Interesting tidbit from PFT about Jeff Kessler, NFLPA Outside Attorney

[Rob0729]

Florio had Daniel Kaplan from the Sportsbusiness Journal on his radio program and Kaplan said that Jeff Kessler, the NFLPA outside attorney, has been fighting to get rid of the draft, salary cap, and free agency system and go to a pure free market system since Gene Upshaw was NFLPA president and Upshaw basically had to reign him in. Hopefully, DeMaurice Smith is smart enough to reign him in.

Florio is correct to assess that it would be horrible for most of the players in the league while great for the superstars. Yes the Tom Bradys of the league will make $100 million a year, but the Brian Hoyers of the league will likely make $30-50k. Especially the guys who aren't activated for games and are primarily used as scout team players, there isn't a pressing need for the owners to pay anything for these guys.

No matter which side of the argument you are on, you gotta be wonder if Smith will be smart enough to be like Upshaw and reign the guy in before his push to gain leverage on the owners backfires or stupid enough to screw over most of the players completely by pushing for a free market system. The only people who win in that type of system are big market owners and the top talent in the league. Small market owners and back ups get screwed big time in that system.

Pondering a future without the NFL Draft | ProFootballTalk

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

It's been well said here before but players should be careful what they wish for as they might just get it... and the consequences. A league dominated by Paul Allen, Jerry Jones and the idiot in DC would suck for us Pats fans since Kraft has stated "Homie doan play dat tune" in regard to a league without a cap. Imagine all the key players opting to sign with warm climate teams. And 10 or so teams going belly up.

 

[Rob0729]

It's been well said here before but players should be careful what they wish for as they might just get it... and the consequences. A league dominated by Paul Allen, Jerry Jones and the idiot in DC would suck for us Pats fans since Kraft has stated "Homie doan play dat tune" in regard to a league without a cap. Imagine all the key players opting to sign with warm climate teams. And 10 or so teams going belly up.

Kraft has said that in an uncapped NFL, the Patriots would do very well. He has walked the company line in terms of not overspending in an uncapped year with CBA talks continuing to talk, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't spend if the NFL became a permanent free market system.

Don't forget in a pure free market system, the Patriots would probably make much more money assuming the system doesn't kill the NFL. The Pats make far more than most teams in marketing revenue (which most of which they share with the rest of the league) and they make more with ticket sales. Kraft also knows that to keep the gravy train running, the Pats have to remain a contender. The Pats would become the Red Sox in terms of spending where the more they spend, the more they make. Kraft is a smart guy and know in a pure free market system, he will have to spend.

I don't know if the weather will be a factor in many players' decision unless the offers are similiar, but that is the same now in free agency. I think it will all come down to dollars and cents. The teams that have money will get the players and the teams that don't won't. The Pats have the money and will spend although Snyder and Jones might spend crazy money to chase a title. But in football, the most talented team doesn't always win. Granted there will be teams like the Pirates in MLB that entire payroll is lower than the highest paid player's salary and those teams won't have a chance to win a Super Bowl.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Kraft has said that in an uncapped NFL, the Patriots would do very well. He has walked the company line in terms of not overspending in an uncapped year with CBA talks continuing to talk, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't spend if the NFL became a permanent free market system.

Don't forget in a pure free market system, the Patriots would probably make much more money assuming the system doesn't kill the NFL. The Pats make far more than most teams in marketing revenue (which most of which they share with the rest of the league) and they make more with ticket sales. Kraft also knows that to keep the gravy train running, the Pats have to remain a contender. The Pats would become the Red Sox in terms of spending where the more they spend, the more they make. Kraft is a smart guy and know in a pure free market system, he will have to spend.

I don't know if the weather will be a factor in many players' decision unless the offers are similiar, but that is the same now in free agency. I think it will all come down to dollars and cents. The teams that have money will get the players and the teams that don't won't. The Pats have the money and will spend although Snyder and Jones might spend crazy money to chase a title. But in football, the most talented team doesn't always win. Granted there will be teams like the Pirates in MLB that entire payroll is lower than the highest paid player's salary and those teams won't have a chance to win a Super Bowl.

