Drew should play for free...
 

Ok, don't freak. Hear me out.

Tiger and Phil make upwards of $60 mil a year. They might make 5 of that off winnings. So they make $50+ mil on endorsements. Their face is a little more recognizable because when they win, they win as an individual.

What would happen if a player LIKE Drew were to take a base salary contract and furthermore, donate it to a charity? With the publicity that the sports media and regular media would give him, do you think it would be enough to generate a more than competitive salary with what he would have made? The top two golf earners each made more than TWICE what Lebron or Peyton made last year. Obviously, theres not much stability in that, but the publicity would be huge. Is this TOO crazy an idea? I know its not that crazy, its just that someone would have to commit to it.

I don't think he could legally do it IMO. The cap is in place to keep teams on a similar competive level. I'm sure there is something in there that states a player can't just play for free or a lot less than market value. It also screws up other players trying to neg their own contracts based off of other players. I could be wrong but but it seems rational that the NFL has taken measures to prevent the scenario.

el-nutso

Guaranteed money versus hustling for endorsements... it's a no brainer. Not to say Brees isn't a superstar, but Tiger and Mickelson have become golfing icons. Also the shelf life for football players are typically short... they're limiting their earning potential too.

Thanks for your suggestions Carl, but its not gonna work.

Neither Tiger nor Phil run the risk of career-ending (and therefore endorsement ending) injury every time they putt or tee off.

Ok, I realize it isn't ideal but I have two answers for you. One is it would be a risk-reward type scenario but the publicity generated would make him "icon" level. And as far as injury goes, this wouldn't be any better than being tagged by a team. Not to mention, getting cut after a season ending injury or injuries would be the same thing. I'm just saying if guys can pull $40-50 mil in endorsements, thats more than double what his average salary is. And a lot of those aging stars get restructured contracts.
I'm not saying this is a great idea, but I am willing to defend it some.

If it was that easy to get millions and millions in endorsements, don't you think everyone would be doing it?

You have to factor in market saturation and the crowd in which these athletes are catering to. Woods and Mickelson are brands in a global sport with little competition. Brees would have to compete with the superstar on the next team while Woods and Mickelson are the flagships of their sport. Lebron James is the face of the NBA and making substantially less than two golfers. Without a guaranteed salary, the top players in the major sports can't compete with the Tiger Woods' of the world(baseball top players maybe the exception).

I think that there's as much chance of Brees playing for free than there is that this mystery meat really turns out to be from an unicorn.

http://www.wired.com/geekdad/wp-cont...nicornmeat.jpg

we might need a grass roots campaign to help the idea along, so :

---Everybody at B & G buy three Brees jerseys this week- they make a great V-day gifts, keep one, give one to to someone less fortunate, be creative, but just BUY!

once the money starts pouring in we can all say we helped contribute to keeping the team together

It's over the top, but Michael Jordan played for peanuts so he could keep Pippen & Rodman. He did pretty darn good with his endorsements though.

I just dont think Drew cares about being the trend setter in this fashion

I don't know about that. You do realize he was the highest paid player ever for a single season right. 33 million was hardly peanuts.

... I AM freaking out, man ...

In that case you need to take a chill pill bro!

http://images.t-nation.com/forum_ima...-chillpill.jpg

Love this stuff!! Delicious

Is it really "magic in every bite?"

Have you been in an accident or hit your head in the last twenty-four (24) hours?

You might want to see a physician.

There's thinking out of the box and then there's taking Alice by the hand and falling down the rabbit hole...

Just messin' with ya!

Michael Jordan was paid between $3 and $5 million per season. The NBA had strict salary caps and MJ took pay cuts to surround himself with good talent before his 1st retirement. When the NBA lifted the amount a player can make if resigning with his own team as a free agent, Jordan was paid $20 Million the first full season out of retirement and then $25 million each year after that for the bulls.

Like I said.....Jordan took pay cuts to keep talent on his team (and yes.....$3-$5 million/year was peanuts for Michael Jordan). It is a well known fact that he made most of his money on endorsements, like Nike & Gatorade.......not as a player.

According to Basketball Reference:
1984-85 - $550,000
1985-86 - $630,000
1986-87 - $737,500
1987-88 - $845,000
1988-89 - $2,000,000
1989-90 - $2,250,000
1990-91 - $2,500,000
1991-92 - $3,250,000
1992-93 - $4,000,000
1993-94 - $4,000,000
1994-95 - $3,850,000
1995-96 - $3,850,000
1996-97 - $30,140,000
1997-98 - $33,140,000


Read more: How much did the Chicago Bulls pay Michael Jordan per year

Look at 1989-1996. Jordan was undoubtedly the best player in the NBA at that time. What were other star players in the league making? Here's a few examples of how Jordan was a team player:

Patrick Ewing (1995-1996) - $18,724,000.00/yr
David Robinson (1994-1995) - $7,300,000/yr.
Clyde Drexler (1995-1996) - $9,810,000/yr
Larry Bird (1991-1992) - $7,070,000/yr

Sorry gandhi... don't mean to bust your chops but you got all your facts wrong. In 1988, Michael Jordan signed a 25 million 8 year contract... which he was locked into. That's why he was being "underpaid"... not because he chose to take less money when the salary cap was lifted. That's why as soon as he could take advantage of it and cash in, he did... BIG TIME. It wasn't because the best player on the planet decided to be humble and make millions less than everyone else. The same can be said for Scottie Pippen... who was also locked into a long term deal early on in his career.

Now the second part of your statement some of it remains true... he built an empire but that's something we already knew.


Rookie deal
1984-85 - $550,000
1985-86 - $630,000
1986-87 - $737,500
1987-88 - $845,000
2nd contract
1988-89 - $2,000,000
1989-90 - $2,250,000
1990-91 - $2,500,000
1991-92 - $3,250,000
1992-93 - $4,000,000
1993-94 - $4,000,000
1994-95 - $3,850,000
1995-96 - $3,850,000
CHA-CHING
1996-97 - $30,140,000
1997-98 - $33,140,000

He does play for free. He gets paid to practice.