agreement NFL players and owners signed at the end of the lockout in 2011 C. J. Prosise Color Rush Jersey , there will certainly be a lot of debate over the next couple of years regarding which side got the better deal. Beyond that, there is likely to be significant debate about whether or not we as fans will get to watch NFL football in 2021 or whether the league will have its first work stoppage since the Reagan administration if one of the sides proves determined to dig in. In any case, as the salary cap has continued to grow in recent seasons, largely as a result of the phenomenal job Roger Goodell has done in continuing to build new and expand on existing revenue streams, the current CBA has led to several direct changes that have gone largely unnoticed. Obviously, most fans are happy that the rookie wage scale is in place, because it has eliminated the stupidity of contracts given to draft picks at the top of the first round. Just a few examples of some of those less than ideal contracts are listed below: JaMarcus Russell, QB Oakland Raiders, 6-year, $68M with $32M guaranteed,Aaron Curry, LB Seattle Seahawks, 6-year, $60M with $34M guaranteed, Sam Bradford, QB St. Louis Rams, 6-year, $78M with $50M guaranteed, Jason Smith, T St. Louis Rams, 6-year, $61M with $32M guaranteed, Mark Sanchez, QB New York Jets, 5-year, $50M with $28M guaranteed, Darren McFadden, RB Oakland Raiders, 6-year, $60M with $26M guaranteed, Vernon Gholston, DE New York Jets Tre Madden Color Rush Jersey , 5 Year, $32M with $21M guaranteed.Fans of the Seahawks are obviously familiar with the name Aaron Curry, while Sam Bradford has become the poster boy for players who have made tens of millions of dollars while doing next to nothing on the field. However, Vernon Gholston remains one of my favorite draft busts of all time. After recording 22.5 sacks over his final two seasons at Ohio State University, he decided to forego his remaining eligibility and enter the 2008 NFL Draft. He tested phenomenally at the combine, putting up 37 reps on the bench press and running the 40 in 4.58 seconds. For those who were a part of the discussion on Cliff Avril’s ten yard split in the 40 at the 2008 combine, Gholston was another of those players whose ten yard split was suspiciously fast that year. Specifically, Gholston was clocked at 1.53 in the 10 yard split, which is fast than either Paul Richardson or Tyler Lockett, in spite of weighing eighty pounds more than either of those two speedy Seattle receivers. In any case, Gholston was horrible during his three seasons in the NFL, and by horrible I mean he not only failed to record a single sack during his three years with the Jets, he recorded just two quarterback hits and 17 pressures over the course of three seasons. Just to put that in perspective, that’s fewer sacks, fewer hits and the same number of pressures as Dion Jordan’s injury shortened and ineffective 2018 season. Moving back to the 2011 CBA, however, the purpose of the rookie wage scale was obviously to move some of the money the league allocates for the players from rookies just as JaMarcus Russell and Aaron Curry to the veteran players who were good enough to contribute but not good enough to land massive contracts. The idea was that if teams weren’t forced to pay rookies exorbitant amounts, there would be more money for the veterans. Well, that hasn’t exactly happened. What has happened is the exact opposite, as the rookie wage scale has helped contribute to players having shorter careers as teams choose to keep cost-controlled younger players around rather than sign aging and expensive veterans. This short video does a great job of explaining a small piece of this. So, what has happened is that rather than the rookie wage scale moving money from young players to veterans, it has moved money from veterans to rookies, with the difference being funneled to a handful of players, most notably pass rushers and quarterbacks. To be able to afford the record contracts that are going to players like Aaron Rodgers, Matt Ryan and Jimmy Garoppolo, many teams have moved to eliminate the middle class. They have rosters constructed of players making very good money and then huge portions of the roster filled with rookies on cost effective first contracts. In addition, what is not shown is that this shortening of the average career of NFL players may have a significant negative impact on the future for players. In order for NFL players to earn their retirement benefits based on the number of credited seasons they accrue during their playing career. With the average career being shortened, it is possible that the future obligations of the league (and by league I mean the teams and owners) could be decreased. Thus, instead of