How much is enough...
 

You don't own it. You will leave it far behind in a decade or less. How much is enough? Here's a (mostly) random sample of what some of our favorite players are or have made so far in their careers.

Lance Moore

2007: 435,000
2008: 520,000
2009: 1,545,000
2010: 1,759,000

4,259,000

Pierre Thomas

2007: 285,000
2008: 370,000
2009: 460,000
2010: 1,684,000
2011 and beyond: Don't know, but signed a 4/12,000,000 deal. 4.2 million is guaranteed, so we go with that number (which is modest due to roster bonuses and workout bonusus)

6,799,000

Robert Meachem

2007: 285,000 + 1,300,000 signing bonus
2008: 370,000
2009: 485,000
2010: 655,000
2011: 700,000

3,795,000

Chris Reis

2010: 1,101,000

1,101,000

Chris Ivory

2010: 320,000
2011: 405,000
2012: 490,000

Will have made 1,215,000 in 3 years

JoLonn Dunbar

2008: 295,000
2009: 385,000
2010: 470,000

1,150,000

Adrian Arrington

2008: 295,000
2009: 385,000
2010: 470,000

1,170,000

Drew Brees:

2001: 320,000 + 1,845,000 signing bonus
2002: 400,000
2003: 980,000
2004: 1,560,000
2005: 8,078,000
2006: 1,900,000 + 8,000,000 signing bonus
2007: 2,800,000
2008: 4,800,000
2009: 9,800,000
2010: 9,800,000

50,283,000

Jeff Charleston

2010: 1,101,000

1,101,000

Danny Clark

2008: 2,000,000
2009: 2,000,000

4,000,000



Please be mindful - these aren't the 'contract' numbers that many players never see. This is what they made, not counting negotiated extras like roster bonuses and workout bonuses and "you didn't pick your nose in a meeting" bonuses.

And please don't get me wrong. I advocate for the players making as much as they can - I was one of the very few that applauded Aaron Brooks for holding out for more money when he did - , but NOT at the expense of costing me a season or even a single game, even if it's the HOF game which I don't usually watch all the way through anyway.

Even the low end guys make a lot of money people...285,000 is a LOT of money and most of us could live on that for a long time. That's 57k a year for 5 years. How many of you make 57k a year? Some do, some don't, but have I made my point yet?

I find it extremely difficult to feel the pain of the players, especially since I don't know what it is about this current deal they don't like, and they aren't saying.

A guy making the old league minimum for 5 years just made 1,425,000. That's 71,250 a year for 20 years. It's like winning the lottery...seriously...

With me yet? You should be. This is insane.

What is the purpose of this thread?

ARE YOU TRYING TO MAKE ME HATE MY JOB MORE THAN I ALREADY DO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!??????????!!!!!!!!!!!!??????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?????????????????????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*opens another bottle*

As I said before, if the NFL went belly up and restarted, 95% of all current players would play for 1/2 what they make now. And thats probably a conservative estimate.

Those are sick, silly, stupid BIG numbers, right? Yes, it makes those of us with 'real' jobs a bit hacked off. It should in light of their whining and *****ing and moaning and complaining...about pretty much anything really...as it relates to their job.

And yes Danno, you're damn right they would play for half. They can make all they can bank as far as I'm concerned, unless and until I have to miss a single game.

The "owners pulled a fast one?" Nah...see, they OWN. Those men worked or invented or both to earn enough money to buy the team. They OWN. The players WORK for them, and typical of greedy bastards, they want to work less and get paid more.

Those players are some of the most fortunate people on the planet, at my expense, most literally. They portray themselves as being taken advantage of. Hardly. Don't buy it. Don't smoke it. Do NOT drink the coolaid. They are at this very moment the very definition of what's wrong with organized labor.

I SO hope the owners tell them to take it as is or leave it.

I'm over it.

I agree with saintfan.
I said before that I was on the onwers' side.
The only palce where I was on the players' side is for a 4-game preseason and 16 -game season.
I think the NFL and PU should hold more or a good sumofthe players' money in retirement same as our work places do for us. Older players from the early 80's and back should have better health care and aid from the NFL and PU. Many of those former players, esp those of the 70's and back really don't have all of those fringe benefits because their pay was low then compared to these megamillion salaries of now.

I don't feel sorry for any of these guys. My give-a-****ter is officially broken.

Crafty agents put the pay scale where it is today.

This is a big reason rookie wages will be in check with the new CBA

Are many players overpaid? Yes. Are all?? NO!

So let's quit all the hate for what a guy makes. It may not seem "fair" to us, but many of them EARN their money.

Ever work next to someone who makes more than you but does less? Yeah, it happens everywhere...

I could be happy making league minimum on a practice squad and only have to work 3 days a week. I agree with saintfan also. This has left a real bad taste for most fans in the this economy.

You're missing the point. I advocate for the players making as much as they can make. If the money is there a large portion of it should go to them. They are the product and I get that. My point is not to 'hate' them for what they make, but rather it is to establish that they make a LOT of money - even the lowest paid players in the league make BIG cash.

