As of right now, we have no NFL season in 2011.
Some people say that both owners and the players need to negotiate.
The players clearly need to step back and look at the bigger picture.
This disagreement between the players and the owners is all about the new collective bargaining agreement (CBA).
According to businessdictionary.com, CBA is the written, legally enforceable contract between the management and its employees; it sets down and defines conditions of employment such as wages and benefits.
According to the current CBA, the players are getting 60 percent of the revenues while the owners are getting about 40 percent.
However, this is very misleading. The owners are the ones paying the salaries for coaches and general managers as well as paying for their office staff, public relations, and the list goes on.
Some of the coaches’ salaries are ridiculous; according to Forbes.com, the highest-paid NFL coach is Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots with a $7.5 million salary.
According to the proposal for the new CBA by the players’ side, they are wanting a straight 50-50 of the pie.
This is really hard to understand considering that the owners are the ones who make decisions for each organization, not the players.
One of the most notorious decisions that made a team go south is the decision to draft Jamarcus Russell who was drafted No. 1 overall in the 2007 draft by the Oakland Raiders.
According the Andrew Brandt, a business analyst for ESPN, Russell was paid a total of $39.4 million over four years and what did he do to earn all that money?
Over three years he compiled some statistics that would place him as the worst quarterback in the league while compiling a horrible 7-18 record.
The owners are the ones taking these business risks.
Eventually, the owners take a hit in the revenues coming in if the product on the field is not good.
Not that players, who are the employees in this case, should just kneel down and say, “Yes sir. I’ll do whatever you want me to do.”
Clearly, the owners should have the final say on how much the players should be paid.
