Why can’t they get rid of the salary cap?

[Ranched]

In an uncapped league, quarterbacks (and their agents) would hold an inordinate amount of power.

 

[Jake]

Why cant they get rid of the cap.

Because that was the deal the players made in exchange for free agency.

Next question...

 

[blueblood70]

Baseball has this and it creates an imbalance ie opposite of Parity top teams in big markets dominating the playoffs and championships..

We see occasionally teams like Miami, FL, Oakland and Washington building a championship roster with great drafts ec but once these players come up for big deals the Bostons, yankees, and Dodgers go strip mine them with big deals..most of the time those players leave for the money that smaller markets wont or cant AFFORD.

I dont think the NFL wants that its why they changed this in the 90s although NE found way around it but that an anomaly in the parity environment they purposefully created..
NBA is in between with soft cap and luxury taxes which is a better idea but really the NFl does NOT want this..

 

[Runwildboys]

The salary cap is one of the reasons why there's so much money for the players to begin w/.

At least in the smaller markets.

 

[xwalker]

Why cant they get rid of the cap. Have a hard cap on teams trying to buy a Super Bowl but no cap on players you drafted or signed as UDFA. This way we keep players we want without having the animosity we have like Zeke last year and now Dak and coop this year. You can keep teams altogether and not be punished for drating well and coaching players up. Honestly we should start a union for fans so we have a voice in all this. After all we are the driving force for all of this, we should have a voice at the table or use what would hurt most, boycott games and dont show up or watch.

You don't understand the purpose of the cap.

The cap is in place to make player costs a fixed percent of revenue.

This guarantees the owners' profits.

 

[Creeper]

The salary cap is not about the fans. Its about the owners. The owners know that if there were no salary cap some owners would spend huge amounts of money for players while others would try to cheap their way through the season. They used to talk about big markets and small markets but the fact is cheap owners can be anywhere.

The reason they can allow teams to hide their owns players they drafted from the cap is because that would drive up the cost of players and eventually nullify free agency. Imagine if Jerry could pay Dak $50 million a year and not have a penny hit the cap while other teams would have to pay him $50 million and have all of it hit the cap. It wouldn't work.

However, I do think the current system penalizes teams that draft well. If you are a team that draft 5 good players one year, and they all make all-pro, then in 40 or 5 years you have the challenge of retaining all those players. No team can, especially if they draft well several years in a row. So, for doing a good job drafting, they get to see all their players gobbled up by teams who don;t draft well. Instead the pick off the free agents from other teams. Its a contradiction because the NFL is trying to make such a big deal of the draft.

I suggest some kind of hybrid system. Teams should get some kind of cap discount off players they drafted. Teams get a right of first refusal for every player they drafted. When they are free agents, the players can get offers from any team but their own team has a right to retain them if they are will to pay the player what the other team offered. In return, the cap impact for these players would be discounted. This allows players to stay if they want, teams to keep them if they want, and fans get to see their favorite players on their favorite teams. The players still get the owners bidding against each other for their services. Teams get to retain they guys they drafted. no more compensatory draft picks, franchise tags, or anything like that. The only question is how much of a discount do teams get for signing their own players. Another option is to protect 1 contract from the cap instead of the franchise tag. Imagine if every team could take one player on the roster off the cap, like the QB. Less animosity between players and owners for one thing.

I think the current system will eventually kill football. Adding more games to the schedule may raise more revenue but it does not fix the cap problems.

 

[StarOfGlory]

Why cant they get rid of the cap. Have a hard cap on teams trying to buy a Super Bowl but no cap on players you drafted or signed as UDFA. This way we keep players we want without having the animosity we have like Zeke last year and now Dak and coop this year. You can keep teams altogether and not be punished for drating well and coaching players up. Honestly we should start a union for fans so we have a voice in all this. After all we are the driving force for all of this, we should have a voice at the table or use what would hurt most, boycott games and dont show up or watch.

Then the NFL begins to turn into the NBA.

 

[cguy610]

The amazing thing about this topic is how the NFL has gotten fans to take sides on salary negotiations about how much a player should make. I think half the threads on here are focused on how much one player should be paid.

Fans are sitting around arguing how a player should make less money because of a salary cap that is put in place by the owners to play players less than their market value.

 

[fredp22]

the cap was started by the owners to protect themselves from each other in bidding wars. Smaller markets were also concerned about being priced out of the better players. Whats to stop a billionaire from having a 30mm backup to go with his 40mm starting qb? Agents would also abuse a non cap market by constantly shopping their player and using most recent offer as a new base price to other teams.
you think salaries are high now-take off the cap

 

[BigD_95]

I thought the answer to this issue is if you draft a player you should be rewarded for it. A certain percentage of their salary shouldn’t count against the cap. Say 5 percent or 10 percent.

then teams that draft well are rewarded to try and resign those players

 

[Flamma]

Why cant they get rid of the cap. Have a hard cap on teams trying to buy a Super Bowl but no cap on players you drafted or signed as UDFA. This way we keep players we want without having the animosity we have like Zeke last year and now Dak and coop this year. You can keep teams altogether and not be punished for drating well and coaching players up. Honestly we should start a union for fans so we have a voice in all this. After all we are the driving force for all of this, we should have a voice at the table or use what would hurt most, boycott games and dont show up or watch.