But it's not enough. No. The players angle here is not to be paid fairly - their salaries are fair by ANY measure. It is to be paid as much as possible, collateral damage (thats us by the way) be damned.

Blaming the evil agents is missing the target. The agents are a tool of the players, not the other way around. Players holding out in training camp are not handcuffed by their agents. Players refusing to sign with the team that drafted them aren't handcuffed by agents. Players decertifying their union aren't told to do so by their agents. Players suing their bosses in court aren't forced to do so by their agents. No, agents are leveraged by players to cut them the most lucrative deal they can.

A man who has made over 50 million dollars over the last ten years playing a game who tells me he is being mistreated is going to have a hard time swinging me to his side. He's not a miner and this ain't the roaring twenties. A man who tells me the system is corrupt while cashing out nearly a million and a half over 5 years at a MINIMUM better come to the table with something pretty damaging.

None have. None can. It's a farce.

No. There are some extremely well-paid players but the majority aren't as successful as you think. Remember that an NFL contract is not "guaranteed" like other sports.

How do you know what the players want? You don't play in the NFL.

Totally disagree. A 22 year old football player or Drew Rosenhaus. Which person is more likely to negotiate NFL contracts? Agents want the pay scale to increase each year for their own benefit.

This is a common sentiment. We're fans. We want football. But don't fool yourself into thinking that either side of this is more right than the other.

The agents are the motivators behind the whole thing? Man give me some of what you're smoking. You think that 22 year old would play for less but doesn't because his agent won't let him? For real? You really think that? Dude....

Guaranteed? Nothing to do with a single thing.

As for what the players want, it is evident that they want to work less and get paid more. If you haven't deduced that by now then you're either (a) not paying attention or (b) not willing to honor the factual reality of what's going on. I know what they want. YOU know what they want. Please lets not debate semantics or the otherwise obvious.

Let's define 'well paid'. Would you say, "Hey, I think I'm pretty well paid", if I offered you 88 THOUSAND dollars for 17 weeks of work? That's what the lowest of the low, the practice squad players, are making. Would you say, "Hey, I'm pretty darn well paid", if I told you I would pay you 1.4 million plus benefits over the next 5 years. I bet you would. That's what the rookie minimum salary is. Of course anything north of that and I'm certain you would continue to think you're well paid. While it is true that some of paid MUCH more than others, to a man they are every one of them 'well paid' by any definition. Period.

I am not fooling myself one bit. I'm not sure you aren't though. I cannot walk into my bosses office, the owner of the company, and say, "Hey, me and my coworkers, we want 46% of what you netted this year. It doesn't work that way. The players are very fortunate men, and as I have already said, I advocate for them making as much as they can, up to a point. That point is when they begin to costs me games. By failing to sign an agreement that makes their situations EVEN BETTER than the numbers I just provided you they have cost me the HOF game. They don't care. I do. They SAY they care, but the truth is they are more interested in future leverage against the men and women who pay their far more than generous salaries.

The is most definitely a right and a wrong in this debate. I have not been manipulated by either side. I am angry at both of them for this foolishness, but, as I have said, a man making 285000 much less one making 50 million is going to have a very hard time making me understand his position if he tell me he is being mistreated.

If you disagree then so be it. We can leave it at that.

My point regarding agents is that they are to blame for the rising costs of rookie salaries. They negotiate the contracts therefore they dictate when a player "plays".

'Players want more to do less'? Man that's your view so have it - I disagree.

Let's take your job for example. Say your performance makes your boss an extra million dollars in profit every year and all he does is tell you that he wants you to work more hours, keep the same pay and keep the same benefits.

Would you want to restructure your deal? Or are you "paid well enough already"??

Man you just don't get it. The terms of the deal dictate MORE money and LESS work. That's not my opinion. That's fact. Believe as you wish.

Agents are not in control man. Players are in control. They pay the agent to leverage as much as they can get, and I don't have a problem with that either by the way, but I'm afraid you've got it backwards my friend.

In the NFL, 'performance' is the difference between the low salary guys and the high salary guys. Those who perform will make more money than you and your 10 best friends will make in your lives. It's BIG money...VERY BIG money. And we just missed the HOF game because they want more. It's already too damned expensive to go to a game, and it ain't gonna do anything but continue to be more and more expensive. You blame the agents for this. I'm telling you the agents work at the player's discretion. Believe what you want.

And once again, they can make as much as they want. I don't hate 'em for it, right up until they cost me a game.

Okay, your still not getting my point. But hey - Sportcenter says it looks like a deal is being signed on Monday! Woo hoo!!! Now those greedy players who make too much money can get back to working for the o-so-fair owners.

LMAO. NOW you're on the right track! :bng:

Yeah so, do you have the numbers for the OWNERS?

No. Do YOU have the numbers for YOUR boss? 'nuff said...