OT - No salary cap - Will you still be a fan?

[Syracusecards]

Hypothetical. Let's say that no agreement is made between the owners and the nflpa and the cap goes away.

I tend to believe that this will destroy football. IMO, in baseball, it's more of an individual performance than a team performance. You can have some guys pop up miraculously and play really well and the team can win. In the NFL, one or two superstars aren't going to win the championship and you need a team of above average players to win.

If it gets to a situation where the Cardinals can't or won't compete to pay ridiculous amounts of money for players to win, will you still be a fan?

Or, would you even want the Cards to pay ridiculous salaries to players that are a crap shoot to even make a difference?

I think of myself watching football 5 years from now with no cap and I wonder how it will be. Can I feel loyalty towards a player that has bounced around to several teams because of money? Will I believe any pregame speech about togetherness can be effective when half the team may not be there the next year because they'll make more somewhere else?

Mercenaries might work in MLB, but not the NFL. The NFL is about TEAM. MLB is about each individual player doing each individuals job. They don't need the same type of chemistry and communication and experience playing with the same players as NFL players do.

Will the game be less entertaining? Will it be sloppy due to lack of experience playing with the same players? Think how many times Manning and Harrison hooked up because they knew exactly what the other was thinking.

I really hope the cap stays in effect because otherwise you end up with 4-5 powerhouse teams and the "Any Given Sunday" cliche will go right out the window.

Sorry for the novel, just something I've been thinking about and I'm curious as to how all of you feel about it. I love this game and this team and I am really worried about the future of it.

 

[Unsterblich856]

It's not like the Cardinals were a perennial playoff team when I became a fan, so no cap would affect it. Besides, I hear talk that there are such things as Royals fans and Pirates fans.

Not having a cap space would put excruciating emphasis on the draft since all free agents would go to the Cowboys ala Yankees style.

 

[Syracusecards]

It's not like the Cardinals were a perennial playoff team when I became a fan, so no cap would affect it. Besides, I hear talk that there are such things as Royals fans and Pirates fans.

Not having a cap space would put excruciating emphasis on the draft since all free agents would go to the Cowboys ala Yankees style.

Agreed. The draft would be huge. The diffence I see with Pirates and Royals fans is that a baseball player can catch fire and start hitting really well.

Also, I think it's harder to project how a free agent will perform in the NFL than in MLB because each player relies so heavily on the other doing their job. A ball gets hit to centerfield, the centerfielder has to make the play. It's not like the 1st basemen has to block for him so he can make the play.

 

[WildBB]

Let's hope Professional Football maintains some semblance of sanity and keeps a hard cap in place.

 

[Buckybird]

No cap would be the death of the NFL!!! I really believe the only reason that the owners opted out of the CBA was because of the outrageous salaries for unproven rookies. Cross your fingers a new CBA is worked out once a new director is appointed.

 

[Skkorpion]

If I'm alive, yes, I'll be a fan.

Dumping the draft would be a good start. Other pro sports the world over do fine without a draft. Other than that, I can't comment on what the NFL would be like without knowing the rest of the league's rules and operating struture in that future time.

 

[LoyaltyisaCurse]

I think the players WANT an uncapped league and you can bet most of them are licking their chops...

 

[WildBB]

If I'm alive, yes, I'll be a fan.

Dumping the draft would be a good start. Other pro sports the world over do fine without a draft. Other than that, I can't comment on what the NFL would be like without knowing the rest of the league's rules and operating struture in that future time.

I'm not for dumping it. But the salaries of players coming in needs to be adjusted BIG TIME. No agents for rookie deals. All first rounders get 3 year set deals (no big bonuses) and have to resign with the team that drafts them. Can't be a FA until after yr. 5.

2nd rounders 2-3 yr. deals and the same. And so on.

 

[WildBB]

I think the players WANT an uncapped league and you can bet most of them are licking their chops...

Yeah but it'll be the death of a competitive league.

 

[Unsterblich856]

I'm not for dumping it. But the salaries of players coming in needs to be adjusted BIG TIME. No agents for rookie deals. All first rounders get 3 year set deals (no big bonuses) and have to resign with the team that drafts them. Can't be a FA until after yr. 5.

2nd rounders 2-3 yr. deals and the same. And so on.

Rodger Goodell was talking about instituting a rookie salary cap, like what the NBA has. I'd be in complete favor of that.

 

[WildBB]

Rodger Goodell was talking about instituting a rookie salary cap, like what the NBA has. I'd be in complete favor of that.

