The average fan doesn't pay the salaries. Billionaire owners pay the salaries with less than half the revenues they receive from mostly broadcasting rights. After limited taxes they pocket the rest. Players deserve every last penny they can get. They are the ones putting their bodies on the line for our entertainment and billions into the pockets of the owners. One could rightly argue that they are vastly underpaid. I honestly can't understand why any fan would have a reason to begrudge what any player gets paid any more than what any other person would begrudge whatever those of us are paid. It's none of their business as far as I can see, just as it's not really our business what the players get paid. At least that's the way I see it.

And, yes, ticket prices keep increasing but that has nothing to do with what players are getting paid. It continues to increase because we as fans are willing to pay more, not because it's needed for player compensation. That comes from the skyrocketing broadcast rights. More and more broadcast entities are getting into the fray wanting a piece of the live audiences. The bidding will continue to drive up the revenues even if tickets were free.

As a capitalist I believe in supply and demand. Rarely is supply and demand as straightforward as with NFL ticket prices. You can watch supply and demand live on TV all season. If there are lots of empty seats, supply exceeds demand at the present price and the price must fall to increase demand to meet supply. If all the stadiums are full and fans are tailgating outside the stadium hoping to get an extra ticket and tickets are selling above market price on stubhub, demand exceeds supply and ticket prices are likely to rise. Supply and demand sets the prices, capital and labor share the profits, all of this is very simple and exactly how its supposed to work and if you don't like, it you don't like free markets. If you want ticket prices to go down either we need like 40 teams playing 25 game seasons in 150,000 seat stadiums to increase supply, or you need people to stop wanting to attend live games, which perhaps could happen through the next generation that prefers to experience life through their phones. If there was a severe lack of interest in attending games, tickets might before free, just to fill seats that the TV audience likes to see full in the background, like a taping of a game show. If nobody wanted to attend even for free, people could be paid to attend, like a struggling politicians televised rally. But right now there is immense demand to attend live NFL games, and that results in increasing prices, because that is how a free market.

As to individual players being overpaid in terms of their teams share of the salary cap, that just reflects uncertainty and imperfect decision making in the context of a free market. Oil companies drill some wells that make enough oil to pay for 5 wells, and others that make no oil at all, because of uncertainty and imperfect decision making. Hollywood studios make some movies that have giant profits and others that lose money. Some very expensive horses with impressive pedigrees never win a race. Football is a similar business. The Saints overpaid for Peat in the draft based on his ability to play Left Tackle that increased the cost to draft him, then converted him to Right Tackle that increased the risk of his being a bust, then converted him to Left Guard where he had mixed results, then bet on a big contract that those mixed results were growing pains and they were brilliant to realized that this Left Tackle turned Right Tackle turned Left Guard was about to become a great Left Guard when he strung together a few good games, and shockingly through uncertainty and imperfect decision making that did not come to pass. Meanwhile some other players were bargains for the Saints and for other teams.

https://twitter.com/nick_underhill/s...26141816070233

I wonder if he plays the run well? Which incidentally, I feel like our second biggest need is finding a run stuffing DT after we find more O linemen to upgrade the protection.