Miami Dolphin Talk

MONDAY’S CHAOS THEORY: Solving This Mess

By  Adam Warwas  March 21st, 2011

This whole lockout thing stinks.

I think it is safe to say that the football-watching portion of our Nation’s population is fairly conservative in nature, when it comes to the game itself (not necessarily politically), and all the potential for change is sending the masses into a tizzy.

I have to admit that recent reports that the league is considering a rule change that would essentially eliminate exciting kickoff returns and also that this could be our last NFL Draft ever thanks to the pending antitrust case have almost been enough to cause me to cry myself to sleep.

Furthermore, the Vikings themselves are being put at a great disadvantage due to the lockout.  Leslie Frazier had his first minicamp scheduled for April 8th-10th which cannot happen if the lockout persists, the team is unable to speak with players that are making headlines for the wrong reasons, and they are unable to search for a quarterback solution despite names like Carson Palmer and Kevin Kolb headlining those that could be available.

With many in the media, especially ProFootballTalk, running countless articles that start with the words “The NFL should…” or “The Players should…” I have grown increasingly tired of hearing the media offer themselves up as a tool for which both sides are trying to use to their advantage.

While I have actively avoided taking a side on the pages of Vikings Gab, I would now like to join in the practice of offering up some solutions to this mess, if nothing else just to start a little discussion around here.

STADIUM REVENUE

There has been a lot of discussion about “splitting up the pie” and “growing the pie” but it has become increasingly obvious that the NFL has more than just one pie that needs to be split, and I believe that giving the players an increased stake in one particular pie could help solve this problem.

The league continues to tow the company line that the previous CBA was not working for them because it did not afford them the necessary resources to “grow the game” by expanding to additional markets.  The argument they make is that if the game grows then the revenue grows, and then all slices of the pie would grow, including the portion that the players get.

My suggestion would be to put forth an offer that further puts the players’ interests in line with those of the owners.

Instead of simply giving the players’ (for example) fifty cents of every dollar of the whole pie (after the first billion, or whatever) why not give them an increased cut of the stadium revenue portion?

If the players were getting, say, eighty cents of every dollar brought in from stadium revenue (while giving up some concessions in the overall revenue) then they would certainly be more apt to also do everything they can to see the league grow, build stadiums in new markets, and build new stadiums in existing markets.

By installing a mechanism of this sort into the next agreement then perhaps players could better coexist with owners as they would actually have similar goals for which they would need to work together in order to achieve.

(NOTE:  The numbers I put forth up there are completely made up, but I suspect the powers-that-be could figure out that nitty-gritty part.)

SELL THE GOODWILL

It has been reported that the two sides were once within $125 million of coming to an agreement.  I don’t know for certain how true that is, but I will say that I am about to get to the “Adam is grumpy” portion of this article.

The players and the owners have both pretty much alienated their fan base in the last few months, have lost the respect of their fans with this whole “poor little rich kid” act that they are both shoving down our throats, and pretty much permanently tarnished the image of every person involved with the NFL.

So, back to the $125 million.

Stop with your charities.  Stop with your foundations.  Stop with your programs like “Play 60.”  Just stop.

If every player and every team just scrapped their “goodwill” gestures and pocketed the extra cash, then I’ll bet they could more than make up for the $125 million at the center of the debate.

Sure, there would be innocent bystanders that become casualties of this war if the plug is pulled on these programs, but both sides seem plenty willing to throw their fans under the bus as it is, so why not take it a step further and stop doing nice things for them all together.

After all, that is what this is all about, right?  Figuring out how to gouge the general public for all they are worth and then fit as much cash in your pockets as you can.  Any positive image the NFL and it’s players once held with the public is now gone (for many, probably for good) so why not just ditch those efforts, grab the extra cash, and go play some football?

Of course, these foundations are mostly set up for tax purposes, so this will never happen… because the parties involved also want to give as little money to the IRS as possible.

BUY OUT HEALTH INSURANCE

At the top of this, let me be clear, I think all former NFL players should fall under a different category in which they are taken care of separately.

In regards to current and future NFL players, however, the NFL should consider increasing the salary cap by a huge amount.  Increases would be included in terms of salary minimums, rookie contract structures, the individual team caps and floors, and tenders to tagged or restricted players.

In exchange, the NFL would not be required to provide life-long health insurance to players, which is gearing up to be a major cost to the NFL and its owners.  This scenario would take the league out of the business of providing health insurance, but provide the players (or the Union) with the extra means in which they could pay for their own, individualized insurance packages.

Judging from the way most of these players have been acting, I wouldn’t be surprised if they would prefer a bunch of extra cash in lieu of institutionalized health insurance anyways.  They would then have the freedom to do what they wish with the extra money, but would lose the right to complain about health related issues after their career ends.

Furthermore, this would make the league less apt to install new rules that are (in my opinion) damaging the game in an effort to lessen the chances for injury and the associated medical bills.  The players would have the choice to sign up for a dangerous profession in exchange for an even larger paycheck, or have the choice to start a career elsewhere.

These solutions might be a little far-fetched, I don’t know.  What I do know is that the NFL is playing with fire here and is at risk of losing a huge amount of their fan base, something which benefits neither side of this mess, and they should get creative and find a solution… fast.