OTOH, he's also said that the salary cap and the lack of said "arms race" was a positive in terms of buying the team in teh first place. . . .

 

[TheComeback]

Yeah, that would be a terrible deal for most players. Might work out great for the agents, but you'd have to call De nothing less than a failure if he allows this to happen.

Reminds me of the aviation industry. There's a huge oversupply of pilots, so contrary to popular belief most of those guys start off making $19k-$20k as a first officer at a regional carrier and never break $40k their entire careers (new first officers at major airlines such as Delta only make $33k). Then there are a very small number of senior captains who make huge salaries, upwards of $150k even though they're sitting next to a guy making 1/4th the money, and those are the ones you hear about in the news.

The airlines simply don't have to pay them because there are a dozen guys in line who will do almost anything, literally to get paid to fly. You're talking about guys who pay upwards of $30,000 for training out of pocket, and that won't even guarantee them a job (far from it actually).

It'd be no different, and possibly even worse for NFL players. Teams wouldn't have any problem finding people wanting to play in the NFL, so they could pay lower-end guys pretty much whatever they felt like without a huge drop in talent (only 1% of college players make it to the pros--you have to imagine that out of that other 99%, there are tons of guys who could make it as bottom of the roster types in the NFL).

Simple supply and demand.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Kraft is a good businessman, in a chaotic league with teams going under, no draft keeping minimal fiscal sanity bidding for new players and complete free agency like MLB he'd have far less control over his costs and would face multi-billionairs who could care less about costs or the league as a whole. Not a good scenario.

 

[Triumph]

OTOH, he's also said that the salary cap and the lack of said "arms race" was a positive in terms of buying the team in teh first place. . . .

Right

All 32 owners opted out of the current cba because they want a new cba. There is going to be a salary cap. We saw what happened with an uncapped season.

 

[Gwedd]

Kraft is a good businessman, in a chaotic league with teams going under, no draft keeping minimal fiscal sanity bidding for new players and complete free agency like MLB he'd have far less control over his costs and would face multi-billionairs who could care less about costs or the league as a whole. Not a good scenario.

And Kraft might also be in a position to leverage that sort of a situation. I can see him forming a holding company to buy up teams at financial risk. With enough, he could start his own league

 

[lamafist]

Personally, I think an NFL with a cap but no draft would be by far the best outcome for the NFL, and a win-win for owners and players alike. I think this is almost inarguably preferable to an NFL with a draft but no cap.

 

[JoeSixPat]

Kraft has said that in an uncapped NFL, the Patriots would do very well.

He has to say that.

Especially if he doesn't believe it.

But he and all of us know that the Patriots will always be competitive as long as they have Belichick and Brady.

The question is, whether its an advantage for them - and I wouldn't say it gives them an advantage.

 

[Rob0729]

Personally, I think an NFL with a cap but no draft would be by far the best outcome for the NFL, and a win-win for owners and players alike. I think this is almost inarguably preferable to an NFL with a draft but no cap.

I think you are wrong. A draft is great for the NFL and any sport (that is why all the major sports do it).

First, it helps create parity which helps keep the popularity. With no draft, a lot of the best talent will not want to go to the worst teams. One of the biggest agendas a rookie has early in his career is to show his talent to cash in on his first free agent contract. If you are a WR, would you want to go to a team with no QB? If you are a QB, would you want to go to a team where the coach is on the hotseat and after learning a system for a year or two, you have to learn another one? It will keep bad teams bad forever.

Second, the draft is a huge revenue generator for the league which benefits both the owners and the players. Why do you think Goodell moved the draft to primetime and spreaded it over three days? It is the second most watched event in the NFL after the Super Bowl year after year. By making rookies free agents right off the bat, that would be a huge revenue stream for the NFL lost. Lose-lose for both sides.

