Green Room NFL Picks and Salary

Yesterday I read an interesting topic in the Something Awful: Football Funbags forum. The poster in the topic was saying that he thinks that NFL rookies, specifically the top 5 picks, get paid way to much. His point was that Joe Thomas is the highest paid lineman in NFL history, and he has never even played a down in the NFL. JaMarcus Russell, is going to be getting a $60 million contract soon, and he has never played a down either. How can players who have never done anything be paid more than established veterans?

Solid points indeed, however, I have to disagree with them for a variety of reasons. My ideas aren’t organized very well on this topic, but I will do my best to make my points.

#1. The NFL is a young mans game. This sounds cliche, and there are many exceptions to it. In general though, teams are always looking to replace their older, higher paid players with younger, cheaper ones. The Bengals did it this past season with Brian Simmons and Kaesivhorn. One must also take into that account the harsh nature of football and it ability to diminish players. Powerbacks like Eddie George and Stephen Davis (and soon to be Jamal Lewis), don’t last to long. The end result at the end of their careers isn’t pretty either. Injuries can ruin careers very easily as well (Trev Albert, Ki-Jana Carter to name two). Perhaps Charles Rogers career would have gone down differently if he didn’t break his collarbone twice in his first two years in the league. The same can be said for 2000 #1 pick Courtney Brown. He had a very good rookie season before injuries decimated him.

#2. Age restrictions. To be eligible for the NFL Draft, you must be at least three years out of high school. This differs from the MLB and NBA drafts were in the former, high school kids can be drafted, and the latter, one year out of high school is required (although that has only been in place for one year at this point). What does this mean? It means that NFL draftees are more finished products, both in their skills, maturity, and physicality. Theres a big difference between drafting Brady Quinn or someone like Michael Moustakas or Michael Conley. Same thing for Joe Thomas or Joshua Vitters. With Thomas and Quinn, you have two athletes who graduated college, with Vitters and Moustakas you have two athletes who have never spent a day in college. In Conley’s case, you have someone who was one and done in college. My long winded point is that players in the NFL Draft are more polished, and in general, less risky than their counterparts in other sports. That certainly doesn’t mean that there aren’t busts, there have been quite a few, and well documented at that. Busts aside, NFL Draft choices are more polished, developed, and ready to contribute immediately, without needing to go through minor leagues or ride a bench for a year or two to develop.

#3. Top 5 picks deserve a lot of money. The top 5 picks in the NFL Draft (or any draft, but thats not always possible in the MLB draft) should be super stars. This puts a lot of pressure on the GM’s of teams to make the right pick, however, that is what they are getting paid to do! The NFL Draft is all about talent evaluation. When you’re in the top 5, the chips are just a lot higher. These”green room” picks should be stars within 2-3 years of being drafted, especially non-quarterbacks. In Joe Thomas’ case, he has been through 4 years of college, and has developed physically, there is no reason he shouldn’t be a dominant left tackle in 2-3 years. Given the brutal nature of the NFL, why shouldn’t be paid like a star? Why should he suffer like an NBA player on a slotted contract?

Look at 1997 #1 overall pick Orlando Pace. He was selected in the top 5, and immediately became a dominant left tackle for the Rams and was an anchor on their “Greatest Show on Turf” teams. He deserved to be paid a lot.

#4. The NFL needs a system like the NBA. There are a number of reasons why this doesn’t work. First, some background. The NBA used to have a really hard time signing rookies. Most famous was Glenn Robinson, who demanded a $100 million contract, even though he had never played a game. He eventually settled for a $69 million, and the NBA decided it needed to do something about it. Now, every NBA rookie has a guaranteed three years, with a team option for the forth year. The amount of money in these contracts is slotted. This has worked well for the NBA – there are no contract squabbles or holdouts like in the NFL.

Why wouldn’t this work? For one, the NFLPA is already weak, and they would get even weaker if they accepted a slotted system like the NBA. Second, as I have mentioned, the NFL is the most brutal of the major sports in America, and NBA careers are much longer. Just this week, there has been talk of Reggie Miller coming back and Penny Hardaway signed with the Heat today. OLD. In a league with contracts that aren’t guaranteed, these top 5 picks deserve all the guaranteed money they can get before taking the field. They may have not played a down yet, but thats why the draft is all about talent evaluation – finding a guy who will be a star on your team. If worse comes to worse, you can always cut the player down the road – only some of his contract in guaranteed money. Lastly, people complain about who these players have never played a down – its not like veteran signings are always home runs. Look at Adam Archuleta on the Redskins last year or Edgerrin James with the Cardinals.

To sum, GM’s don’t ever want to mess up first round picks, but if you’re in the top 5, you really really really don’t want to mess up your pick. It may seem like these players don’t deserve the money they’re getting, but when you consider the nature of football, and that their best years will probably be in the first contract, its more than fair. Holdouts may be annoying, but for some players, their first contract will be the only one they ever get in the league. It may seem like a messed up process, but its one of the most important factors in whether your team matters every year.