Capping Things Off

Salary cap. Some love it, some hate it. Some people blame it for the destruction of their favorite teams, some herald it as the primary cause of the parity that makes each year so exciting.

Love it or hate it, like it or lump it, do you really know anything about it? For instance, did you know it's scheduled to go away in 2007? Can you imagine an NFL without a salary cap? Just for a year? Let me tell you how bad an idea that is. It's so bad, the Executive Director of the NFL Player's Association (NFLPA), Gene Upshaw, went to the NFL execs, and told them the NFLPA wants the CBA extended specifically to avoid a cap-free year. Why? Because, as he says, "[I]f we actually get to that uncapped year, it's over. We'll never get the cap back once it goes away."

Let's take a moment to think about that, shall we? The guy in charge of making sure the players make as much money as possible doesn't want the salary cap to go away. Are Trevor Linden and Bob Goodenow (of the NHLPA) paying attention? Admittedly, Upshaw made his comments in the process of trying to wrangle more revenue sharing amongst the teams, which would of course, raise the cap amount, which would then give the players more money. Still, while the NHLPA is swearing up and down that a cap is the most evil thing for any sports player anywhere, and they'll never accept one in hockey, arguably the most visible player's union in North America is worried about losing theirs.

So, what is so important about the cap? How does it work? Let's take a brief look.

First, here is how the cap is calculated:

Projected Gross Revenues for the League x CBA Percentage = Players Share of the DGR

Players Share - Projected Benefits across the League = Available Funds for Player Salaries

Amount Funds for Player Salaries / Teams = Unadjusted Salary Cap per Team

The CBA Percentages per year, as agreed upon in the 2001 extension to the CBA are:

So, what does that mean? Basically, that the players get to share just under 2/3rds of the gross income of the NFL. The more money the NFL makes each year, the more the players get paid. As a side note, there is also a minimum percentage to be spent on payroll, which means there is a minimum amount of money the players can make each year.

So why is this thing so important? What does all this math do for the game? The gist of it is this: the NFLPA is smart enough to realize that helping the NFL increase its revenues is far better for them than scrapping over what percentage of the money they get. The NFL (and Paul Tagliabue in particular) is smart enough to make sure the players keep focused on making money for everyone, rather than looking to take cash out of the owner's pockets. The salary cap makes sure both sides keep focused on what matters.

It's win-win for everyone, right?

Many fans don't think so, especially around June 1st each year, when teams usually purge their rosters, and favorite players are let go in an effort to "get under the cap.” Some people also argue that the cap is only a technicality, easily worked around by judicious use of signing bonuses and back-loaded contracts, which aren't guaranteed.

It's debatable. What isn't is the idea of both players and owners working on ways to make the NFL product more profitable and enjoyable for the fans, rather than squabbling over who gets what percentage of a limited pie, has led to a strong, profitable league, with what looks to be a death-grip on the title of America's favorite game.

I'm pretty sure both sides are smart enough to get things done before 2007's cap-free year shows up, and football will continue to be a successful part of American culture. I know I'll be watching the games that year.

If they don't smarten up, so will Linden and Goodenow.