Owners, Players Targeting July 21 Ratification

[GMScud]

Originally Posted by Lotus

The article posted above claims that the rookie scale issue is not so much about money as it is about whether rookie contracts will be for four or five years.

Exactly right. The scale issue isn't directly about $, it's about contract length. The players have already agreed to cut rookie wages significantly, but they won't agree to a deal that doesn't allow young players to hit free agency after their fourth year. I think that's fair. If the average NFL career is only around three years, then why make them wait five?