Players have too much control

[FreeTedWilliams]

Deion Sanders issues warning about 2025 NFL draft: `It's gonna be an Eli'

Coach Deion Sanders said his top players at Colorado might pull an Eli Manning and refuse to play for certain NFL teams

www.yahoo.com

Its hurting competitive balance

Deion should STFU

Why should NFL players have less rights than anyone else. It's a free country, they can work for whoever they choose to. They are under no obligation to work for who the NFL says they must work for. I'm actually shocked that all "drafts" haven't been abolished by a court.

Between the NFL getting in bed with gambling, and the NIL genie out of the bottle, the college players are no longer have to abide by the NFL rules. Especially the elite talents who have already bank a lifetime amount of money.

Deion is absolutely right. Why do you think that Bob Kraft should have more say as to where Deion's kids work than Deion?

 

[XLIX]

The thing is, players don't have any control - it's all about the ownership cow-towing to stances like this (whether you agree with that or not). A team can draft Shadeur Sanders, and if he doesn't like the city, he can go work at Wal-Mart until he decides to play, because the team that drafted him retains his rights.

The team retains the draft pick's rights for 1 year, otherwise he goes back into the following draft. It is very much a game of chicken. The player loses out if he misses an entire year, but the team loses out if they spend a high 1st round draft pick on a guy who never signs.

(Please note I am speaking in the abstract; I do not consider Sanders to be an example of a high first rounder)

With NIL now, players have a viable option of just returning for 1 more year. Of course they risk long term injury or drop in performance which is why very few will attempt it and of those, it would just probably be QBs because they get the most NIL and have lowest injury risk. I doubt Hunter would do it for these reasons.

Players can certainly stay in school an extra year and make NIL money - which arguably is good for both the college and pro games - but they can't declare for the draft, get drafted, then decide they don't like the team that drafted them and head back to school.

They should have a lot of power, but when they get to pick their teams, the competition goes bye-bye.

Not if you maintain the salary cap.

 

[Sam Bam Cunningham]

Why should NFL players have less rights than anyone else. It's a free country, they can work for whoever they choose to. They are under no obligation to work for who the NFL says they must work for. I'm actually shocked that all "drafts" haven't been abolished by a court.

Between the NFL getting in bed with gambling, and the NIL genie out of the bottle, the college players are no longer have to abide by the NFL rules. Especially the elite talents who have already bank a lifetime amount of money.

Deion is absolutely right. Why do you think that Bob Kraft should have more say as to where Deion's kids work than Deion?

Oh brother. The poor mistreated multimillionaire athletes!

 

[FreeTedWilliams]

Oh brother. The poor mistreated multimillionaire athletes!

So your saying that higher earning employees should have less rights than a fry cook?

 

[Sam Bam Cunningham]

So your saying that higher earning employees should have less rights than a fry cook?

The league’s success depends on competitive balance and every team having a fair chance. This required that they go to the team that picks them for 4-5 years then they are free.
The chojce is… do not play in the NFL if you do not like the rules.

Taken to its extreme if as you suggest every emerging star can pick whatever team they want
Teams like New England and Buffalo will not have a choice.

 

[slifersd]

Players and their daddies can keep pushing the boundaries, all that will happen is ownership get pissed off and come down hard and let them know who the boss is in the end. The more public guys like Deion make these threats, the more likely they piss off ownership

 

[Sect140]

Why should NFL players have less rights than anyone else. It's a free country, they can work for whoever they choose to. They are under no obligation to work for who the NFL says they must work for. I'm actually shocked that all "drafts" haven't been abolished by a court.

Between the NFL getting in bed with gambling, and the NIL genie out of the bottle, the college players are no longer have to abide by the NFL rules. Especially the elite talents who have already bank a lifetime amount of money.

Deion is absolutely right. Why do you think that Bob Kraft should have more say as to where Deion's kids work than Deion?

So all professional leagues should do away with their drafts and recruit kids coming out of college?

 

[HSanders]

So your saying that higher earning employees should have less rights than a fry cook?

they'd rather make more $$$ than have "rights". that's what they negotiated. if they had any fiscal discipline,they could strike. but they don't.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

Why should NFL players have less rights than anyone else. It's a free country, they can work for whoever they choose to. They are under no obligation to work for who the NFL says they must work for. I'm actually shocked that all "drafts" haven't been abolished by a court.

The draft isn't "abolished by a court" because the players' union agrees to it.

Absent a CBA they would be an illegal restraint of trade. Just like the salary cap, restricted free agency, tagging, etc. all would be.

But the union agrees to all of it thus is it all OK.

(We learn this every time the CBA expires and as part of negotiations the union threatens to decertify and a zillion articles get written about all the things that would be illegal if a CBA didn't OK them.)

 

[XLIX]

Just because management and labor agree to something in a CBA doesn't mean it is 100% immune from being overturned by a court of law. Don't get me wrong, overturning a clause in a CBA is a longshot.... but it does, on occasion, happen.

This isn't exactly your typical management-labor situation here. In this case, "management" is a group of 32 businesses who claim to be completely separate businesses when it suits them and then will turn around and claim to be 32 equal partners when it suits them.

There's the Union which literally tells every player to negotiate their own deal. This is unlike every other Union where everyone makes the same amount of money (based on seniority, time in position, etc).

