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meant draft picks would from then on be signed on a sliding scale as determined by their actual draft position. For example, for 2007-2008, the highly touted, top pick Greg Oden can sign for no more than 120% of the base rookie salary ($3,885,000). Similarly, all top drafted rookies can sign for no more than 20% above, or 20% below, that base figure. Such a system has all but removed the hold out problem from the NBA.

The NFL can not have a rookie cap structure such as this because there are more players on an NFL team and the positions in football are more specialized. However, before debating whether or not the NFL should have a rookie salary cap, let's be clear on one thing. The NFL does, in fact, have a rookie salary cap in place. It is, however, considerably different than the cap that exists in the NBA.

In 1993, NFL owners and players agreed to set a Rookie Cap in that year's Collective Bargaining Agreement. At that point, a ceiling was established to set a maximum dollar figure a team could offer all recently drafted athletes and rookie free agents. However, the NFL rookie cap does not set a ceiling on what a team can pay any one individual player, but rather what a franchise can pay to sign its rookies collectively. So, for example, whatever the Browns signed Quinn to will count against what they can pay their other draft picks. Like the NBA, rookie salaries in the NFL are generally determined by where the player was drafted. So although there is a rookie cap in the NFL, there is still considerably more leverage for rookies to negotiate their starting salary than in the NBA.

That being said the average length of an NFL career is about three and a half seasons, giving a player limited chances to make his mark financially. Careers are cut short due to injury much more so than in baseball or basketball. The NFL is the only major sport to have created its own concussion management program. The NFL Players Association continues to study the after-affects of injuries on its former athletes. One study showed the majority of NFL players have suffered permanent injuries. Another study showed over 60% of the players polled suffered at least one concussion during their career, with many reporting as many as three or more. The NBA doesn't hold concussion studies among its former athletes. Neither does baseball. At 42 years of age, Reggie Miller is currently contemplating a comeback. Roger Clemens is still pitching at 45. Julio Franco just turned 49 and was recently seen in a Braves uniform. At 49, most pro football players are fortunate to be walking without a limp.

The bottom line is this. We, as fans, expect pro football players to go out and give it there all without once thinking about the long-term damage these men are doing to both their bodies and their psyche. To fault a JaMarcus Russell or a Brady Quinn for trying to get the most out of his franchise is absurd. The odds are already severely stacked against them. To collectively cap what they can earn in an otherwise shortened career comes at quite an expense their own physical and mental well-being. On any given snap, a player can suffer a career-threatening injury. Remember, the average football player makes half what the average baseball player does and only one-quarter of the pro basketball player's salary. But can you recall the last time you saw a professional basketball or baseball player being carted off the field on a stretcher?

Learn more about this author, Chris Humpherys.
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