NFL Contracts to Get Smaller? Seriously!

Before you scroll down, I want you to answer the following question:

If you were a 30-year-old NFL player, which of the following contracts would you rather sign?

Seven years, $67 million.

or

Seven years, $45 million.

Most people would say, obviously, the first one. But if you look at it, that is not actually what the contract was worth.

That contract was really worth $37 million over four years.

Harrison was due to make $9 million this season, $10 million next season, and $11.4 million in 2011.

Had he signed the second contract, the average per year would have been a little more than $6 million per year, but he would still be in an Indianapolis uniform. 

Now, which do you think is better?

$45 million over seven years, and being able to stay with the team you have played with your entire career?

or

$37 million over four years, and hope you can find a new team at the age of 35, with diminished skills and make up the other $8 million?

Does anyone else think Marvin Harrison will make $8 million over the next three years?

The problem with contracts has become the fake years. The ones added to the end, that the team has no intention of paying. They just look good to the other players.

These massive contracts are now going to be a thing of the past. With the CBA set to expire after this season, a new rule, called the 30 percent rule, will be implemented.

This rule states that no contract will be able to increase over 30 percent from the previous year. There will still be years added to the end to make the numbers look bigger, but the money will be more evenly distributed.

The only way to make the contracts honest is to make them fully guaranteed, like MLB.  The only way that is going to happen is with the new CBA. But you can be certain that if they become guaranteed, $100 million contracts will be a thing of the past.