Never realized Adalius had such a big mouth

[apple strudel]

You are all missing the point that the salary cap is based on revenue. If the revenue for the league goes up (tickets, TV, etc.), then the players get their cut of that revenue increase in the form of a greater salary cap. You can agree with AD about a number of things, but his contention that player salary is not determined by the revenue from a 20 game season (preseason + regular) is just flat out incorrect.

You have to adjust existing contracts, in a way that the union agrees to. Good luck with that.

 

[ScottieC]

While I agree with most everything he said, I wish that a Patriot had not been the one to have been quoted saying it.

It is what it is.

The Jason Taylor and Brady stuff - AD, shut up about that, Please.

 

[smg93]

Disagree, he sounds like a guy who doesn't give things up for free. It's entirely irrelevant how a person sounds except on talk radio, let's stick to analyzing his argument.

Well excuse me for offering an opinion...

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

I support the essence of AD's comments about a longer season.

Sadly, now all the folks here who felt that Vrabes was 'traded' because he spoke out on league money issues will now color AD gone.

 

[fgssand]

Gotta love AD..........he was dead nuts on, especially about beer & pay for more play.

His line about Brady & models was great and if only "Now we’re going to have two,” can come true.I'd be a happy guy.

 

[apple strudel]

Well excuse me for offering an opinion...

Not trying to attack you or anything, it's just that it's not fair to the guy making the point when you criticize not the point itself, but the clothes the guy was wearing when he made it. It doesn't really advance the conversation if we're trying to establish the truthfulness of his claim, see what I mean?

 

[Metaphors]

You have to adjust existing contracts, in a way that the union agrees to. Good luck with that.

Agree, but AD's main point was that the players are paid differently in the preseason vs. the regular season. Totally bogus. The players are paid a percentage of gross revenue. Preseason games are counted in that calculation as would any games converted in an expanded regular season. The pot of money available to the players already takes into account the number of games.

Your point about adjusting the standard player contract to specify an 18 game regular season is well taken. Any time the owners want to change anything the players will want something in return. Players may want concessions to add more regular season games, but that wouldn't be salary-based. They certainly won't get more than 65% (or whatever) of revenue. They would have to look somewhere else.

 

[apple strudel]

The Jason Taylor and Brady stuff - AD, shut up about that, Please.

I thought it was funny. It's not like it's going to keep us from signing him or anything. What's the harm?

 

[mmasterkillah]

I agree with Adalius. Players already have shorter careers than ever before.

Instead of getting 20 weeks of watered-down football (too many penalties), give me 15 or 17 of real football.

No reason to add more weeks, this is all ridiculous.

 

[dhamz]

Thomas doesn't seem to understand how players are paid in the NFL. For him to get caught up on his preseason check not equaling his regular season check is a just showing that lack of understanding.

When Godell says the players are already paid for the whole season, he is actually right for once in his life. It is how the system is set up. A player isn't an independent contractor working for himself. He doesn't get a weekly paycheck with an hourly wage. He is a member of the NFLPA who collectively bargain their compensation as a whole.

The salary cap is set up so that the players get a % of the league's revenue. If the league goes to 18 games and their TV revenues go up accordinlgy, the salary cap goes up equivalent to the players share of the new revenue, and players get more $. Thomas himself may not make more but collectively the members of the NFLPA make significantly more.

 

[TheComeback]

Don't kid yourself. This isn't about health issues, it's about money.

You're right, and that's why Goodell is a scumbag. All of these rule changes aren't about protecting players; they're about protecting the owner's "investments." These new rules almost exclusively protect the offensive players and deliberately handcuff the defensive players--because high-scoring games get better ratings, and better ratings means more money for the NFL.

Goodell is a lying scumbag. He doesn't give a **** about player health. If he did, there wouldn't be any discussion of extending the season by two games. It's classic doublespeak.

That he thinks the players should get paid the same amount of money for more work and more injuries speaks to the kind of corrupt, greedy son of a ***** he is. He is showing the whole world that he has zero respect for his employees, the players.

These guys sacrifice their bodies for our entertainment, and they are also underpaid compared to their peers in the NBA and MLB. Screw Goodell. The players should have more say in who gets elected NFL Commissioner.

 

[dhamz]

The players should have more say in who gets elected NFL Commissioner.

Why should the players pick the owners representative? Do the owners then get to pick the head of the NFLPA?

 

[apple strudel]

Thomas doesn't seem to understand how players are paid in the NFL. For him to get caught up on his preseason check not equaling his regular season check is a just showing that lack of understanding.

