Goodell, Smith to join labor talks Wednesday

J @ 22 Most Excellently put!

old man @ 9 wake up man, do you really think that if by some strange event the people do stop buying tickets and the goodies with the logos it would solve it NO MAN! The MONSTER MONGOLS would just lobby their puppets in congress to make ya all pay to view then ya don't get to watch anyway unless ya sell ya car to pay for the 35$-500$ games that will come thru the TV, BUB!

We, as fans, players, and owners, need a cap. I would stop watching football, just like I stopped watching baseball, if they go without a cap. It would destroy the game and NOT because the players would get too much money. Any idiot can see that paying players lots of money does not make your team a winner. Just ask Idiot Snyder. No, revenue has to be shared by the owners and the players and those that have already played the game and made it great - at the sacrifice of their health. These players are modern day gladiators. Literally risking life and limb. We as fans benefit from the entertainment that is provided. The better the quality the better the entertainment. We want well run organizations. We want a good show. Owners and players should split the money and ensure that we the fans are getting a the best show possible - at ALL markets. Sure it is socialism. TFB if you don't like it. Then go enjoy baseball in all of it capitalist glory. You see how many fans it draws. Go Yankees (LIGAF).

If you don't like players getting paid millions...STOP WATCHING. Whats happened to players salaries is simple economics, supply and demand. There isn't an abundance of people who can do what they do at the level they do it. We all wish we could, but we can't or we choose not to.

The real problem is profit sharing. Many of the powerhouse teams are tired of subsidizing the income of smaller markets. The owners have to sort out their business before they even talk to the players.

I would seriously stop watching the NFL if there was no salary cap. If you can take one look at MLB and not realize how disastrous this would be then I don't even know what to say. Pittsburgh is a tiny market and their NFL team just won the Super Bowl; their MLB team has the longest streak of losing seasons in the history of professional sports. The salary cap is absolutely necessary.

You sounded pretty good until you made the comment about Tampa Bay. Do you realy believe
they don't make money? Look closer and you'll find they are one of the top grossing teams in the league. So much so the owner went and bought Manchester United (The # 1 sports franchise in the world)

There's a reason professionals handle these kinds of disputes: because they actually know what they're talking about. Some of you sound awfully worried about "billionaire" owners making too much money, but let's not forget about the one team that doesn't have one. Without the current stipulations, the tiny community of Green Bay could never support a professional football team. Did you know that in WI they ask for donations for the Pack on your state tax returns? Our whole state pitches in to keep this franchise up and running, but even that wouldn't be enough if the floodgates of an uncapped year hit.
All a cap does is keep it possible for there to be 32 competetive teams each year (possible, not likely). Whether or not owners can draw a profit or not off of owning their team is irrelevant, and up to them. Some owners make a lot of money with the cap, some owners lose a lot of money *cough* Tampa Bay *cough* even with a cap.
The cap is not about helping the owners keep more of the money, it's about keeping the NFL as the premier sport of the country. Let's be honest: football players make enough. If they're talented enough, they can demand a higher percentage of the team's overall cap. If they're limping in, they still get a generous minimum salary.
Finally... take money from football players and give it to the military, firefighters, police, and teachers? Seriously? Like, what, tax football so heavily that no owner can afford to pay their players more than 60K a year and then invest it all in civil servant salaries? I'm not even going to start on this one.

there has to be a CAP. it will all go to hell and far worse if it remains as is. these players get wat too much as it is - no "NO ONE" deserves the amount of money they get (celebrities or sports figures) lets give it to the Military, Firefighters, Police and teachers instead.

i hate salary cap. where is it done but in sports. I mean think about it guys the teams that makes the money can spend it to win and if you are not making much money off merchandise and your team sucks it will only help you want to make your team better. People can not tell other companies what they can pay their workers why should the nfl tell them how much a player is worth. dynasty will form again if they go back to the old days.

yes the cap is a good thing. If there isn't one, the NFL is going to suck just like Major League Ba$eball. Stand firm owners, don't give in to the whiney Players Association and ruin the game for everyone else.

I think a cap is a good thing other than the owner will get most of my money if I buy anything from the Steelers.I like the owners but not that much, I would like it to go to the players that I watch on Sunday. Football is headed for a strike in 2011 anyway, without Gene theres nothing stopping it from happening.

