Calvin Johnson is rich, Larry Johnson is poor, well, sort of
NFL Football at its best. NFL Football at its craziest.
Calvin Johnson runs a 4.35 40 at the combine and the Lions fill up a wheelbarrow of cold hard cash!
Yesterday, we looked at Larry Johnson’s new deal and examined all the ramifications as far as the Chiefs go.
Today, the Squibster will get on his soapbox and let forth with a rant about money.
Just what is a soapbox?
Anyway, Pro Football has it all wrong. Rookies are signing for obscene amounts of money without playing a single down, while proven veterans are getting far less money.
LJ gets his cash
Larry gains over 1,700 yards and gets a pretty good contract, but Calvin has not even played and makes more money. This is insane.
“It doesn’t make sense that LaRon Landry is the highest paid safety in the game,” Cowboys executive Stephen Jones told me. “And that Joe Thomas (Cleveland’s top pick) has a better deal than Tom Brady. A lot of us would like the system changed the next time we negotiate with the union. The top 10 players in the draft is the biggest issue.” source
So why do the NFL owners put up with this situation?
Historically, the game’s top agents have traditionally fought any change to this lucrative system, where their three percent slice actually accounts for a damn nice payday. But it doesn’t make sense that this year’s rookie class has the top-paid players at their respective positions in the entire league — offensive tackle, safety and receiver — before playing a regular-season game.
Squibster’s blood boils
Just thinking about this system gets my blood boiling. How does a rookie walk into a huddle or the locker room with a bigger contract than the team’s largest star and not have any resentment going on.
But who cares about that, think of my poor Lions giving all that money to Charles Rogers. He was injured and eventually, for whatever reason, he stunk and they had to get rid of him. Hey, over 10 mill of bonus money and Charles walks off with it.
As a fan, your intrepid author feels ripped off by Charles. Why? It is not my money. Does not matter. He should not have gotten the money to begin with. Charles did not deserve it.
NBA is fantastic
Many think the answer is the NBA system of a preset salary scale for rookies.
The general consensus among the dozen or so club executives I’ve spoken with during my training camp travels is that the NBA’s system should be copied by the NFL.
In the NBA, top picks are locked into deals and they are scaled downwards. For example, Ohio State’s Greg Oden — basketball’s top choice who might be a cross between Bill Russell and Shaq — will earn $3.885 million this season. The next pick, Kevin Durant, earns $3.476 million and the slotting scale keeps sliding to where Joakim Noah, the two-time NCAA champion center from Florida, gets $1.779 million in the ninth spot.
Think how nice it would be to have the rookies earn decent pay and get into camp on time.
To fans who hate holdouts and all the big-money talk, these numbers make sense for rookies. For example, Chiefs running back Larry Johnson signed yesterday for less guaranteed money than what Johnson and Thomas collected, and only a moron would say those rookies deserve more than one of the NFL’s best running backs.
Meanwhile, Calvin, LaRon, Joe, and all the rest of the rookies will just have to buy the rest of the team pizza’s or something.
NFL Football Fan Question Does the money paid out in pro sports bother you?
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POSTED IN: Calvin Johnson, Detroit Lions, Kansas City Chiefs, Larry Johnson, NFL Football
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