The sports call-in shows have been buzzing the last couple of days with speculation that it's the beginning of the end of the NFL as we know it.
The latest news, that the owners have rejected the latest proposal by the player's union will only add fuel to that fire.
The news looks bleak for fans.
There will be no raise in the salary cap for next year and 2007 could be an uncapped year. This means there could be a large number of veteran players cut in the next 24 or so hours, according to speculation I've heard. Teams will have no choice but to cut players who would put them way over the cap. It will probably also limit the payday of free agents like Shaun Alexander and Edgerin James.
Of course, should this stalemate continue, the uncapped year could usher in a new age of the NFL that will be the first step down the path to destruction major league baseball now faces. One of the things that keeps the NFL popular is the parity--or the idea that any given team can win it all in any given year. The salary cap helps that. Yes, there are some teams who are better at juggling the cap than others and things do go in cycles. But at least a team can have a chance of being competitive year in and year out, regardless of the size of the market. Unlike baseball where a team like the Royals has no chance of making the playoffs while the Yankees can spend cash out the wazoo and create an ultimate fantasy team of the biggest and highest paid talent in the game.
Oh and one of the owners who is ring leader in all of these plans to change the revenue sharing so the rich teams get richer--Daniel Snyder of my beloved Redskins. Could Jack Kent Cooke's ghost come and haunt him just a bit and let him know that it's about more than just him. It's about the league as a whole and he needs to get his head out of the sand and realize it. To have our team's ownership lumped in with the evil that is Jerry Jones....I think I'm going to be ill.
This could affect the Titans in a huge way. They had some massive cuts last year to create cap room this year. And I have a feeling we're going to lose a lot of players this year--and one of those could be Steve McNair.
And that only opens the door more to drafting a new QB with the third pick. It will only add fuel to the fire of that drinking the Vandy Kool-Aid crowd who are desparate for us to draft Jay Cutler. I still think if Cutler is the answer, the Titans are asking the wrong questions. Esp. if we don't have McNair back, which I hate to say it--is looking pretty damn likely.
Methinks it could be a long season for the Titans next year...
posted by Michael Hickerson at 3/02/2006 12:04:00 PM |
|
