DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum ROOKIE SALARY CAPS

With the draft coming closer and is everybodies mind, I wish the NFL would follow suit with the NHL and NBA with rookie salary caps.With the cap system in place It prevents unproven players from holding their teams ransom...Let them prove themselves and then sign for the Big Money when the contract is up.

NHL:
ENTRY LEVEL PLAYERS

How much can Entry Level players make?

Entry Level players will be subject to a maximum annual salary (plus signing and games played bonuses) of $850,000 for 2005 and 2006 draftees; $875,000 for 2007 and 2008 draftees; $900,000 for 2009 and 2010; and $925,000 for 2011 draftees.

The maximum combined signing bonus will be limited to 10% of the player's maximum annual compensation in any year.
LINK: http://www.nhl.com/nhlhq/cba/index.html

Entry Level players may negotiate for performance bonuses up to a maximum of $850,000 in individual "Schedule A" bonuses per year (maximum of $212,500 per bonus). A player may also be eligible to earn individual "B" bonuses for League-wide excellence, which will, as a general matter, be paid by the League. In addition, a player will be eligible to negotiate with his club "excess" individual "B" bonuses, subject to a maximum aggregate of $2 million in any year.

How long will a player be in the Entry Level system?

Players who sign their first contract at age 18-21 are required to sign three-year Entry Level contracts; players age 22-23 will be required to sign two-year deals; and players age 24 will be required to sign a one-year Entry Level contract.


NBA
Scale Salary Amounts for First Round Draft Picks
The following are the "scale" salary amounts for the first round picks in each draft. A player's actual salary in any year may be as little as 80% or as much as 120% of the scale amount for that year. The fourth year of rookie "scale" contract is at the team's option. The percentage in the column for the fourth year is the required raise over the third year salary for a team to exercise their option. If the option for the fourth year is exercised, the team may retain the right of first refusal (make the player a restricted free agent) after the fourth year by submitting a qualifying offer. The last column designates the required percentage increase over the fourth year salary for the qualifying offer.

For example, if the number one pick in the 1998-99 draft (Michael Olowokandi) received the maximum allowable salary (120% of the scale amount) in each year, his team exercised its option for the fourth year, and his team submitted a qualifying offer for the fifth year, his total salary would be:
1998-1999 $3,125,160
1999-2000 $3,456,240
2000-2001 $3,697,440
2001-2002 $4,662,471 (26.1% raise over the 2000-2001 salary)
2002-2003 $6,061,213 (qualifying offer)


1998-99 NBA Rookie Scale
Pick 1st Year 2nd Year 3rd Year 4th Opt 5th Qualifying
1 $2,679,300 $2,880,200 $3,081,200 26.1% 30.0%

LINK: http://members.cox.net/lmcoon/scale

some signigs from last year:
Mario Willliams 6-year, $54 million ($26.5 million guaranteed)
Reggie Bush 6-year, $51 milllion ($26.2 million guaranteed)
Vince Young 6-year, $48 million ($25.9 million guaranteed)
link: http://www.trojanwire.com/football/reggie-bushs-contract.php

as opposed to sydney crosby: cap hit $3.7 mill,$850K per year with $850k rookie bonus link:http://www.nhlnumbers.com/

Let them make the millions in endorsements.Personal conduct & succsess in and out of the game count.No more holding your team ransom!!!! JMHO

Discussed every year and most are in agreement with you.....

However.....

Search and post the numbers on the amount of money the NFL brings in compared to the NBA and the NHL.

Now take into account the fact that the NFL rosters contain nealy 3 times the amount of people that NBA rosters do. (just a quick guess, may be more or slightly less. someone help me out) No clue on the NHL....

It's all about the dollar. The NFLPA would have to agree to the change and they never will........this is called having someone over a barrel.

Hold the phone Shep... I don't think anyone is saying that NFL players can't get paid. They can. The rookie cap just reigns in the unreasonable rookie salary of alot of the top draft picks.

I don;t think anyone will disagree that the NFL game is dramatically different than the NCAA. Many times players who excel in college die in the pros. When your first round draft pick turns out to be less than advertised, a team is often tied to him due to financial commitment.

This is particularly of concern to poor teams with bad drafting records as they get tied to picks that aren'y performing on pace with their salary. This only limits the salary they can offer to a marquee player.

Add that to the benefits of less rookie hold outs (which don;t benefit the team or the player) and I fully support the rookie cap.

Let the money get made by the proven guys. Make rookies PLAY for their money.

THAT being said, I don't think we should pay rookies pennies. Due to the fact that career ending injuries can happen very easily in football, rookie caps could be a little higher than the NBA or NHL.

Canada, your preaching to the choir,,, Few will disagree with you on the subject of Rookie Salary Caps... or if you will, a salary structure based on the position where they were drafted...

I agree with you 100 percent... My reasoning is two fold,,, 1. it would stop the endless and petty hold outs... and 2. it would allow for a fair and equitable pay scale that allows older players to continue to earn until thier skill diminish....

I just think it's fair

But, I doubt it will ever happen...by the way, we have this discussion every year, and every year, someone gets all bent out of shape when someone else comes along and says, it won't work.... I was one of those guy a few years ago....LOL

I strongely disagree with the statement that it is the players that are holding teams ransom. These players coming out from college have had 0% input to the system and the draft only gives teams exclusive negotiating rights to the player until the next draft. I don't get bugged by rookie holdouts because that is just part of the game. My preference though would be to end the NFL draft, tighten the rules on the over-all team salary cap, and allow all of these guys to all come in as rookie free agents.

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Hold the phone Shep... I don't think anyone is saying that NFL players can't get paid. They can. The rookie cap just reigns in the unreasonable rookie salary of alot of the top draft picks.

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Nothing to hold the phone for, as I agree entirely....in fact, in years past I have started threads just like this myself. Additionally, we were discussing this very topic at work 2 days ago and I was ranting about how it should be this way.

With the cap going up by millions each year, it won't work......the NFLPA will never agree to it (IMO, of course) even though this would free up even more money for the veterans who have established themselves.