When Godell says the players are already paid for the whole season, he is actually right for once in his life. It is how the system is set up. A player isn't an independent contractor working for himself. He doesn't get a weekly paycheck with an hourly wage. He is a member of the NFLPA who collectively bargain their compensation as a whole.

The salary cap is set up so that the players get a % of the league's revenue. If the league goes to 18 games and their TV revenues go up accordinlgy, the salary cap goes up equivalent to the players share of the new revenue, and players get more $. Thomas himself may not make more but collectively the members of the NFLPA make significantly more.

Not without a change to existing contracts, which are for 16 regular season games.

Hes also stating that teams charge full price for preseason games and concessions while the players get paid less weekly. In a league without guaranteed contracts if you are cut 4 games into preseason then you get less money than if you get cut 4 games into the regular season. I can see how the pay rate would be an issue.

 

[Wildo7]

Why should the players pick the owners representative? Do the owners then get to pick the head of the NFLPA?

The NFL commissioner is the owners representative? That's news to me.

 

[maverick4]

Goodell is a lying scumbag. He doesn't give a **** about player health. If he did, there wouldn't be any discussion of extending the season by two games. It's classic doublespeak.

The boy sheriff needs to be fired before he ruins the league more than he already has.

 

[dhamz]

The NFL commissioner is the owners representative? That's news to me.

If you don't think the main job of the commissioner in sports leagues is to be the voice for ownership and represent their interests then you haven't been paying attention for a long, long time.

 

[TheComeback]

Why should the players pick the owners representative? Do the owners then get to pick the head of the NFLPA?

Give me a break. The NFL Commissioner has too much of an impact on the players' careers for them not to have a say. Like those BS fines he's been levying on the players--it's yet another way for Goodell to save money and look good at the same time. A Commissioner ought to show more respect to these guys. I believe that as fellow human beings they deserve it.

Or maybe it's the owners who should care more for their players, and stop selecting guys who are just out to make billionaires even more money, all at the expense of their employees.

And who seriously believes these NFL teams need to be laying people off right now? The NFL is more popular and more profitable than it's ever been.

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

The NFL commissioner is the owners representative? That's news to me.

They hire him, they fire him. Who you think he answers to??? While in name he represents pro football, he is acutely aware of the owners' interest and represents it or he'll soon be out of a job...

 

[feldspar]

How can the league NOT pay the players more for a longer season? There's an increased injury risk for one thing. Good for AD. GODell can't expect more and not expect to have to pay for it seeing as the league's income will increase as well. I'm against lengthening the season anyway, plus imho GODell walks on the shady side of the street when it benefits him to do so.

Like Goodell and others here have said, the total revenue of the NFL is calculated into a player's pay. That includes preseason games, the money of which the players see a percentage of later. If the NFL revenue goes up because of an expanded season, then maybe the salary cap should go up, too...if it's still around after next year. I can see that. But I think there needs to be limits set on the cap, especially with the top draft picks that keep driving up the market for players that are unproven in the NFL.

The season should be lengthened IMO opinion because of the fans and the huge demand for the game. Look at us...posting on a message board over 5 months before an NFL game that matters is being played. It's the fans that want it, and it's the fans that project meaning on a game that is, in itself, essentially meaningless. Gotta keep us happy first and foremost because we are the customers.

Everybody knows that there is no need for 4 preseason games...5 for those teams that play the Hall of Fame game. How about we just have fewer preseason games and keep the regular season at 16? What Thomas doesn't realize is that his pay would probably go down a lot more than $1,200 if this were to happen. The fact that Thomas would say such things only goes to prove what people already know: preseason games aren't taken very seriously by the fans, and the teams don't care about winning them so much, considering that the starters aren't starting most of the time. They are glorified tryouts and practice when they aren't being completely boring.

Besides all that, aren't these players supposed to love playing the game? There are a ****load of players that would love to be playing TODAY. He's acting like a kid that doesn't want to go to school.

 

[apple strudel]

Besides all that, aren't these players supposed to love playing the game? There are a ****load of players that would love to be playing TODAY. He's acting like a kid that doesn't want to go to school.

It's possible to both love playing the game and stand up for players' rights. Let's not posit false choices.

The NFL has a crap union and CBA compared to MLB and the NBA, even though it's arguably more demanding and brutal, and the league itself makes more money than those leagues (I believe - at least in TV revenue it should) so I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of players are upset by this.