Cash Rules Everything Around…the NFL

I want to run by some numbers for you guys

2009 - $78 million
2008 - $57.75 million
2007 - $68 million
2006 - $60 million
2005 - $49.5 million
2004 - $54 million
2003 - $49 million
2002 - $60 million
2001 - $62 million
2000 - $45 million
1999 - $48 million
1998 - $42.7 million
1997 - $25.6 million
1996 - $16.4 million
1995 - $19.2 million
1994 - $14.4 million

Now you’re probably wondering what this is all about right? Cream, cash, dough, money, cheddar, cake whatever you want to call it, that’s what the NFL is all about.

The preceding numbers were number one draft picks in the NFL and their long term contracts that they signed to their respective team. Now there’s something to be said about this, because these are long term, so they’re not making that amount in one year. They’re also not guaranteed that amount, so there are some players like Courtney Brown who only made $20 million out of the $45 million that he signed with the Browns. It’s such a horrible travesty to only make $20 million dollars from a team.

Looking at last year’s number one draft pick Matthew Stafford, he was guaranteed $41.7 million dollars over his six-year $78 million contract. So even if Stafford suffers a career ending injury (worst case scenario) he still makes $41.7 million. If he ends up being a bust for the Detroit Lions, he still makes $41.7 million.

Oh and I forgot to mention, he signed that lucrative deal with Detroit, one of the hardest hit cities and regions of this "recession". So I really hope St. Louis has their checkbook ready for their first pick because it might cost them up to $80 million (depending on the position they draft).

Take a close look at some of the draft picks and look at 1998. Do you know who was drafted in 1998? I do. His name was Peyton Manning and he may have changed how much number one overall draft picks are signed for. He signed for nearly $17 million dollars more overall than pro bowler Orlando Pace and $31.5 million more than hall of fame QB Troy Aikman got just 10 years prior.

In fact one of Manning’s back-up QBs Jim Sorgi made $1.6 million last year as part of his contract with the Colts. Sorgi doesn’t really have to do much, as Manning is rarely injured or pulled from a game. I’m not sure who the holder is for place kicking, but I don’t think a holder is worth $1.6 million.

My point to all of this is that since Manning’s contract in 1999, every number one draft pick has been getting paid as if they are just as good as Manning, or better. Manning is an elite QB, and players like Michael Vick, David Carr, Alex Smith, JaMarcus Russell, and even Stafford do not fit that kind of bill. Just because they get paid like or better than Manning did, doesn't make them better players.

Doctors, physicians, and practitioners only dream to make seven figures in a year, and guys like Sorgi and back-up caliber players around the league make seven figures easily.

Does anyone else see anything wrong with this? I most certainly do. I’m not saying Manning is to blame for this, because he’s certainly worth the money that the Colts have invested in him and how much he gives back to the community. But this has spiraled out of control.

Number one draft picks are going to expect at least $60 million or they might even hold out until the next year’s draft. This epidemic speaks volumes because people who get drafted in the first round will expect more money than they’ve probably seen in their entire lives, and yet you’ll get hold-outs because they want more money than what they’re offered.

$10 million dollars is just not enough money for five years ($2 million each year), I know I couldn’t live off that. After I buy a new Benz for each one of my relatives and get a brand new house (and you know, I can’t live in a regular $70,000 - $100,000 house, I have to get a mansion because I got money). Yeah, $2 million a year is just not enough.

I’m not saying that NFL players shouldn’t make seven figures, because that’d be asking way too much from the league and players association. But NFL players do not need eight figure salaries, except to adapt to the fast lifestyle of being a franchise player. And who’s to decide what you have to have as far as possessions as a franchise player? Do you have to have a pimped out ride, mansion of a house with in home bowling ally, etc.?

Or is it possible, again hypothetically speaking, that you could live within your means and invest your money into your retirement, your future and your kids futures? Invest in schools in your neighborhood and help the community grow. Is it possible to do that?

And it’s not just the players that are to blame here. Agents also get a little bit of that cheddar too, and they typically want the players (or as they call them their "clients") to get the biggest salaries they can get so that the agent gets paid his/her top dollar.

All this talk about money makes me want to play for NFL scouts. I could be a fourth string QB somewhere. I just want $200,000 over 6 years, that’s all. That’s only about $33,333 a year. I’ve got the skills to be a fourth stringer, anyone in need of a serviceable fourth string QB? I need to pay some bills! And I'll be my own agent.