Then there are the players entering the draft. They're not in the Union yet, but are still constrained by the CBA, which makes little sense. What makes even less sense, especially from a legal standpoint, is that there is no one in the Union who represents their interests. Quite the contrary, in fact. Every time a new CBA comes up, the current crop of players are all too eager to throw the next generation under the bus because no one can stop them.

IMHO, and after staying at a Holiday Inn Express last night, I believe if a lawyer ever tried to argue in court to overturn the draft, that's the tact they should take. The draftees should not be constrained by a CBA where not only were they were not represented in the negotiations, but the people doing the negotiating actively gained by taking away from them.

 

[TheRainMaker]

If more top draft prospects like we've seen in the past start putting up resistance, it will work as teams won't want to waste a draft pick. Regarding current NFL players, we've already seen high profile players force their way out of teams.

The reason why we don't see it much from college players is because they don't have the time to follow the dysfunction of certain or even care like fans do. They just want to be the highest pick possible.

 

[HSanders]

Then there are the players entering the draft. They're not in the Union yet, but are still constrained by the CBA, which makes little sense. What makes even less sense, especially from a legal standpoint, is that there is no one in the Union who represents their interests. Quite the contrary, in fact. Every time a new CBA comes up, the current crop of players are all too eager to throw the next generation under the bus because no one can stop them.

IMHO, and after staying at a Holiday Inn Express last night, I believe if a lawyer ever tried to argue in court to overturn the draft, that's the tact they should take. The draftees should not be constrained by a CBA where not only were they were not represented in the negotiations, but the people doing the negotiating actively gained by taking away from them.

how are they any different from any other employees who enter a profession after an agreement has been negotiated by the union?

 

[TheRainMaker]

how are they any different from any other employees who enter a profession after an agreement has been negotiated by the union?

It is quite odd that although they are independent contractors, they are forced to sign with a team (or not play) when they first come into the league.

 

[Sam Bam Cunningham]

If you take a job with IBM say and they decide to send you to Idaho, what rights do you have? Go to Idaho or take a job with a different company
In this case the options are NFL, USFL or arena football league.
Need to break NFL anti trust exemption if Deion does not like it.
I do not feel bad for Deion's kid who got paid 10 million last year in NIL while still in college
Boo hoo…. He has to live in a city with a cold winter season while being paid many millions of dollars for a couple of years
Terrible mistreatment

 

[HSanders]

It is quite odd that although they are independent contractors, they are forced to sign with a team (or not play) when they first come into the league.

i agree,in the sense of having a draft,they are quite different. i should have made myself more clear that i meant in the sense the poster i quoted meant.

 

[XLIX]

how are they any different from any other employees who enter a profession after an agreement has been negotiated by the union?

As I stated....

1) The whole draft takes place among ~250 college kids, none of whom are in the Union, and yet they are already constrained by the CBA. Joe Sixpack can go work for whatever auto manufacturer he wants and isn't constrained by the CBA until after he joins. Chevy, Ford and GM don't get together and decide only one of them has the right to hire him before he's even hired.

2) The NFLPA is drastically different in that they negotiate "every man for himself." This is radically different from every other Union where the whole purpose is to have everyone treated and paid equally (subject to seniority, time in role, etc)

3) Other Unions actively fight against two-tiered systems where the new employees get screwed over. I am not saying they always win those fights, but there is arguably a good faith attempt on the part of the Unions to represent the current and future employees. That isn't the case here, where the current players are all too eager to screw over the next generation. Less for them means more for me.

And, as this thread so clearly demonstrates, some people just don't give a crap about fundamental unfairness when large salaries are involved.

 

[MahomestoKelce]

This guy projects to likely be a meh QB in the NFL.

I don't think too many teams will care about not choosing him.

FTR, I don't believe NFL is nearing NBA levels of player having all the say.

 

[Sam Bam Cunningham]

As I stated....

1) The whole draft takes place among ~250 college kids, none of whom are in the Union, and yet they are already constrained by the CBA. Joe Sixpack can go work for whatever auto manufacturer he wants and isn't constrained by the CBA until after he joins. Chevy, Ford and GM don't get together and decide only one of them has the right to hire him before he's even hired.

2) The NFLPA is drastically different in that they negotiate "every man for himself." This is radically different from every other Union where the whole purpose is to have everyone treated and paid equally (subject to seniority, time in role, etc)

3) Other Unions actively fight against two-tiered systems where the new employees get screwed over. I am not saying they always win those fights, but there is arguably a good faith attempt on the part of the Unions to represent the current and future employees. That isn't the case here, where the current players are all too eager to screw over the next generation. Less for them means more for me.

And, as this thread so clearly demonstrates, some people just don't give a crap about fundamental unfairness when large salaries are involved.

The players are very highly compensated for any minor erosion of “rights”. In the grand scheme of things the right to play in 70 degree weather all the time is just not high on list of injustices in this world.

 

[XLIX]

The players are very highly compensated for any minor erosion of “rights”. In the grand scheme of things the right to play in 70 degree weather all the time is just not high on list of injustices in this world.

"And, as this thread so clearly demonstrates, some people just don't give a crap about fundamental unfairness when large salaries are involved." - me

Something tells me you wouldn't be so happy with unfairness if the shoe was on the other foot.

 

[TommyD4207]

Sanders could sit out one draft and re-enter the next year. The Sanders family has plenty of money. Elway and Bo Jackson both used that leverage as well.

They both had pro baseball contracts which forced the teams' hand in terms of relinquishing their rights. Shadeur Sanders has no such contract.