Are players being over payed???

[jth1331]

Quote: Originally Posted by mestevo

Those kind of comparisons typically have to suspend a number of facts to hold up though and are only true in a specific context. Large contracts don't go from start to finish without being touched again, and much, much more often than not result in a release or restructure within a couple of/few years. Salaries are just a matter of the combination of leverage, need and talent in a particular moment.

Also, its one reason I think the NFL prospers so well. Players restructure, get new deals rather easily, and in the end, yeah you might have a couple players being overpaid, but most of the players are paid adequately. All the contracts aren't guaranteed, which is huge. Yeah, might sign a guy to a huge contract and it being a bust, but after 2 years your free of the decision.
Look at the other sports, you sign the wrong guy to a huge deal, you're screwed for the life of the contract. Completely guaranteed, no restructuring of deals. I'm amazed the leagues haven't looked at maybe approaching this idea, but then I remember pretty much everybody is greedy.

[PuppyMaster]

When you take into account the exclusivity of the profession as well as the income players bring in, no, they are not over paid.

Let's take a look at the numbers. Each team has a roster size of 53 with a handful of practice squad players. We're looking at roughly 1,700 active NFL players at any given time. I think it'd be a conservative estimate to say at least half of those players are "fringe" talents at best, hanging on by a thread every training camp or players able to put together a couple average seasons before fading into obscurity. We now have a talent pool of about 850 players that could, potentially, have somewhat successful careers in the NFL, barring catastrophic injury. By "successful" I mean a player making an opening day roster and being able to put in 5-8 years of service. I don't think it'd be unfair to assume roughly half of those players would fall into the "good" category and may even get a Pro Bowl or two depending on luck and outside circumstances. These are the guys in the NFL with salaries in the low seven figures. The players making more than that take up only a handful of NFL roster spots. In fact, there's usually only about ten players or so on a given roster making five-plus million a year in base salary and only a couple per team making over ten million. These ten million per year players are among the NFL "elite" (at least in terms of perceived importance or potential).

So we've whittled down the 1,700 NFL-quality athletes in the world down to a mere 80-100 players actually raking in the ridiculous amounts of money that leaves us common folk shaking our heads. With that in mind let's remember only a handful of teams have the nationwide popularity to transcend their win/loss record and remain an economically viable entity while losing year in and year out. There's a reason why the Bills have had to play "home" games in Toronto and why there have been rumors swirling around the Rams and Jaguars about possible relocation in recent years.

Let's ask ourselves a question. Do a Google search and find a fairly recent list of your favorite team's base salary contracts. Take away the top five money makers and how good would your team really be? On most teams I bet those players could easily mean the difference between a top ten draft pick and a possible deep run into the playoffs.

In short, pay the men. It's not like you can easily replace a top 100 player in the NFL with any sort of regularity.

[MooseBoyJ]

To be brief... They are payed millions to play a childs game. All in your perspective I suppose. I mean the Titanic's wreck was great for the lobsters about to be cooked.

[dsallupinyaarea]

I always find it interesting when people call basketball, football, baseball, etc. a childs game. When's the last time a non-parent went and watched a middle school football game? Personally, I only watch the pros so it's far from a childs game to me.

[MooseBoyJ]

Quote: Originally Posted by dsallupinyaarea

I always find it interesting when people call basketball, football, baseball, etc. a childs game. When's the last time a non-parent went and watched a middle school football game? Personally, I only watch the pros so it's far from a childs game to me.

On the other side of the coin you have this very valid point. If you are running a multibillion dollar business, as major sports are, wouldn't you do anything to keep your workers, athletes, happy and want to work/ play for you? So no your not overpaying them. Your making news and creating more revenue for your billion dollar company. Think about it. When Romo signed his new, overpayed IMO, contract 2 things happened. Media generated people's interest and Jersey sales jumped up. Like I said. All in your point of view. Flooding is great at making fertile farmland.

[Brandwin]

Quote: Originally Posted by gopher_guy

I hate when people say athletes are overpaid. They chose to pursue a profession where millions of people pay to watch them work, and they succeeded at it. Good for them.

Same here. You never hear the argument that an actor or musican is over payed.

People get $20 million a movie

[Fresh Tendrils]

Quote: Originally Posted by DookieMowf

Same here. You never hear the argument that an actor or musican is over payed. People get $20 million a movie

Most are underpaid.

[jmood88]

Quote: Originally Posted by DookieMowf

Same here. You never hear the argument that an actor or musican is over payed. People get $20 million a movie

I've also never gotten the "they don't have real jobs" argument that people love make. It really just sounds like people are jealous that athletes get paid a lot to do something that they think would be fun to do for a living.