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The Grand Poobah
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If this is a repost......well!!!!!!! I apologize.
Age is all about numbers in cap-conscious NFL
March 6, 2006
By Pete Prisco
CBS SportsLine.com Senior Writer
Tell Pete your opinion!
Age discrimination is forbidden in most areas of work, a lawyer around every corner waiting for the chance to take big brother to task for such things: 1-800-S-U-E-T-H-E-M.
In the NFL, it's a way of life.
Corner Andre Dyson, the rare youngster getting cut, is one year and done with the Seahawks.
We see it more and more every year. Turn 30, and your football life is in danger.
That became evident once again in the past few days as teams have dumped veteran after veteran to get under the salary cap as they ready for free-agency. With no collective bargaining agreement, it meant the cap would be $94.5 million, which meant a lot of teams had to make heads roll. But these guys would have been goners even with an agreement.
Naturally, the old guys went first.
Damn, getting old is a *****.
We took a look at 17 of the name players released in the past couple of weeks for cap issues. Of those 17, 16 were at least 30, some significantly older.
The 17 players we studied averaged 31.8 years of age. Only Seattle Seahawks corner Andre Dyson was younger than 30 at 26.
Pity poor Chiefs corner Eric Warfield. He turned 30 last Friday, the same day he was sent packing by Kansas City.
If 30 wasn't the magical number in the NFL before, it certainly is now. That isn't to say that players can't be contributors and sometimes stars after their 20s, it's just that most NFL teams are reluctant to keep the older players around if they are making big money.
The formula is simple: Age + Salary = Production or goodbye. A slight drop in play will send an over-30 player with a big cap number on his way.
The exception? Quarterbacks.
"You can't afford them anymore," said one NFC personnel director. "You don't go from starter to bench. You go from starter, a high-priced starter, to being cut. That's what the cap has done."
Age is all about numbers in cap-conscious NFL
March 6, 2006
By Pete Prisco
CBS SportsLine.com Senior Writer
Tell Pete your opinion!
Age discrimination is forbidden in most areas of work, a lawyer around every corner waiting for the chance to take big brother to task for such things: 1-800-S-U-E-T-H-E-M.
In the NFL, it's a way of life.
Corner Andre Dyson, the rare youngster getting cut, is one year and done with the Seahawks.
We see it more and more every year. Turn 30, and your football life is in danger.
That became evident once again in the past few days as teams have dumped veteran after veteran to get under the salary cap as they ready for free-agency. With no collective bargaining agreement, it meant the cap would be $94.5 million, which meant a lot of teams had to make heads roll. But these guys would have been goners even with an agreement.
Naturally, the old guys went first.
Damn, getting old is a *****.
We took a look at 17 of the name players released in the past couple of weeks for cap issues. Of those 17, 16 were at least 30, some significantly older.
The 17 players we studied averaged 31.8 years of age. Only Seattle Seahawks corner Andre Dyson was younger than 30 at 26.
Pity poor Chiefs corner Eric Warfield. He turned 30 last Friday, the same day he was sent packing by Kansas City.
If 30 wasn't the magical number in the NFL before, it certainly is now. That isn't to say that players can't be contributors and sometimes stars after their 20s, it's just that most NFL teams are reluctant to keep the older players around if they are making big money.
The formula is simple: Age + Salary = Production or goodbye. A slight drop in play will send an over-30 player with a big cap number on his way.
The exception? Quarterbacks.
"You can't afford them anymore," said one NFC personnel director. "You don't go from starter to bench. You go from starter, a high-priced starter, to being cut. That's what the cap has done."
