Rookie contracts too much?

[ArtMonkDrillz]

I don't see how this problem can be fixed. If I'm the #1 overall pick next year (crossing my fingers) why would I sign a contract that's lease than the one that Russell signs this year? I know he signed one that was bigger than Mario Williams', who in turned signed one that was bigger than Smith's. I also know that the cap goes up from year to year and that the trend is that each year the picks make a little more than the previous year.

If you try to make to the contracts smaller you're just going to get more and more holdouts.

[BeastsoftheNFCeast]

Originally Posted by ArtMonkDrillz

I don't see how this problem can be fixed. If I'm the #1 overall pick next year (crossing my fingers) why would I sign a contract that's lease than the one that Russell signs this year? I know he signed one that was bigger than Mario Williams', who in turned signed one that was bigger than Smith's. I also know that the cap goes up from year to year and that the trend is that each year the picks make a little more than the previous year.

If you try to make to the contracts smaller you're just going to get more and more holdouts.

You are right, no one would sign a smaller contract than the previous year, which is exactly why the league must get involved in this. Teams dont choose what to pay their pick, they may not want to pay anyone in that draft that type of money, but they have to because of their draft pick. The league should put restrictions on rookie contracts that allow for preformance insentives incase the rookie turns out to be real good.

[SC Skins Fan]

For the most part I'd say the NBA is not the league you want to pattern yourself after, but their rookie salary slotting does make a lot of sense for the NFL. Basically your rookie contract is already laid out when you enter the league and is (I think) like a 3 year deal. One obstacle might come from the NFLPA, but obviously the members there are veterans and presumably most would not mind taking money from rookies that could then be allocated to veterans who have already proven their worth. It would also allow NFL rookies to make it to their second contract more quickly and, if they have proven themselves, to get a big payday. Really the people this would effect would only be the first round picks and even then mostly those chosen in the top 10-15 picks. Sensible idea and I could see it happening at some point if the NFLPA and ownership could come together on something.