acting to shift money from rookies to veterans, the rookie wage scale may have had the dual effects of shifting money from mid-tier veterans to younger players while simultaneously reducing the number of players collecting retirement benefits in the future. Obviously, without more details than what is provided in that short clip it is impossible to perform the calculations necessary to determine this, however Kam Chancellor Color Rush Jersey , this could be one of those hidden areas where players lost out to owners yet again as a result of improper accounting assumptions while calculating future obligations. In any case, with the offseason upon us, and no meaningful football between now and July, we will be covering a lot of ground regarding the CBA and the potential for a lockout or strike prior to the 2021 season. Obviously we’ve got free agency (starting March 13) and the draft (April 25-27) to tide us through, but it’s time to start hunkering down for the long offseason. SEATTLE (AP) — Earl Thomas‘ issues with the Seattle Seahawks front office aren’t going away, even as he continues to play like one of the best safeties in the NFL.How much longer the Seahawks are willing to put up with an unhappy star is now the big question.After a few days of uncertainty, Thomas was on the field Sunday creating problems for opponents in Seattle’s 24-13 win over the Dallas Cowboys. In what he acknowledged could end up being his last game in Seattle, Thomas had two interceptions and tied for a team high with seven tackles.“I don’t know if it was,” Thomas said, “but I had a damn good time and I’ll go out like that if I have to.”His displeasure with his situation in Seattle remains evident. Thomas’ holdout from Seattle’s offseason program and training camp didn’t result in a contract extension or a trade. He’s now banking that skipping two days of practice this past week — and then playing great Sunday — may finally force Seattle’s hand to make some sort of move, either offering him a long-term contract extension or sending him to another team that might be willing to secure his future beyond this season.“I love Seattle,” Thomas said. “My family is here. I’m hopeful these guys will call my agent and we’ll work something out. I want to be taken care of.”Since he reported on the Wednesday before the season opener, Thomas had not taken any overt actions to express his displeasure with his contract situation, a deal with Seattle that expires after this season. That changed this week when he sat out practices Wednesday and Friday without any injury designation. Seattle coach Pete Carroll said Friday that Thomas missed the practices for personal reasons and was not injury related.Thomas said Sunday he sat out because he’s “invested in myself.”“If they were invested in me, I’d be out there practicing, but if I feel like anything — I don’t give a damn if it’s small, I got a headache — I’m not practicing,” Thomas said.Carroll offered no explanations for the situation.“Really, I haven’t even talked to him about it other than we made it through and we talk next week,” Carroll said. “There’s nothing even to really tell you about it. I’ll let you know next week.”Thomas said he understood that decision would likely come with some financial repercussions — from the Seahawks.“They definitely gonna tax me,” Thomas said. “I’m sure I’ll have a slip in my locker.”Thomas’ absence from practice — or the lingering uncertainty about his future — didn’t seem to bother his teammates.“He keeps playing like greatness, he’s playing like he deserves one of those yellow jackets,” defensive end Frank Clark said. “At the end of the day, that’s Earl. Earl is going to do Earl. I think we all know that. Everybody is panicking and wondering where Earl is at, but I’m sure he’s getting better somewhere in his little cave or something.”Thomas’ first interception came in the first quarter after he pinned a deflected pass against his shin and kept it from hitting the turf. His second pick also came off a deflection and stopped a drive by Dallas deep in Seattle territory in the fourth quarter. After the second interception, Thomas turned to Dallas’ sideline and bowed.Thomas has never hid his desire to one day play for the Cowboys and last year after the Seahawks won in Dallas, Thomas made the odd move of running into the Cowboys’ locker room to give a message to coach Jason Garrett: “If they kick me to the curb, come get me.”It was the second time in his career Thomas had two interceptions in a game, and the bow was a bit of a shot at Dallas for not getting a deal done.“I felt like that was just in the moment and if they were going to trade for me and extend me, they should have did it,” Thomas said of his gesture that drew a 15-yard penalty.
