played a game , but the way it ended up working out it hurts them. They need to tweak the rookie cap too.

I can almost guarantee they'll strike over guaranteed money.

It won't happen, but some contracts with some players will be done that way. People think the NBA has contracts that are all 100% guaranteed but they aren't. Many are, but they aren't all just magically 100% paid. Each is different.

I follow the NBA pretty closely...when the salary cap exploded last year and the contract details came out, it really was mindboggling.

NBA players get about 3BIL. NFL players get about 6BIL. There are about 5 times as many players on an NFL team.

And the NBA cap is going up big time again next year.

Which is good for fans of the sport like you and I. It's getting more popular.

I don't need a calculator to do that math by the way. And they play 82 games.

NFLPA screwed the pooch when they let DeMaurice Smith take on the NFL

I've been saying that for years.

I hate the fully guaranteed contract idea.

I'm OK with it if a team is willing to do it. But I am not OK with it as policy and every contract being 100% guaranteed.

I'm OK with a team and player deciding it, but not a union.

 

[dieterbrock]

Blow your knee out Sunday, get cut on Monday. Don't get your pretend 500k

Umm.. No....
That would require an "injury settlement"
And no matter what the deal is that's cut for NFL players, the guys on the bottom will always be paid "low". They re-write the deal, it benefits the top 10%

 

[Alaskan Ram]

I hate the fully guaranteed contract idea. If you want a player option to opt out of your deal then fine but how about earning your money. Look at all the NBA players that sign 60+ million dollar deals only to be underwhelming and a burden on the franchise. Nobody else gets a job and has guaranteed money just for showing up.

Guess what, in the real world if you aren't living up to job description, you get fired. All this stuff about "Our bodies are on the line getting hurt".... yeah, you signed up for big money to put your body on the line. If you want a pain-free lifestyle, pick a different career.

All these guys whining about not having advice when they get all this money, what a joke. Each team has a special meeting with rookies about financial responsibility. If you need more advice beyond that, hire a financial advisor. Nobody is required to look after you for being dumb.

I agree with you about the financial responsibility. All young people joining the workforce should not live beyond their means and plan for the future.

Its tough to compare professional athletes to the "real world" though. Especially football, where the career rarely lasts past 5 years.

To us, it's entertainment. To the players and owners, its a business. The players have to exercise their leverage and demand a "fair share" of the spoils. Their services ARE the product after all. In the real world you can only profit so much over the billing rate of your employees. The $s players are making may seem obscene to us, but the owners are raping the players on the percentages of the spoils kept.

Not a lot of people watched "scab football". The players have some leverage.
I'm just not sure it's as much as Shermin thinks. The ultimate problem with the players shifting the paradigm is the very fact that their careers are so short, one strike season could be a sacrifice worth a quarter of their career earnings. They might not be the benefactors of the end results. The fruits of their sacrifice would go to players coming after them. I don't think they will ever unite enough to pull it off.

 

[Jacobarch]

Ahhh, you're the guy who decides what everyone should be paid.
Got it.

I'm the guy who says these guys make more in one year than most people do in a lifetime. Not only that it's the guys who make the most money are the ones who are being the loudest about it. It grosses me out, it's pure greed and it's pretty easy to see

 

[fearsomefour]

I'm the guy who says these guys make more in one year than most people do in a lifetime. Not only that it's the guys who make the most money are the ones who are being the loudest about it. It grosses me out, it's pure greed and it's pretty easy to see

Marketplace reality.
If there is a "cause" then big names would be out front, just like anything else.
I get what you're saying and I agree there is greed all over....players, owners, agents, networks ect....but what a player makes in relation to someone else means nothing. Take a neurosurgeon and employ him cleaning hotel rooms and his wage will adjust accordingly.
When player make millions a year, good for them. It has no relation to what I make.

