While most of the chatter nowadays is about the NFL Super Bowl line found at BetUS and who will win the big game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers, there’s another big debate looming: the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
As it stands now, the NFL and players union have not come to terms on a new collective bargaining agreement and the current one is set to expire shortly. That means a lockout is potentially looming not long after Super Bowl XLV is played.
There are a lot of disagreements on both side of the coin right now, but if there is one thing that will get changed it’s the rookie pay scale.
When we get to the 2011 NFL Draft, it will the first time in a long time that the first pick overall in the draft is not signing for an astronomical figure that will make him among the highest paid players in the league. It hasn’t even been a contentious point on either side, as the owners don’t want to pay those hefty sums and veteran players don’t feel it’s fair that a rookie who has never played a down in the NFL gets paid more than four or five year veterans.
So who is left to suffer? Obviously, the players in the 2011 draft, who will take a significant pay cut. And secondly, the agents of those players will also feel the ripple effect.
Usually, agents take a commission of the deal and it’s simply natural that if the deal is smaller, so is the percentage levied to the agent for hammering it out.
The 2011 NFL Draft should be an interesting one – even more so if a new CBA isn’t in place. Even with a lockout, the 76th annual NFL Draft will take place April 28th-30th at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.