Third, it helps to make the NFL a yearlong sport for the fans. Fans read up on the prospects, study mock drafts, watch endless hours of NFL Network and ESPN learning about the prospects and listening to the rumors of who the teams might be interested in (all this generates more revenue for the owners and players). Many fans have draft parties that rival Super Bowl parties. By just having a draft free agency, it would be like the regular free agency where there will be a lot of interest for a very short period of time, but no event to tie it to and after the top players signed players getting signed in dribs and drabs over the course of a few months.

The draft is a huge part of what the NFL is and it would be hurt if it went away.

 

[townes]

Personally, I think an NFL with a cap but no draft would be by far the best outcome for the NFL, and a win-win for owners and players alike. I think this is almost inarguably preferable to an NFL with a draft but no cap.

I think the draft really keeps fans invested and with free agency has created a real hot stove season that keeps the league, teams, and players in the news year round. Killing off these systems would create an actual "free market" in football but imo would work against the overall interest in and good of the game as a whole. Speaking personally i know my interest was fueled heavily by the draft and free agency as building a team has always been the most interesting aspect of football to me, and a league without those systems would lose my interest fairly quickly. I would still watch the games for awhile but my interest in the game would dwindle to that of baseball, hockey etc....., simply catching them when they are on with very little investment in them. (As opposed to now, when i generally don't work when the Patriots are on.) Keeping the structure in place can benefit the players but the owners need to realize that they need it much more than the players do. Player careers are short and they can weather the losses short term as long as they are still getting checks, but teams and the league would lose significantly over time as interest wouldn't be as consistently stoked as it is now.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

While Kraft may have said the Patriots would do well without a salary cap short term, as in navigating the final uncapped season that an expiring CBA resulted in, he is also on record saying he has no interest in operating a franchise absent player cost certainty long term. That is what has kept him from investing in international soccer. I think it's entirely possible that if the situation goes the way Kessler has dreamed the Kraft family will be out of the business of football along with their HC and QB within the decade.

This really is a case of being careful what you wish for. Albert Breer just posted an article touching on that possibility. While fans may feel an injunction simply gets them football back sooner than later, what it actually gets them is back long term is something else altogether. It gets them protracted court battles. Or it gets them MLB or the NBA, two leagues whose success and popularity over the last 2 decades pales in comparison and who face work stoppages of their own going forward as a result. Not to mention two leagues whose product is very different, far more skill oriented, far more dependent on elite talent dominating rosters that are a fraction of those required in a team oriented, coaching and execution dependent, physically violent sport. Just wait until the haves find themselves in the same boat a couple of the haves have already found themselves barely able to keep afloat with grossly overpaid and underperforming or unaccountable talent dragging them into the abyss via guaranteed contracts. Lets face it, would you put your future health and wellbeing on the line once in possession of nine figures guaranteed?? Let the scrubs making five and six figures play the fool.

Fans will be left crying in their beer, if they can still afford beer as player costs skyrocket due to potential top tier demands out of the gate while the product performance on the field flounders. Think watching the pro bowl every Sunday only devoid of talent depth. But that's OK because they'll have increasing numbers of unemployed veteran football players to commiserate with...

And remember, while the NFLPA* has contended it is perfectly fine continuing to play under the existing rules, the disingenuous bastards had already filed collusion charges because they didn't see the contracts they envisioned coming out of the uncapped year. So just be sure you don't going looking to blame the owners for the mess you wished for. Most of them will be egotistical and increasingly foriegn billionaires jocksniffers you've never heard of anyway.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

This! 10 characters

 

[peterforpats]

Kraft is a good businessman, in a chaotic league with teams going under, no draft keeping minimal fiscal sanity bidding for new players and complete free agency like MLB he'd have far less control over his costs and would face multi-billionairs who could care less about costs or the league as a whole. Not a good scenario.

are you serious? these same owners who opted out of the cba because they weren't satisfied with their profits would now overspend to win at all costs? if they don't care about costs why not agree to the union proposal now?