 

[UKram]

im well up for the player getting more guaranteed money .... As long as they are willing to give some back ...get caught beating up your GF ? we will have our signing bonus back ... caught drinking and driving ,, incentive money back .. under perform ? roster bonus back to the club

 

[shaunpinney]

The players do get an obscene amount of money, nobody can argue that. I'm all for performance related pay and injury clauses to be honest. I'm fed up of these top sportsmen moaning about not getting enough money, if they can't save some of their huge wage, then that's their own fault - every worker, wants more money for what they do as @dieterbrock said it's the top 10% that will benefit, the guys lower down the pecking order will still get crapped on

The way I'd work it is:

1. Base Salary - Have a base salary which is equal across the board, the base salary increases annually (each year you're in the NFL)
2. Performance Pay - Performance related bonuses are on top of the base salary. This would be worked out on an individual basis, but again equal for each position. Quite simply if a player DOESN'T perform, they don't get their money.
3. Behavioural deductions - as @UKram noted you mess up off the field, you get your money docked.

 

[LesBaker]

im well up for the player getting more guaranteed money .... As long as they are willing to give some back ...get caught beating up your GF ? we will have our signing bonus back ... caught drinking and driving ,, incentive money back .. under perform ? roster bonus back to the club

Or just put them on straight commission, that'll separate the men from the boys.

 

[den-the-coach]

FWIW's I believe there very well could be a stoppage of play after the next CBA expires, however, most likely a new commissioner so that could play into the equation as well. Keep in mind the last time football players did indeed strike the Owners brought in replacement players which led to the players breaking ranks and coming back.

 

[LACHAMP46]

It won't happen, but some contracts with some players will be done that way. People think the NBA has contracts that are all 100% guaranteed but they aren't. Many are, but they aren't all just magically 100% paid. Each is different.

I feel you...I shoulda said, "they NEED to strike over the guaranteed contract issue"...

 

[LesBaker]

I feel you...I shoulda said, "they NEED to strike over the guaranteed contract issue"...

It'll take one big star sitting out a season as a free agent. And might not even have to sit.

Right now I can think of a list of guys that if they were FA's and wanted a deal guaranteed they could find a team willing to do that.

 

[BonifayRam]

I would look for some long term $$$ post NFL career retirement benefit adjustments myself. Where long term health issues is a serious concern. I realize that is not a priority of most young NFL players today. But it would sure be handy as the years pass for these long term players.

 

[DCH]

I'm the guy who says these guys make more in one year than most people do in a lifetime. Not only that it's the guys who make the most money are the ones who are being the loudest about it. It grosses me out, it's pure greed and it's pretty easy to see

The median NFL salary is $770,000. The average NFL career is 3.3 years. So you have the median salary for the average amount of years, you earn $2.2 million over the course of your career, and then spend the rest of your life working whatever job you can pull with NFL/NCAA levels of relenting injuries.

Richard Sherman isn't the reason the NFL players need a better deal, but rather guys like Troy Hill, or Jake Eldrencamp, or any number of guys who make jack shit during their careers while enabling the NFL and ownership to print billions.

 

[LACHAMP46]

Keep in mind the last time football players did indeed strike the Owners brought in replacement players which led to the players breaking ranks and coming back.

Couple buddies and I were this close to going down to the Raiders camp....then we heard that the actual Raiders were in the parking lot...walking with signs...and they tipped over some scab's car....lololol....hell, I was still in college at the time...maybe 19 or 20.

Long term health security....

and it's like the cigarette industry...you can hide behind the claim, "we didn't know they were dangerous" while bodies pile up around you...but don't deny that your product changes lives...for the good and for the worse. I don't wanna hear about James Laurinitus blowing his brains out in 15 years....Tom Brady going loony....Or the worse case...the 2-3 year journeymen...

And you can't have the commissioner rule on judgments...and also be the guy to hear your appeal. Fix that.

Those are just 2 issues...of the top of my head...oh yea

guaranteed contracts....make em shorter if need be...but the norm should be guaranteed...with buyout language.