Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 12, 1993 TAG: 9302120013
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
NEW-FOUND FREEDOM CONFUSING
It's the dawn of free agency in the NFL, but more than a few people remain in the dark on the new collective bargaining agreement."Trying to figure this out is as complicated as figuring out who's in the playoffs," said Washington Redskins media relations director Mike McCall.
There is a certain wild-card element to the seven-year contract between the owners and players. The numbers involved in determining salary-cap provisions are almost as confounding as the league's quarterback rating system.
There also remains confusion about who can sign with whom, and when. Suffice it to say, however, that after 15 years in which only two prominent players changed teams under a restrictive free-agency system, the next four months in the NFL should be televised by the Home Shopping Network.
In recent weeks, Redskins general manager Charley Casserly and his aides have been reading over the detailed agreement. McCall said there still are provisions on which teams are not clear, and it appears that the clubs that reached the conference championship games will ask the league to push up the timetable for other teams to sign unrestricted free agents.
If anything, collective bargaining should bring even more parity to the NFL. Clubs like the Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys and the Redskins, who have beefed up their pro scouting staffs, won't be able to put all of their knowledge to use because of the impending salary cap.
The "Rooney Rule," so named because Pittsburgh Steelers president Dan Rooney and agent Randy Vataha were responsible for its design, also will have a major impact on the balance of power. The Rooney Rule, simply put, means the rich can only get a bit more richer.
The four teams that play in the conference championship games - Dallas, San Francisco 49ers, Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins this year - may replace one of their own exiting free agents for no more than the dollar amount that player receives from his new club. That's why Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Reggie White isn't likely to be a future Cowboy or 49er.
The teams that lost in the conference semifinals - Washington, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and the San Diego Chargers this year - may replace their own lost players similar to the top four clubs, then may sign only one free agent at more than $1.5 million annually. There is no limit on the number that can be signed for under $1 million.
The salary cap won't be a factor until at least the 1994 season - but once the cap goes into effect, the Rooney Rule is voided. The cap is triggered when player costs reach 67 percent of the NFL's designated gross revenues (TV revenue and ticket sales). In 1992, player salaries consumed 57 percent of NFL revenues. That's 1 percent below the minimum required league-wide spending for player salaries under the new agreement.
There's also another parity-pushing item in the agreement. No club may spend less than 50 percent of the average gross revenue on its player salaries. According to the NFL Players Association, only six of the 28 clubs spent more than $30 million - the average club gross revenue is $60 million - on player salaries.
If owners' payments to the players' pension and severance funds are included for salary cap consideration - another point of the agreement that's still fuzzy - the likely average of $5 million would bring another 12 clubs to the 50 percent average. That still leaves 10 teams under the required new minimum.
You don't have to be a math professor to realize that salaries must rise - and dramatically - from their current average of about $540,000. One well-connected estimator figures that player salaries, just to meet minimum requirements, must go up by a total of more than $220 million in 1993.
The owners lose some profits, but they also get a salary cap that starts dropping once it reaches 67 percent, and each club can protect one "franchise" player and has first-refusal rights on two free agents this year and one in '94.
As the NFL moves into this new era of dollars and sense, the losers would appear to be well-paid veterans who aren't starters, much less stars. It is likely that club rosters will be filled with players of Pro Bowl potential or younger prospects and rookies earning less than $150,000. Many median salary veterans won't get offers when they become free agents after four or five seasons.
You can be sure that the bidding wars will be more intriguing than Super Bowls.
Keywords:
FOOTBALL