NFL: Salary Cap Information Should Be Available for All

The time has come for Roger Goodell and the National Football League to make readily available the current salary cap numbers for all 32 franchises.

You got us NFL, your marketing genius combined with the unmatched competition on the field and almighty gambling dollar has captivated the sports fanatics of America.

The unquenchable thirst for everything and anything related to the NFL has reached heights other sports can only dream of. Not only is the nation glued to their television sets, computer screens and tablets on Sundays in the Fall, the reach of America’s Game now spans an entire 12-month life cycle.

From the Super Bowl Champion being crowned, to free agency and the draft, forward to organized team activities (OTAs), then onward to training camp, followed by preseason games and finally the regular season kickoff leading us back to the Super Bowl, there is no end to the NFL spectacle.

Our country loves the NFL, so much so that there are satellite radio and cable channels that discuss the NFL 24 hours a day, along with a website dedicated to the league with limitless information that can keep even the most ardent football junkie occupied for days.

The NFL has done a masterful job of marinating our interest during the offseason, the longest in all of professional sports, with multiple media outlets. So why can't salary cap scenarios be divulged in the same open-book manner as the rest of their information?

During the free agency period, fans hypothesize about both teams and players, justifying certain combinations coming to fruition.

Sometimes the hypothetical blends make sense, but in many other instances, the feasibility is fiscally improbable.

If the NFL wants to continue adding to the fans’ experience, why can’t they streamline the availability of current team salary numbers so the average fan can speak and fantasize more intelligently about the direction of players and teams going forward?

It isn't like the technology is unavailable. We can jump online and find the current bid/ask price for Ford Motor Company, but the dollars available to the Ford family to spend on their Detroit Lions is protected similar to The Declaration of Independence.

The NFL has already developed the NFL.com vehicle that gives the fans access to an endless number of statistics and opinions for anything and everything related to their product. And yet, there is no unified resource that can show a fan how much money their favorite team can spend and still be below the overall cap ceiling.

As Ben Gates from National Treasure summarized the thoughts of our founding fathers—those who have the ability to take action, have the responsibility to take action.

Yes Mr. Goodell, you and your league officials have the responsibility to make this information available to your rabid fanbase.

Not only because technology makes this additional information simple to obtain and present, but also because it is another step forward towards the globalization of your product you so desperately desire.

Having the current salary totals of all 32 teams, along with the salary cap readily available, would allow the fans to speak more intelligently on the teams they follow, regardless of where they are located worldwide.

Of course, the individual teams will scoff at this idea, stating each team is under private ownership (excluding the novelty ownership of the Packers) and they do not have to show anybody their books, let alone the guy grilling brats and slamming beers in the parking lot.

I’ll agree and take it a step further. I don’t think the common fan even cares about the owner’s profits; the real concern is if ownership is doing everything in its power to provide a competitive team for the fan who shells out blue-collar money for a few hours of entertainment.

This is the true fear: Further accountability for team management. Technology can pull the curtain back on dated business practice and allow informed assessment of the distribution of a team’s salary structure.

It’s no different than what Peter Brand was able to bring to the Oakland Athletics franchise—a cocktail of usable technology, with tangible and discernible results; an enlightened perspective that will change the game.

Releasing the salary totals will increase budgetary critiques, but does not provide full disclosure of the general ledger and is a flawed reason not to assist the fan in their player evaluation.

Another argument is divulging their salary limitations, or lack thereof, would hinder their ability to negotiate with potential free-agents as well as re-negotiating long-term deals for their own players.

This thought is also fallacious. A majority of the agents that represent these players have research departments that employ numerous analysts and who are fully capable of crunching the numbers, but these results are not available to Joe Six-Pack.

Most fans do not have the time or desire to research the endless salary structures, although Spotrac.com does a nice job of estimating.

With the spread of team salaries varying across the league, knowing which teams are legitimate landing spots for free agents and which are nothing more than hot air, would go a long way to streamlining the “hot stove” conversation.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were $30 million under the cap last season and, with the new Collective Bargaining Agreement allowing teams to carry over cap money to the following year, the Bucs could theoretically spend an additional $60 million in free agency without any increase to the salary cap in 2012.

Wouldn’t it be nice to know the exact number Malcom Glazer is allowed by NFL rule to spend on his franchise? Could Bucs new Head Coach Greg Schiano reunite with Ray Rice in Tampa? What combinations are financial feasible?

The Kansas City Chiefs were said to be $20 million under the cap last year; is it possible the Chiefs could sign Peyton Manning with $40 million to work with?

Yes, I know they still need to sign Dwayne Bowe and Brandon Carr, but wouldn’t it be ironic if Peyton ended up where Joe Montana finished his career? Not to mention Peyton would be playing for Romeo Crennel, who foiled Manning numerous times while he was the DC with the Patriots?

Knowing the true salary limitations of each team is not only beneficial in evaluating teams with ample cap space, it would also allow for more targeted discussions for teams who are financially-strapped.

What about the Detroit Lions? They seem to have turned the corner, but could be headed to salary cap hell.

With Cliff Avril and Stephen Tulloch wanting big, long-term deals and Calvin Johnson, Chris Houston and Justin Durant heading into the last year of their contracts, can the Lions keeps everybody happy with very little room currently under the cap?

How much space do they have? According to Sports Illustrated’s Peter King, approximately $11.7 million; how accurate is that number? Are his informants completely forthright or are there additional ducats available that Detroit does not want divulged?

These are the speculations that beg for accurate salary information to validate or crush fantasy-driven conjecture, which is exactly why it would be nice to know the precise numbers to determine if a free-agent signing is possible.

In addition to improved marketing and analysis of the product on the field, an additional benefactor to the team salary figures is the secondary market of gambling.

Portraying itself as above the seedy back alleys patrolled by local bookies, off-shore betting sites and the epicenter of sports gambling, Las Vegas; the NFL is the quintessential bigot.

The league benefits tremendously from the point spreads established across the country. Following is an excerpt from The Wall Street Journal in 2009:

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A total of $1.1 billion was wagered on football, both college and pro, in Nevada over the 12 months ending in April 30 (not including parlay bets), nearly three times the amount wagered on basketball. Analysts estimate that tens of billions more are wagered on the NFL at offshore casinos.

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They are no different than Trading Places commodity brokers Randolph and Mortimer Duke. Sitting high up in their New York City Ivory Tower, watching the cash roll in regardless of who wins and who loses.

Yes, football is king in the television ratings and the gambling scene.

If the salary cap numbers were certified by the NFL, I could foresee a new revenue stream related to free agency odds for individual players. Each player would have ten or twelve different teams with odds and then a “field” pick.

It sounds a bit silly now, but give the boys in Vegas a few months to work out the kinks and soon it could be more popular than odds to win the Stanley Cup.

Furthermore, it would be the natural progression to a more realistic version of fantasy football—a Virtual GM, if you will.

Yes I know there are auction drafts already, but not on NFL.com and not for a majority of the fans.

Having an automated system that would disallow selections based on a pre-determined salary cap for a fantasy team, or even a salary bracket based on position, would not only infuse more cerebral selections, it would further educate the fringe fans to the difficulty of maintaining a winning product on the field.

I’m not saying it would be as popular as betting on Sunday and Monday games, but fantasy football had modest beginnings as well, and a Virtual GM could become more popular if the necessary data and formats were readily available.

There are endless avenues of opportunity that would present themselves if the NFL made team salary totals available to the fans. Mr. Goodell and his cronies should give copious thought to the benefits that could be realized.