GodsendJen

The NFL owners and the player's association have ceased discussions, period. I don't think its that big a deal this year.  Yes, lots of good players will suddenly be free agents and have problems getting good jobs. Welcome to the real world.  But what about next year? 2008 and beyond?

Interesting things I've learned from the talking heads today:

• A typical business spends less than 30% of their revenue on player salariers.  The rest goes to overhead,R&D, marketing and even shareholders. The NFL players are asking for 60% of their team's revenue. They expect owners to pay for their overhead, transportation, and stadium costs with the other 40%.
• If their is no salary cap then their will also be no draft.  I don't really understand why this is the case, but John Clayton writes:
  
  Too bad the NFL could lose the draft in a couple of years if the collective bargaining agreement runs out. There might be a combine, but NFL teams will have to treat all college eligible players like free agents. That's a story for another time. 
  
  The draft has taken itself to new hype levels in recent years.  Not as big as the superbowl, but I do think its nearing March Madness proportions.  All those draft experts could be without anything to do.  All that coverage on the networks and in the media....gone.
  
• Almost half of the current NFL owners have never experienced labor strife or a strike.  Reports are that privately he has said that those owners might need that experience before they would understand why flexibility is good and why work stopages are bad.
• What happens with those TV contracts if there is a lockout or a strike?  The product wont be as valuable to the networks when play resumes afterward and you know the league will have to sacrafice part of the loot they are due in order to make ammends for that.
• Tom Condon (one of those big agenst with lots of clients) speculates that this could mean that a lot of rookies just wont get signed this year.  Certainly some teams (like Washington) might be stuck relying on rookies, but most teams will be uncertain on how to structure a contract for a rookie when no one knows if they will be playing or what the salary ranges will be in 2 years.
  

Maybe this is just a sign that I should invest lest time and passion into football.