This is a place for everyone to post your thoughts. From the profane to the insane, let no subject be untouched.
I know that we're all upset about the potential T.O. signing, but realistically I think the masses may be a little bit off. Don't get me wrong, I can't T.O. as much as anyone, however, and I think Seinfeld said it best, we're all just cheering for laundry. I remember when Dallas signed Deion and I hated the prospect of him coming to Dallas (this by the way is in no way intended to be a comparison between T.O. and Deion, but at the time I didn't like him at all) and it soured me on the Cowboys in general. But after the Cowboys won the Superbowl, what did I care, I was cheering for the laundry and not the players per se. Since Parcells' second year I haven't liked him at all, he seems to be just an average coach or rather, I don't know what makes him so great. I can't wait for the day that someone else comes into to town with some different ideas, but despite my dislike for him, I'm not going to stop cheering, it's a part of the game. It's also a pretty good reason why we should all be saving our duckets so that we can purchase the Cowboys in 20 years. By that time Stephen and Jr. will have completely run the team into the ground.
— In cap related news, Fox’ Jay Glazer reports that some team reps claim they’ve been kept in the dark on certain details of recent negotiations. This does not mean the players will cave on their bargaining position, but this is something NFLPA chief Gene Upshaw should address post haste if he wants to drive a hard bargain.
The union is asking for 60% of total revenues while the owners are offering 56.2%. This is a major, though not the sole obstacle to a new deal. The commissioner and owners claim the union is “overreaching” in its demands. I’ve seen similar complaints on this blog. However, this article states that in 2004, the salary cap represented 65% of defined league revenue.
And there’s the key term — defined league revenue. Under the current system, roughly $2 billion of the league’s $5.2 billion dollar pie is unshared. And this, as we have seen, is the issue tearing everybody apart. The new CBA was to have moved this $2 billion into the league’s equation — the union had managed to change the language to “total league revenue” meaning streams like luxury boxes, stadium naming rights fees and the like would be apportioned equally. In this context, it appears that the players will settle for a percentage halfway between the current 65% and the 56% the owners are offering.
In essense, there is roughly 40% of total league revenue that is not apportioned equally. The bigger market teams responsible for generating that revenue want to retain as much of it as possible. The NFLPA, according to this story, is trying to bargain in effect for itself and on behalf of some small market teams, with the claim of preserving competitive balance. We have not heard much on this but some owners felt the union should not involve itself in the owners internal business. The unanimous vote today to reject the union’s latest proposal shows that at least the owners agree on this.
Unfortunately, that appears to be all they agree upon."
And the Redskins are in cap trouble:
"The Washington Post today confirms what other reports have claimed — unless a new collective bargaining agreement is reached soon, the Redskins will be in salary cap purgatory.
The team is roughly $20 million over the anticipated $92 to 95 million cap. It is expected to release S Matt Bowen, CB Walt Harris, DT Brandon Noble, C Cory Raymer and K John Hall. WRs James Thrash and Taylor Jacobs and DE Reynaldo Wynn may also have to be cut.
Those moves would still leave Washington well over the cap limit. The team is trying to trade QB Patrick Ramsey to gain more cap relief. It will also have to rework the deals of RT Jon Jansen, OG Randy Thomas and QB Mark Brunell to get under the limit.
In many ways, the Redskins dilemma demonstrates the problems associated with trying to build a team through free agency. Of these players on the bubble Thomas, Brunell, Hall, Wynn, Thrash, Noble and Harris are all recent free agent signings."
