Schefter :Colin Kaepernick can't cash in

[Tribal Warfare]

Colin Kaepernick can't cash in

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has found holes in opposing defenses and the CBA.

Thanks to the collective bargaining agreement that the NFL and NFLPA negotiated in July 2011, what San Francisco is paying Kaepernick to take the team to Super Bowl XLVII is a steal. And the Seattle Seahawks are paying even less to quarterback Russell Wilson, who took the team to the divisional playoff round and set up the franchise for the next decade.

There might not be two athletes in any sport as underpaid as Kaepernick and Wilson, two NFC West quarterbacks who figure to square off for years to come. It's off-the-charts ridiculousness, their salaries. It's thievery, nearly criminal.

Sixty minutes from a world championship, Kaepernick is finishing up Year Two of a four-year, $5.12 million deal that is worth more than $3 million less in full than what Mark Sanchez will make from the New York Jets next season.

Yet Kaepernick has no out. He is locked into the deal until after the 2013 season.

Wilson's deal is even more glaringly incongruous. He signed a four-year, $2.99 million deal that is worth $6 million less in full than what Kevin Kolb is scheduled to make from Seattle's division rival Arizona Cardinals next season.

Like Kaepernick, Wilson has no way out. He is stuck with the deal until after the 2014 season, despite being added to the Pro Bowl this week and looking like he could go for years to come.

These two deals expose one of the biggest weaknesses in the CBA for the players and one of the biggest strengths for owners. Young NFL players have no choice but to suck it up for three years, even if they play at the level Kaepernick and Wilson have. Meanwhile, NFL owners get to build cheaply through the draft and own players' rights for five to six years, without the threat of arbitration that Major League Baseball has.

This is why good scouting and draft picks really are more valuable than ever before. The NFL never has seen good labor this cheap for this long.

How the league got here is easy enough to understand. During the most recent CBA negotiations, we saw an extreme backlash against the outlandish deals given to top draft picks in previous years, when a player such as former No. 1 overall pick JaMarcus Russell walked away with $32 million in guaranteed money. So much attention was given to the issue that standout rookies in the new 10-year CBA now are being punished for it. In part because of Russell, Kaepernick and Wilson are underpaid.

There is no reprieve, no chance to be paid until a player has given a team three seasons. By then, some running backs, such as an Alfred Morris, will have plenty of wear on their tires. And as everyone prepares for Super Bowl XLVII, the storylines that follow it will be different than in the past.

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Ric Tapia/Icon SMI/CORBIS
The Seahawks get to hang onto Russell Wilson at his current bargain price for two more seasons.
Young players such as Kaepernick who help lead their team to the Super Bowl cannot demand new deals the way they seemed to regularly in the past. It used to be like this: Player helps team to Super Bowl, player demands new deal, team rewards player for helping team, new deal gets done.

But that was old-school. New-school is the ultimate form of detention for standout young players. The CBA locks up their contracts for three years and throws away the key, with no chance of parole.

It would be much more equitable if certain allowances were made for extreme examples, players who glaringly outplay expectations. It would be hard to define what that level of play is, but suffice it to say that everyone would know. Any player who helps lead his team to the Super Bowl in his second year, as Kaepernick has done, or goes to the Pro Bowl in his first year, the way Wilson has, deserves to be rewarded, at least more than his existing rookie deal does.

Until the rules are adjusted, the players will continue to be wronged. And after watching Kaepernick and Wilson this season and seeing what they will earn in future seasons, one truth is self-evident: The holes in the CBA are a lot bigger than any they find in opposing defenses.

[Rasputin]

I curr >< this much what they make under contract. If they are worth the money they can make up and then some in endorsement deals. That is win win for teams and players and the fans pay for the product they chose to buy, so it's win for the company endorsing the player.

[Rausch]

Originally Posted by Peyton's Princess

well at least you came back and took your lumps for being wrong

I don't agree that a player under a rookie contract has no out.

Originally Posted by Peyton's Princess

Brock took his ball and went home after he tried insulting me for waiting tables once upon a time.

You take that up with him.

Originally Posted by Peyton's Princess

Love someone who attacks another person for having a job. Real adult like.

Hey, I have a shit job now.

It's like being fat (which I am now) - we get to make fun of our own.

Hey, if you can't admit to being wrong or can't take criticism or can't stand being challenged get the **** out. It's what we do here. It's what we are...

[Chiefnj2]

Endorsements.

[dallaschiefsfan]

Originally Posted by Peyton's Princess

if that's the case then teams shouldn't be allowed to cut an underachieving player and not pay him

it's a good faith contract, remember?

That's actually incorrect. Contracts are not guaranteed in the NFL per the agreed upon rules. Only bonuses are guaranteed. It's been that way for a while. Nobody is forcing a player to play or sign contracts under those rules.

[dallaschiefsfan]

Originally Posted by Peyton's Princess

for rookies...yes

if they are going to restrict them from not renegotiating for 3 years then every single drafted rookie should have a 4 year GUARANTEED contract...

which amounts to like $2M or $3M for anyone drafted in the 3rd round or later.

Fair is fair. If you can restrict the gems from making more money then you shouldn't be able to cut the busts and not have to pay them for sucking.

You keep using that word. I do not think you know what it means. Nobody is playing outside of the bounds of agreed upon rules of contracts in the NFL.

[Hootie]

Originally Posted by dallaschiefsfan

That's actually incorrect. Contracts are not guaranteed in the NFL per the agreed upon rules. Only bonuses are guaranteed. It's been that way for a while. Nobody is forcing a player to play or sign contracts under those rules.

I feel like I'm just ****ing being trolled in this thread.

Good job everyone.

[Hootie]

Originally Posted by JASONSAUTO

The player has some guaranteed money, what does the team get in case the player sucks? Nothing.

So the players have a safety net, teams do too
Posted via Mobile Device

Wilson a 3rd round pick received $620,000 guaranteed.

Alfred Morris might have gotten half of that, though I doubt it.

A player should be able to renegotiate his deal whenever they want, just like an NFL team can cut a player whenever they want.

I'm not saying pulling a T.O. after 1 year of a contract is good business, but it's their profession and their decision. If it backfires, it backfires...but the player should still have that right as this is their job.

We don't sign our life away at our jobs. My employee can't block me from looking elsewhere and making more money. Why should the NFL block a guy like Russell Wilson who wouldn't even have to holdout because the Seahawks would hand him a blank check right now. (if they could)

[Hootie]

Originally Posted by Rausch

I don't agree that a player under a rookie contract has no out.

Ok. It's only fact. But ok.

[Tribal Warfare]

[Sorter]

I thought it was common knowledge and reported by other sites (ESPN, PFT, PFW) that the new rookies can't renegotiate until their 3rd year. What am I missing?

[jspchief]

Stop trying to use jobs in the real world as an analogy. They just aren't comparable.

The fact of the matter is these guys agreed to this type of contract when they elected to pursue an NFL career. They chose a job with structured contract rules in the first 3 years, knowing full well that there was a risk of outplaying that contract and possibly missing a chance to ever reap the reward. THEIR CHOICE.

You can argue about what's fair to Russell Wilson, or what was fair to KC with Cassel's contract all you want, but the fact remains both parties agreed to the rules in place when they signed.

Besides, ultimately this CBA is much healthier for the league as a whole. I have no problem with the risk Alfred Morris faces.