The cap won't go down any considerable amount with a new CBA. Maybe just slightly, only to level the playing field for lower revenue teams, but I can't see how the NFLPA would possibly agree to REDUCE their compensation ceiling.
They actually won't have a choice. It why the lockout is almost sure to happen. Because the players believe that the teams should only get 10% of the revenue and the players should get 90%. What they forget is that many of the new owners have shelled out hundreds of millions of dollars and are the ones responsible for getting the TV revenue deals, not the players. The players, on average, have a 3.3 or 4 year career expectancy. They aren't in it for the long haul. They think only 2 or 3 years, expect to get paid in the tens of millions and they have very little, financially at stake. It's why I have no issue with the non-guaranteed contracts. Because it reminds the players that they DO have something to lose. As it should be with them getting the lionshare of the revenues.
Also, let's put it this way. The way things are going, there are at least 3 franchises (possibly more) that won't be able to keep up, financially. Let's say that 2 of the 3 fold. The NFLPA just lost 160 player slots from it's. I say 160 because that is the maximum number you can have at camp.. How do you think the rest of the union members are going to react if they find out that 160 of their friends are now without jobs and now competing with them for the jobs they have on other teams???
I mean, do any of us really want a return of the 80s and 90s? I mean, you had the Colts move from Baltimore. You had the Rams move from Los Angeles to St. Louis. You had the Cardinals move from St. Louis to Arizona. You had the Raiders move from Oakland to Los Angeles and then back to Oakland. In the early 90's, New England almost lost the Pats. And, in the late 90's we had the Oilers move from Houston to Nashville and the Browns from Cleveland to Baltimore.
And that is what we, the fans, are looking at again. Can Carolina, Buffalo, Jacksonville, Arizona and San Diego really support football franchises? I mean, we already have rumors of Buffalo heading to Toronto and San Diego heading to either Los Angeles or Las Vegas. And the Cardinals, even with their new stadium and success on the field are having problems drawing crowds..
At some point, the players need to realize that, while the owners need them, the players need the owners as well. For, without the owners, the players wouldn't have a job because the league wouldn't still exist.
Also, the salary cap could, very easily, go down if the revenue from the TV contracts goes down. And, from the sounds of it, it WILL be going down on the next set of contracts unless the economy really gets going again.