 

[DEVIOUS 1]

Personally, I think an NFL with a cap but no draft would be by far the best outcome for the NFL, and a win-win for owners and players alike. I think this is almost inarguably preferable to an NFL with a draft but no cap.

Thats ridiculous.

The draft is very popular, and a big win for the NFL, and most importantly, it's fans.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

are you serious? these same owners who opted out of the cba because they weren't satisfied with their profits would now overspend to win at all costs? if they don't care about costs why not agree to the union proposal now?

Because ownership that doesn't spend because it's not satisfied with profits would be setting itself up to face collusion charges annually. Just like they are presently facing based on spending in the 2010 uncapped season.

Wouldn't be the same owners, peter. Lots of have not franchises would begin to change hands as the old school family ownerships not to mention the astute businessmen like Kraft opted out in favor of the jock sniffing hobby owner with umlimited personal resources (picture several more Jerry Jones' and Dan Snyder's and Paul Allen's only with names like Cuban and even Prokhorov) took their place. A combination of absentee foreign investor owners looking for RE and media development footholds tied to stadium expansion and relocation and wacko defacto GM's living out their fantasies at fans expense).

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

are you serious? these same owners who opted out of the cba because they weren't satisfied with their profits would now overspend to win at all costs? if they don't care about costs why not agree to the union proposal now?

As I'd said previously a few multi-billionaires are all it takes to create an MLB style mess where they (not most of the 32) spend big bucks in a quest for Lombardis. The sensible businessmen walk away from such scenarios and the poor businessmen lose their franchises.

 

[townes]

While Kraft may have said the Patriots would do well without a salary cap short term, as in navigating the final uncapped season that an expiring CBA resulted in, he is also on record saying he has no interest in operating a franchise absent player cost certainty long term. That is what has kept him from investing in international soccer. I think it's entirely possible that if the situation goes the way Kessler has dreamed the Kraft family will be out of the business of football along with their HC and QB within the decade.

This really is a case of being careful what you wish for. Albert Breer just posted an article touching on that possibility. While fans may feel an injunction simply gets them football back sooner than later, what it actually gets them is back long term is something else altogether. It gets them protracted court battles. Or it gets them MLB or the NBA, two leagues whose success and popularity over the last 2 decades pales in comparison and who face work stoppages of their own going forward as a result. Not to mention two leagues whose product is very different, far more skill oriented, far more dependent on elite talent dominating rosters that are a fraction of those required in a team oriented, coaching and execution dependent, physically violent sport. Just wait until the haves find themselves in the same boat a couple of the haves have already found themselves barely able to keep afloat with grossly overpaid and underperforming or unaccountable talent dragging them into the abyss via guaranteed contracts. Lets face it, would you put your future health and wellbeing on the line once in possession of nine figures guaranteed?? Let the scrubs making five and six figures play the fool.

Fans will be left crying in their beer, if they can still afford beer as player costs skyrocket due to potential top tier demands out of the gate while the product performance on the field flounders. Think watching the pro bowl every Sunday only devoid of talent depth. But that's OK because they'll have increasing numbers of unemployed veteran football players to commiserate with...

And remember, while the NFLPA* has contended it is perfectly fine continuing to play under the existing rules, the disingenuous bastards had already filed collusion charges because they didn't see the contracts they envisioned coming out of the uncapped year. So just be sure you don't going looking to blame the owners for the mess you wished for. Most of them will be egotistical and increasingly foriegn billionaires jocksniffers you've never heard of anyway.

The players have always been willing to play under those systems and there is no factual evidence they would refuse to do so. You can keep making up scenarios that demonize the players, even though they aren't the ones who haven't proven untrustworthy, but all it shows is how biased you are in favor of ownership. The owners caused this situation and they are the ones to blame, not the player's. I guess the owners should have spent their time trying to create a fair CBA instead of gearing up to crush them in a money grab.

 

[RussFrancis]

Its such a complete waste of time and breath to talk about the NFL without a draft. I dont care what Kessler wants. It's never happening.