Yes, the Chinese have dubbed 2007 to be The Year of the NFL Agent…you heard it here first.
But on a serious note, look out for an uncapped 2007 in the National Football League.
Straight from the mouth of NFLPA executive director Gene Upshaw:
March 3 will be the beginning of a new league year and we are just not there yet. I’m taking the position now that it (an extension to the collective bargaining agreement) won’t get done.
This is something unheard of outside of the MLB realm of thought. A year without any type of salary cap? A year where salaries were determined by a free, unregulated market, where big market teams could pay a lot more for expensive players? Take a second to think about what this may do to the NFL and competitive balance.
The major issues holding back the extension of the CBA are:
1. Percentage of total revenue awarded to players
2. Revamped revenue sharing among teams
3. Implementation of a “flip tax” for the NFLPA to gain money when cash is loaned to teams to finance new stadiums
It should be extremely interesting to see how NFL Agents negotiate contracts for their clients in the wake of an uncapped year. Straight from Gene Upshaw: “I’m going to tell the agents to do deals as if there is no salary cap in 2007 if we don’t have a deal by Friday.”
[tags]nflpa, cba, gene upshaw, nfl agent, sports agent, nfl[/tags]