Yup. They need to get the agents out of it when they come in.

 

[Unsterblich856]

Yup. They need to get the agents out of it when they come in.

While we're talking about agents, they should also ban Drew Rosenhaus.

 

[Buckybird]

While we're talking about agents, they should also ban Drew Rosenhaus.

Come on, Drew is good for the league!!! LOL

 

[40yearfan]

Agreed. The draft would be huge. The diffence I see with Pirates and Royals fans is that a baseball player can catch fire and start hitting really well.

Also, I think it's harder to project how a free agent will perform in the NFL than in MLB because each player relies so heavily on the other doing their job. A ball gets hit to centerfield, the centerfielder has to make the play. It's not like the 1st basemen has to block for him so he can make the play.

Wow, you don't know much about baseball. The second baseman blocks for the center fielder. The first baseman blocks for the right fielder.

 

[Duckjake]

If I'm alive, yes, I'll be a fan.

Dumping the draft would be a good start. Other pro sports the world over do fine without a draft. Other than that, I can't comment on what the NFL would be like without knowing the rest of the league's rules and operating struture in that future time.

Golf and Tennis for instance.

 

[Unsterblich856]

Come on, Drew is good for the league!!! LOL

Well, I'll put it this way. If I was a player, he'd definitely be my agent. If I was a GM, I'd try and stay away from Rosenhaus clients.

 

[Buckybird]

Golf and Tennis for instance.

Good one Duckjake!!!

 

[Buckybird]

Well, I'll put it this way. If I was a player, he'd definitely be my agent. If I was a GM, I'd try and stay away from Rosenhaus clients.

and we do have many of his on our roster. I would love for the Cards to get LeSean McCoy at #31, but am scared to death because Drew represents him. Future holdout?

 

[jw7]

Golf and Tennis for instance.

Umm, they don't have teams DJ.

Rookies need to be paid less. No reason to give $30M to some rookie who has never played a down. Proven vets need to be paid more. I have no idea why the NFLPA does not realize this.

The NBA system works pretty well where they have rookie contracts slotted, and there are no holdouts, but it is a challenge in the NFL where the careers don't last that long.

But to answer the original question, no. I don't want to see the Yankees in the NFL. It is more fun when every team has a chance.

 

[AsUdUdE]

in a word... no

I can't STAND Baseball for that reason, and I in NO WAY could sit back and watch the Cowboys, Redskins, Patriots, get richer and richer and watch the Cardinals whither away, losing all their key players,

IT would just be SICKINING.....

 

[Zeno]

Dumping the draft would be a good start. Other pro sports the world over do fine without a draft.

Every major American sport has a draft...NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, MLS.

The only truly succesful worldwide sport I can think of without a draft is Soccer (everywhere but the US) but they have other advantages that make the draft irrelevant--like youth academies, no salary caps and no CBA's.

 

[IAWarnerFan]

Seeing as how I follow the other AZ sports, that answer is easily a yes. I still wantto see some kind of cap in place. I like the current system and don't see why it needs to change.

and we do have many of his on our roster. I would love for the Cards to get LeSean McCoy at #31, but am scared to death because Drew represents him. Future holdout?

Who represents Donald Brown?

 

[Buckybird]

Seeing as how I follow the other AZ sports, that answer is easily a yes. I still wantto see some kind of cap in place. I like the current system and don't see why it needs to change.

Who represents Donald Brown?

 

[RugbyMuffin]

Nope. I would stop being a fan the instant there is an uncapped year. I will not buy the ticket. I will not buy another NFL product. I will still "root" for the Cardinals but I will become a newspaper fan.

The only two professional sports that I can watch anymore, hockey, and football, both have caps, and both are exciting because the cap forces top of the line competition amongst ALL teams. Any year could be your team's year. It creates hope, excitement, and interest in the game itself.

Getting rid of the cap, IMO, would kill all this.

There is no way the Cardinals would be able to hang with the big boys in the league.

Just like every other uncapped sport, only the team's with the most money will ever see the playoffs, and Superbowl.

Why bother to watch when you already know what is going to happen ?

 

[Duckjake]

Just like every other uncapped sport, only the team's with the most money will ever see the playoffs, and Superbowl.

Three of the last 6 MLB seasons a team with a payroll in the bottom 10 has been in the World Series.

Meanwhile the Chicago Cubs are annually in the top 10 in total payroll and they haven't been to a World Series since 1945.

Cap or no Cap the teams with the best organizations win.

New England, Indianapolis and Pittsburgh.