Hey xxx, Post 4: Hey num nutts, look at the 2 largest industries where the workers have highest % of cost: Airlines / Automotive; All are in / out of backruptcy and almost broke. Get you head out of you butt and get some education. You must be a Liberal Obama Democrat, low life, and a generation "x'er. You should be x'ed out!

xxx said "The NFL makes more money than any professional sport and pays its players the least"

That's not true, actually in exactly backwards. According to Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal, MLB players make 52% of revenue, NHL players 56.7%, NBA = 57% and the NFL 59%.

So NFL players actually make a larger percentage of what is brought in than any other sports. Of course, there are also more players on a roster (about as many as the other sports combined) so the per player amount is much less. But that's just a reality of the game.

wow. so now we're being racist and bigotted? awesome...

To all the snivilers caps on salary this is not just in sports but in all types of careers. There R people who make companies a load of money and R payed less then some squeek that is just a "clock sucker" and draining the revenues, face it, its an upsidedown world everywhere. I don't want to hear any sniviling from anyone how to feel sorry for fatcat millionaires that don't live up to their billing no matter what job they are in.There R people in the work force that can't even pry out of companies a 1% raise when with a crowbar when they haven't had one in 5 years.

If it is all about the fans, put a cap on ticket prices. The more the players make and the more the owners make means the more the fans pay in ticket prices.

I think a cap is a GOOD THING! Their are tooooo many players out their making wayyy tooo mmuch and i wouldnt give them the sweaty t-shirt off my back? TO is one , he's never happy no matter what team he plays for ?? always crying if they lose! WHAT happened to the GOOD OLE DAYS of the TROY AIKMANS
and the JOE MONTANAS , JERRY RICE'S, .. These guys MADE IT HAPPEN and never woul you hear them complain about SALARIES!!
THEY LOVED THE GAME!! GET PEOPLE WHO LOVE THE GAME NOT THE $$$$$$$???

And people wonder why it is so costly to go to a game? How else are they going to pay their 100 mil players? If the fans would smarten up and STOP going to the games and buying sports memrobile THEN and ONLY then would you see the players and owners start to do the right thing. SO you have no one to blame but the fans they are willing to hock their homes to go to a years worth of games so the players and owners are willing to charge them that much. I have never went to a pro game and I have a great seat in front of my 42 inch HD tv. Very cheap. I have anything I want to eat and I do not stand in line and miss a great play. WAKE UP PEOPLE you are to blame for this just as much as the players and owners.

Another option is to pay players according to grade, experience, and skill.
Just as government GS positions. If you are a rookie, you get the minimum with incentive bonuses, if you have 5+ years experience, you get a scaled salary based on performance. All the Favre's, Manning's, and Brady's of the world would all get the same approximate salaries, with performance bonuses. This would also improve the free agent market and the TO's & Moss'es would not play for the highest bidder on a different team each year. Since there is a CAP, it would not take rocket science to tabulate a moderate pay scale for each situation. And I think there should be a CAP on CONTRACTS, more so than just the salary. Maximum CAP on a contract, say $35 Million... No more $100 million player contracts into years past a projected players ability to perform.

They all need to stop being so selfish and start looking out for the fans interest.
They do not need to be building $1.5 billion stadiums (sometimes with the public's help) and fill the stadiums with sky-boxes. Sports is a only a damn game... If they want to treat it as only a business for profit... then they should be legislated like any other business and not have loop-holes.
Have an outside arbitator with one lawyer for the owners, one lawyer for the players, and one lawyer for the fans meet and work this out. and NO more f*cking PSL's!!! If you have a good product, it will sell itself.

I wouldnt mind seeing a rookie cap.

maybe a maximum of 2 or 3 mil per season for a minimum of 2 years and a maximum of 5 years.

This way a team finishing last doesnt have to throw out an 80 million dollar contract for a player who may not even be able to play effectively as a pro.

The current CPA sucks. I'm no fan of billionaire owners, or some of the over-paid prima-donna players in the NFL. However, even a cursory understanding of the CPA shows the players receiving a disproportionate share of the revenues. As others have pointed out, i spite of the large revenue share awarded to the players, that revenue is distributed inconsistently. The NFL has been forced to work with the unions because of the generous anti-monopoly exemptions the government has granted the industry. Frankly, I say let the players cut their own throats and let the NFL show its true face. Once the pendulum has fully swung in favor of large market teams the current league will disintegrate, or a serious competitor will arise. This has happened in the past and it has almost always worked out even when it hasn't. Good examples are the AFL and the USFL. Both failed, but forced reforms and modernizations within the NFL (including fair player compensation).