NFL Likely to Institute Rookie Wage Scale Next Season

While talking to a group of fans randomly selected for the privilege of asking the commissioner of the NFL, Roger Goodell, a few questions, Goodell addressed the insane contracts that rookies have been getting over the past few seasons.

“I love Sam Bradford, and I hope he’s great, but he probably made somewhere between $40 and $45 million the night before last,” Goodell said to the fans. “He has not even hit the field yet and that’s a guaranteed contract.”

“So if Sam Bradford can’t play, what good does that do any other NFL player? As much as I like these young rookies, and I do think they’re terrific, it’s crazy to give someone who hasn’t proven themselves on the NFL field $45 million.”

Actually, to make matters worse, Goodell is probably a bit off. It’s more likely that Bradford receives between $45-50 million in guaranteed money. Matt Stafford got almost $42 million last season, so it’s unlikely that Bradford receives anything less than $45 million.

“I think, over these three days, we will give $600 million in guaranteed money to these rookies that you’re hearing their names,” Goodell continued. “$600 million. And if, let’s just say, half of them don’t make it and the money is equivalent to this, that’s $300 million out the door. It doesn’t go to veterans, it doesn’t go to owners. It goes to somebody who couldn’t play the game. That’s wasting money.”

No one, other than the guys taken in the first 15-20 picks of the draft, think rookies can continue to be paid the way they are, so it’s likely that once a CBA is finally agreed upon, a rookie wage scale will be a part of it.

The NFL’s wage scale would likely resemble that of the NBA’s scale — based on a percentage and a set limit of money that can be dished out in base salary, incentives, and guaranteed money. The system rewards work on the field while in the NFL, rather than “rewarding” these players for what they accomplished in college.

This way, guys like JaMarcus Russell would have to actually work in order to earn their money, rather than simply signing their deal and going through the motions.

In fact, they should probably just go ahead and call it the “Russell Rule.”