With the decision on the CBA now lurking, perhaps he is trying to ease this thought into the public for public perusal (trial balloon) by the union? The reason I bring this up as Polian putting it out there for that purpose is perhaps it will be a bargaining chip when they negotiate. It sure sounded like the owners weren't keen on letting the CBA stay as is.
I have long thought that the rookie contracts were absurd in the first round. It's like a company hiring a guy straight out of college and paying him double-triple what the top performers in your company are making.
I think they should do some kind of "starting salary" type value for the contract based NOT on position but where the pick is, and only for first round. The concessions to players for the $$ they give up on the front end could be perhaps UFA & RFA coming with one fewer year of service each, contracts being able to be only 5 years max instead of 6 (I know they already started limiting the length to 5 for some range of the first round don't they?) or teams being able to use the franchise tag only once ever with a player while he plays for them or something. This is likely an oversimplification, but maybe it's a starting point. Either way, it isn't good for the league as a whole to have these ridiculous rookie salaries and that is definitely a huge concern
