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