Guaranteed

As football season fast approaches and the nation’s appetite for pigskin starts to rumble, we are reminded once again that the NFL is the utterly dominant professional sports league in this country and that it has no intention of releasing this stranglehold. Many articles have been written on why the NFL has sped light years past Major League Baseball and the NBA to the forefront of Americans’ sports conscious. One of the main theories out there is that because there is so much parity in the NFL, every team has a chance of being a contender on any given Sunday, thus there is hope for all 32 fan bases around the country. Most games are also very competitive so the casual fan is drawn in as well. There is a reason for this parity and competition that rarely gets mentioned but I think is hugely important. This is the fact that NBA and MLB contracts are guaranteed but NFL contracts are not.

In the NFL, almost all of the long-term contracts are not guaranteed. There is some guaranteed money and signing bonuses, but if a player sings a monster contract and then does not live up to expectations, the NFL team can cut him and not be responsible for the remainder of that player’s salary. This was the case with Lavar Arrington and his contract with the New York Giants. Before the 2006 season, Arrington signed a 7-year, 49 million-dollar contract with the G-Men. In that season however, Arrington only played in 6 games, had only 16 tackles, 1 sack and was injured for more than half the year. The Giants cut Arrington after the 2006 campaign, rightfully assessing that the one time Mr. Serena Williams was no longer a viable starting linebacker and let him go. This kind of situation makes sense. A players signs a lucrative contract, does not live up to expectations, and is cut. Other players who sign mega contracts and perform well keep their jobs (Peyton Manning: 9 years, $99 million, Jayson Taylor: 6 year, $45 million).

The sad thing is, this doesn’t happen in professional baseball and basketball because contracts are guaranteed. The result is that bad teams are loaded with huge contacts of players who suck nuts. Look at the New York Knicks. They are saddled with Stephon Marbury (4 years, $76 million), Jerome James (5 years, $29 million) and until recently Steve Francis (2 years remaining, $34 million). All of these guys are absolute ass clowns, yet they are actually too expensive to cut. Because NBA contracts are guaranteed, a team cannot cut an under performing superstar because the cap hit would be too big. Or in the case of Jerome James, an under performing buffet line champ. The NBA has players who are basically just contracts used in trades because they are so ludicrous. These jokers include, among others, Theo Ratliff, Wally Szczerbiak, the old Penny Hardaway and Glenn Robinson.

Because of the lack of a salary cap, baseball doesn’t have this trade problem. But huge contracts still languish way longer than they should. These contracts include Mo Vaughn, Mike Hampton, Adrian Beltre, Darren Dreifort, Carl Pavano, and most recently Barry Zito.

The consequences of this is that it takes bad teams so much longer to get better, because they have to wait longer and spend more to correct their mistakes. In the NFL, each roster spot is taken up, for the most part, by a player deserving for the job and paid accordingly. If a player does not live up to their contract, then they are let go. MLB and NBA rosters are constantly filled with overpaid, under performing athletes. Basically, the worst possible scenario. The worst part is, the player who signed the contract has no incentive to play well, unless he has a high moral obligation toward the game. They are going to get paid no matter what, by someone, no matter how poorly they play.

What drives me crazy on top of that is when players have a good year and then threaten to hold out unless they get a big raise. If this is the case, owners should have the equal right to demand a contract renegotiation if they sign a mega deal and the player ends up sucking. NFL players, even ones who sign lucrative contracts, have every incentive to keep playing at a high level because they could get cut after any kind of dip in performance.

The thing is though, the NBA and MLB players association will never, and I mean never, agree to a new labor agreement where their contracts are not guaranteed after they’ve been that way for so long. This would only happen if the sport were on the brink of oblivion. That said, hero Tim Donaghy.

Baseball and basketball fans of teams that have terrible contracts have many years of wallowing before they have even a chance of being good again. And even there, their horrendous front office is just one move away from sending everything back down the drain (see Magic, Orlando: Tracy Mcgrady, Grant Hill…Rashard Lewis). In the NFL however, the non-guaranteed contracts ensure this parity that fans have grown to love, the sense that every year could be the one for your team. Unless you live in Cleveland that is. Over and out.