Franchise Me

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As I once read in a great article a few years back, every NFL player would love to be considered his team’s franchise player but none of them would want to be the team’s Franchise player.  The first reference, of course, refers to the concept of being a pillar of one’s team while the latter speaks to the Franchise tag in terms of the league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement.

The big sports talk here in Kansas City is the fate of prolific Chiefs’ pass rusher Jared Allen, who led the NFL in sacks last year.  Allen, like everyone else in the world, wants more money.  The Chiefs have placed the Franchise tag on Allen, and that translates to a guaranteed 2008 paycheck of roughly $8.9 million.  And if you haven’t had your finger on the pulse of the NFL for a while, then it’s at this point where you should be informed that one-year guaranteed deals just don’t cut it these days — even if those deals are dangerously close to eight figures. 

So guess how the players feel about the idea of the Franchise tag, which was born in 1993.

Being the Franchise player protects teams by allowing them to put off long-term contract negotiations and secure the services of a star player for another year.  And it also protects those players by requiring that anyone who receives the Franchise designation is guaranteed a payday at least equal to the average salary of the top five highest-paid players at the same position.  But, again, it’s not good enough.

Here’s the argument:  If Jared Allen sustains a career-ending injury this season with the Chiefs, all he gets is his measly $8.9 million.  But a long-term deal in the free agent market this off-season might give Allen twice as much in guarantees.  So let’s say Minnesota, one of Allen’s current trade suitors, acquires the disgruntled pass rusher and gives him $19 million in guarantees.  Then Allen sustains the same hypothetical career-ending injury in the ‘08 season.  Now he gets an extra $10 million for doing nothing.  What a great deal for everyone … except the person who has to write the checks.

Players like Allen want an insurance policy — a really expensive one — and they want someone else to pay for it.

My thoughts:  Just play the freaking game.  YOUR representatives in the NFLPA helped make this happen, and it has guaranteed you an enormous paycheck for one year of work.  Take care of your business and you will get the bigger payday that you want.

Bears’ linebacker Lance Briggs put up the same fight prior to the 2007 season before eventually signing his $7+ million Franchise tender.  He went on to have a solid year for a disappointing team, and later accepted a multi-year deal with Chicago.  The new contract, though less lucrative than what Briggs had hoped for, includes guarantees of $12 million.  Added to the previous year’s Franchise fee, Briggs got his $20 million.  He just had to play out the 2007 season in order to do it. 

Cry me a freaking river.

*****

Note:  I’m not the kind of person who sits back and says, “Oh my God, I can’t believe anyone would complain about making that much money.”  I understand that it’s not that simple.  It actually is quite simple, though, because it deals with the concept of fair market value.  That’s what these guys want.  But the teams are just playing by the rules as they were laid out in the CBA.  If it’s such a sore spot, and it obviously is, then the Players’ Association has to make it a serious point of contention for the next CBA.  End of story.     

 

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