Owners Opt out of Collective Bargaining Agreement

[Keith]

There was a CBA Q&A posted on the Jags site that was pretty informative. I've quoted one of the Qs with its respective A below along with the link, probably mostly for my benefit as I try to keep the cap page from being more than just a finger in the wind.

Now that 2009 is the last capped year, are there rules that impact player contract negotiations and a club’s salary cap planning?
Yes. Here are the key differences:

1. After the last game of the 2008 regular season, signing bonus proration is reduced from a maximum of six years to a maximum of five years.
2. In 2009, there is no June 1 rule for signing bonus acceleration. If a player is removed from the roster or his contract is assigned via waivers or trade at any time in the 2009 League Year, any unamortized signing bonus will be immediately included in Team Salary.
3. There is no year-end netting of incentives in 2009. Not-likely-to-be-earned incentives are charged to team salary immediately when earned, and likely-to-be-earned incentives are deducted when they are no longer possible to earn.
4. Guaranteed salary from 2010 and beyond is reallocated to capped years unless the entire 2009 salary is guaranteed.
5. Fifty percent of guaranteed salary in any League Year beyond 2012 is reallocated to capped years.
6. The 30% increase rule restricts salary increases from 2009 to 2010. For example, a player with a $500,000 salary in 2009 would be limited to annual salary increases of $150,000 ($500,000 x 30 percent) beginning in 2010.
7. A team can include only three veteran team incentives in a player contract covering 2009 and beyond. These incentives must also be coupled with a play-time requirement. Previously, clubs were limited to eight team incentives and no play-time requirement.

http://www.jaguars.com/news/article.aspx?id=6976

[Warren]

An economist has estimated that the NBA's rookie pay scale results in an additional $200 million per year going to veterans that would otherwise go to rookies. I've wondered if Upshaw is so against that kind of set up just so that he can agree to it in negotiations with the owners, look like he's giving something up, and get a concession in return. But I don't think so -- I think part of his resistance is due to the influence of the agents and the rest is ego and stubborness.

The large-market owners also don't like the small-market owners crying poor and wanting a bigger share while not, in the large-market owners' opinions, aggressively pursuing available revenue streams on their own. For example, wanting a larger piece of naming rights fees shared while playing in Ralph Wilson Stadium, Paul Brown Stadium, etc.

[KJ3]

Originally Posted by Warren

An economist has estimated that the NBA's rookie pay scale results in an additional $200 million per year going to veterans that would otherwise go to rookies. I've wondered if Upshaw is so against that kind of set up just so that he can agree to it in negotiations with the owners, look like he's giving something up, and get a concession in return. But I don't think so -- I think part of his resistance is due to the influence of the agents and the rest is ego and stubborness.

i wonder what the vets would think if they read that. besides the only rookies that get stupidly overpaid are the 1st round guys, so he's only really holding out for like 1/8th of the rookies.