The Facts:
The NFL’s proposal to the players for a rookie compensation system would divert about $300 million a year from first-round draft picks’ contracts to veterans and player benefits. More than $525 million went to first-rounders in guaranteed payments in 2010. So nearly half of that total would wind up as veterans’ salary or benefits under the proposal, according to documents obtained by the AP.
Reported by the Associated Press
Fantasy Football Diehards Line:
The league’s offer would free more than $1.2 billion by 2016 and slow the growth rate of guaranteed payments to first-rounders, which the documents show increased by 233 percent since 2000. All contracts for first-round picks would become fixed at five years. Guaranteed money paid to top 10 selections since 2000 reached nearly $2 billion. Guaranteed payments for all first-rounders were at $3.5 billion. During talks for a new collective bargaining agreement, the league also proposed eliminating holdouts by reducing the maximum allowable salary if a rookie isn’t signed when training camp begins. The NFL also suggested eliminating holdouts for all veterans by prohibiting renegotiations of contracts if a player holds out in the preseason. Not surprisingly, several agents said the proposals place unfair limitations on players entering the league. We suspect veteran players would be more amenable to such a plan for the obvious reasons.
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