USA Today: NFL owners push rookie wage scale in agreement

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NFL owners push rookie wage scale in agreement
By Jarrett Bell, USA TODAY


http://www.usatoday.com/sports/2011-06-19-rookie-wage-scale-cam-newton_n.htm



Under the old rules, Cam Newton might've commanded a rookie contract including up to $60 million in guaranteed money before taking an NFL snap.

And now?

With the NFL pushing for a rookie wage scale as part of a new labor deal, the quarterback chosen No. 1 overall by the Carolina Panthers and other high draft picks are undoubtedly braced to feel the effects of a major landscape change.

Last year's top pick, Sam Bradford, signed a six-year deal with the St. Louis Rams that guaranteed a record $50 million. In 2009, Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford got $41 million guaranteed as the No. 1 pick.

Any chance that Newton sees those type of numbers?

"I don't know about that," Panthers owner Jerry Richardson said during NFL meetings in Indianapolis last month. "We don't even have a system in place."

Unlike previous years, when the No. 1 pick was typically signed before the draft, Richardson contended that the Panthers had no pre-draft contract talks with Newton.

That's another unusual twist from a wild offseason dictated by an NFL lockout now in its 15th week.

Asked if it was unsettling to select Newton without knowing parameters of a rookie scale, Richardson said, "There are many things that we don't know, and that happens to be one of them. But I wouldn't say that's the most unsettling. Just one of them."

As NFL owners meet in Chicago this week, it is apparent a rookie scale won't be a major snag in reaching a labor deal. Not with larger revenue questions in play...
 
"It won't be the same," Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said of his expectations for a rookie scale. "We all know that it's a common area of interest between us and the players. So it's reasonable to assume that there will be some changes there."

Jones, who in the past traded out of top-10 draft positions because of the commitment needed to strike contracts for unproven players, said the prospect of a rookie scale weighed into his decision to stay pat in this year's draft. With the ninth pick, the Cowboys selected Southern California tackle Tyron Smith.

"I was more comfortable in that spot," Jones said, "than I would have been."
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