A better idea would be to give a discount against the cap for drafted players. So if you resigned a player you drafted, 50% of it would count against the cap. Or whatever number they come up with. Any other player would count 100% against the cap.

That wouldn't be unfair to any team and puts emphasis on the draft.

 

[Cwby41]

A better idea would be to give a discount against the cap for drafted players. So if you resigned a player you drafted, 50% of it would count against the cap. Or whatever number they come up with. Any other player would count 100% against the cap.

That wouldn't be unfair to any team and puts emphasis on the draft.

Great point never thought of that but it should work.

 

[DanA]

This question is like asking why the don’t owners vote to be 50% less profitable.

 

[DanA]

A better idea would be to give a discount against the cap for drafted players. So if you resigned a player you drafted, 50% of it would count against the cap. Or whatever number they come up with. Any other player would count 100% against the cap.

That wouldn't be unfair to any team and puts emphasis on the draft.

It’s not a terrible idea but can’t imagine the NFLPA would like it too much as it severely limits a players options to move.

What the NFLPA might go for is a 25% increase in the franchise tag and 40% of it being outside the cap. So rather than 27m Dak gets 34m and 20m counts against the cap. It makes the franchise tag a lot more palatable.

 

[Runwildboys]

The salary cap is not about the fans. Its about the owners. The owners know that if there were no salary cap some owners would spend huge amounts of money for players while others would try to cheap their way through the season. They used to talk about big markets and small markets but the fact is cheap owners can be anywhere.

The reason they can allow teams to hide their owns players they drafted from the cap is because that would drive up the cost of players and eventually nullify free agency. Imagine if Jerry could pay Dak $50 million a year and not have a penny hit the cap while other teams would have to pay him $50 million and have all of it hit the cap. It wouldn't work.

However, I do think the current system penalizes teams that draft well. If you are a team that draft 5 good players one year, and they all make all-pro, then in 40 or 5 years you have the challenge of retaining all those players. No team can, especially if they draft well several years in a row. So, for doing a good job drafting, they get to see all their players gobbled up by teams who don;t draft well. Instead the pick off the free agents from other teams. Its a contradiction because the NFL is trying to make such a big deal of the draft.

I suggest some kind of hybrid system. Teams should get some kind of cap discount off players they drafted. Teams get a right of first refusal for every player they drafted. When they are free agents, the players can get offers from any team but their own team has a right to retain them if they are will to pay the player what the other team offered. In return, the cap impact for these players would be discounted. This allows players to stay if they want, teams to keep them if they want, and fans get to see their favorite players on their favorite teams. The players still get the owners bidding against each other for their services. Teams get to retain they guys they drafted. no more compensatory draft picks, franchise tags, or anything like that. The only question is how much of a discount do teams get for signing their own players. Another option is to protect 1 contract from the cap instead of the franchise tag. Imagine if every team could take one player on the roster off the cap, like the QB. Less animosity between players and owners for one thing.

I think the current system will eventually kill football. Adding more games to the schedule may raise more revenue but it does not fix the cap problems.

I think a 15% discount (or exception might be the better term, since they'd be spending above the normal cap) would be just enough to give the drafting team the option to keep their player, without making it too easy or too hard.

 

[Runwildboys]

The amazing thing about this topic is how the NFL has gotten fans to take sides on salary negotiations about how much a player should make. I think half the threads on here are focused on how much one player should be paid.

Fans are sitting around arguing how a player should make less money because of a salary cap that is put in place by the owners to play players less than their market value.

Yeah, those poor multimillionaires.

 

[MWH1967]

We would just find another way to be mediocre

If the cap was gone jerry would absolute buy another round. He's getting long in the tooth.

 

[DanA]

The amazing thing about this topic is how the NFL has gotten fans to take sides on salary negotiations about how much a player should make. I think half the threads on here are focused on how much one player should be paid.

Fans are sitting around arguing how a player should make less money because of a salary cap that is put in place by the owners to play players less than their market value.

I’m never against salary cap increases but always in favor of an individual getting less. The top 1% of players getting less isn’t a bad thing IMO. There’s too much money in football and having soo many Ads to pay for it makes it less enjoyable.

 

[MWH1967]

Smaller markets

yep, it caused people with money to think and take chances instead of just having money. I remember one of the 90's teams being called "Best team money could buy. " It kind of stung at the time because I was younger.

Hell, it's been 25 years.....I miss our owner being a bully...lol!!

 

[Brax]

Maybe cap each position more equally?

I am shocked that the rank and file allow 1 to 3 or 4 players to take so much of the cap dollars, each position should have a max hit of cap dollars and the max of any position should be capped at 8-9 % max, the whole idea of a union is to make sure every member is fairly paid and right now it's just a few are sucking up the majority of the cap. Cap hits also should not be allowed to spread across a contract due to signing bonuses. To me it means the union heads are in bed with the owners.