It's time for the NFL to put an end to this.

[CardShark]

The league has let this get out of hand. They need to put restrictions on when a team and its players can renegotiate. My suggestion would be from the end of the season heading into the final season of the contract until the trading deadline of the final year of the contract.

I, for one, am fed up. As much as I like Boldin, it comes back to the fact that he was okay signing the contract at the time and his agent let him do it. The same goes for Dockett. The team didn't get to penalize them when they had bad games such as in New England. Their contract protects them. Of course there will be some dillweed that says, "well the team can cut them". They can if they were petty enough and were willing to have all of their signing bonuses accelerated against the cap. A team won't do that with its good players.

I truly believe this is more about Rosenass telling his clients to demand more. Again the dillweeds will say that this is a good agent looking out for the best interest of his clients. POPPYCOCK! It's Rosenass looking out for himself. The more he gets them, the more he gets. He couldn't care less if his player ends up in a worse situation as long as he can see money coming in. If the Cardinals ended up trading Boldin to the Raiders or the Lions, do you think he'll advise Boldin that he's in a worse situation? Not on your life. He'll push for that team to restructure his contract and then he'll be pushing for a trade the following season. At which point he'll push for a new contract once again.

Another facet that has to stop? The backloaded contracts. It inflates the value of this type of contract and the player will in all likelihood never see it unless they work out a new contract, but the agent turns around and says "Look what I did for my client!". That starts the feeding frenzy.

When it comes right down to it, I wish all of the positions were wage structured according to position and 1st, 2nd and special teams. The only fluctuation would be in signing bonuses, but even they would be capped based on the number of years in the contract.

I don't know if I'm making a good case here, because I just got off work and I'm tired.

 

[DoTheDew]

The problem is, there are times when a team WANTS to renegotiate early on in a contract (like we did with Boldin and Dockett originally). If you put restrictions on it you may be punishing teams more than helping them.

If we had to wait until say the last year of Boldin's deal, he likely would have got an even larger contract than what we gave him. This in turn would have meant less cap space and a different roster last year as a result. Which in turn means likely no Superbowl run.

I think a better solution would be if a player does anything which can damage the reputation of his current team in the public like this he and his agent should both be fined, suspended or in some other way punished. This will make the Rosenhaus players think twice about lashing out at their respective teams.

 

[RASTA14]

is their serious talk about capping these ridiculous rookie contracts anytime soon?

 

[Unsterblich856]

is their serious talk about capping these ridiculous rookie contracts anytime soon?

Goodell wants one and the vets want one, so I assume that a rookie cap will be implemented within a couple seasons. The problem is the damage has already been done and the cap will go out the window next year.

 

[lauraw]

I agree with you all!!

 

[Dayman]

I believe the Steelers' philosophy is the most successful approach. Of course, you need a lot of success to make it effective, but I don't think it's too early to install the groundwork. Sando's written a few articles on the subject, including this one that includes an interview with Kevin Colbert, the Steelers' Director of Football Operations.

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/nfcwest/0-8-193/Cardinals-could-draw-from-Steelers--policy.html

Colbert: "It's something that we're very consistent with and it eliminates any kind of potential problem because you've been consistent with guys who have been big parts of your success. They all wait their turn. They understand that. They don't even try to test that for the most part.​

"James [Harrison] understood that. Our players know that policy. Right, wrong or indifferent, it works for us and it works for them. They accept that. They know there is no reason to try to change that because it's not going to change anytime soon.
​

"I think most of the players want to stay here if they can. Most players don't want to leave when you have had success."
​

 

[CardShark]

The problem is, there are times when a team WANTS to renegotiate early on in a contract (like we did with Boldin and Dockett originally). If you put restrictions on it you may be punishing teams more than helping them.

If we had to wait until say the last year of Boldin's deal, he likely would have got an even larger contract than what we gave him. This in turn would have meant less cap space and a different roster last year as a result. Which in turn means likely no Superbowl run.

I think a better solution would be if a player does anything which can damage the reputation of his current team in the public like this he and his agent should both be fined, suspended or in some other way punished. This will make the Rosenhaus players think twice about lashing out at their respective teams.

The only reason they worked out new contracts was because they failed to sign free agents that Graves said they would be signing. They were extending just about everyone back then. I just think if the NFL structured it, then we wouldn't have holdouts anymore. Both team and player would know when the window is to talk.

Another thing I would get rid of is the franchise tag as it is. Maybe something like this:
In order for a team to be allowed to exercise this rule they would have to have a standing offer on the table prior to the player becoming a free agent.

When a starting player enters free agency and comes to terms with a new team, his previous team will be given the opportunity to match the offer, but the player will be allowed to choose the team he wants to play for. If he chooses the new team, then his previous team will be awarded that teams first round pick in the next draft. If the original team decides not to match the new offer then it will be awarded a compensatory pick at the end of the round that the player was originally drafted.

This rule would not fall upon one chosen player, but upon all of a teams starting players that enter free agency as long as they have been tendered an offer prior to becoming free agents.