mesaSteeler
03-30-2008, 10:41 PM
Dark days ahead? NFL meetings set serious tone
By Jarrett Bell and Jim Corbett, USA TODAY
USA TODAY analyzes the key issues facing the NFL as the league's owners gather for their annual meeting March 30-April 3. Among the topics that may be tackled by the owners: A cheating policy, the collective bargaining agreement, rookie salaries, playoff seeding, the personal-conduct policy, HGH testing, radio communication for defensive players and the site of the 2012 Super Bowl:
ISSUE: Spygate's cheating legacy
Analysis: Seven months after the New England Patriots were caught and harshly punished for illegally videotaping the New York Jets' defensive signals during last year's season opener, the specter of Spygate still lingers.
Commissioner Roger Goodell sent a March 6 memo to the competition committee about his intention to strengthen safeguards against possible further cheating by conducting unannounced inspections of locker rooms, coaches' booths and team technology as a deterrent against any future illegal videotaping of opponents signals.
Our take: One thing about Goodell: He is always proactive when it comes to upholding the integrity of the game or addressing any perceived black eye to the league's image. Last year it was a crackdown on player conduct, which the NFLPA said has resulted in a 20% reduction in incidents.
Interesting how the focus has shifted in the wake of Spygate to organizational behavior and accountability.
Goodell's decision to conduct spot checks of locker rooms and vigorously monitor teams is his way of reinforcing fan confidence. His latest suggestion would require that a team executives, including the owner and head coach, certify annually that the organization is in compliance with league policy and did not engage in any illegal practices.
Clearly, there is a heightened sense of urgency in erasing any lingering cloud from Spygate.
DISCUSS: What anti-cheating measures would you employ?
"It would be naοve to think that our house has been pure forever," said Ray Anderson, the NFL's vice president of football operations. "But we are compelled to move forward."
ISSUE: State of the CBA
Analysis: Not two minutes after owners announced the last collective bargaining agreement extension in March 2006, there was talk of exercising a clause that would allow either side to opt out. That rhetorical sentiment has escalated as a Nov. 8 deadline looms for terminating the CBA after the 2010 season.
Several owners have expressed dissatisfaction with a deal that guarantees players nearly 60% of total league-wide football revenues that exceed $6 billion per year. While there is no vote on the agenda for the upcoming meetings, there will be plenty of discussions and analysis about how the owners proceed.
When they agreed (30-2) to the extension two years ago, they faced the prospect of an uncapped season in 2007 and had to clear a major hurdle in developing a new revenue-sharing model to address the disparity of more than $100 million per year between teams on the high and low ends of revenue production. That a deal wasn't struck until the 11th hour, in former commissioner Paul Tagliabue's last significant act, was one bit of evidence that the players got the better end of the deal.
As Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones put it on that night in March 2006, "If I'm going to get my fanny kicked, I can put that off until another day." Well, it's another day indeed.
Our take: The shoe is clearly on the other foot. For decades, owners held leverage over the players when dividing the pie. Now NFLPA chief Gene Upshaw insists there will be no "givebacks," while owners threaten to pull out of the deal which opens the door to worse-case scenarios such as strikes and lockouts.
This is basically another negotiation, although it hasn't reached the formal stage. Despite the rhetoric, the last thing either side wants is a stoppage of play which would jeopardize the fan and consumer support for the nation's most popular sport, probably require refunding a portion of the $3.7 billion annual TV contract and perhaps cause a dip in franchise values.
In past 20 years, the NFL has benefited tremendously as the only major sports league without a work stoppage. Now would not be the time, especially considering the debt load some owners are carrying with new stadiums. Sports Business Journal recently reported that the NFL carries a combined $9 billion in debt more than any other league, but economically palatable given the cash flow. Stop playing the games, though, and it's a different story. And both sides stand to suffer tremendous losses.
ISSUE: Rookie salary cap
Analysis: There is growing discontent among league executives with the exorbitant amount of guaranteed money paid to rookies at the top of the draft. Colts president Bill Polian has already suggested that a rookie salary cap can correct the out-of-whack system.
Consider the recent lack of blockbuster trades such as the deal struck by the San Diego Chargers and New York Giants in 2004 when the Chargers selected, then traded Eli Manning to the Giants in return for the fourth overall pick, Philip Rivers, and a bounty of picks.
The reason for the drought? The top-of-the draft deals are too expensive.
"Trades are a unique thing in the first round anymore because of the cost of the top 10 picks financially," Polian said. "To take on that cost, then to give up something to do so is almost counterintuitive, and that's clearly not what the draft was designed to be.
Our take: The guaranteed money given to top-10 picks is soaring out of control. More and more team executives want something done to correct the biggest inequity in the salary-cap system.
Why should an inflated amount of guaranteed money go to a rookie who can ruin a team's salary cap if he goes bust in the high-risk crapshoot that is the top of any draft? The NBA has it right with a rookie wage scale that mandates fiscal sanity.
Contrast the deal signed by last year's No. 1 pick, Oakland Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell, (six years, $68 million with between $29 and $31 million guaranteed) with that signed by seven-time Pro Bowl guard Alan Faneca with the New York Jets this month (five years, $40 million with $21 million guaranteed).
With free agency, "At least those guys are getting paid on a little bit of production," ESPN analyst and former Tennesse Titans general manager Floyd Reese said.
"The upper five to seven draft picks are getting paid for zero production. The most absurd thing is you end up holding the guy out over negotiations and you still pay him the money and he can't really help you that first year. That's why it's lose-lose."
When rookies are earning as much if not more than future Hall of Famers, a draft system created to help the weak recover quickly is actually threatening to burden those teams further.
"There has to be a way to figure it out," CBS analyst and former Houston Texans and Washington Redskins general manager Charley Casserly said. "Frankly, the veteran players should stand up and demand it."
ISSUE: Playoff re-seeding
Analysis: The competition committee has proposed shaking up the playoff format by seeding teams based on overall record and without regard to divisions. The push is intended to prevent teams from resting starters late in the season with their playoff fate already secure.
Case in point: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, winners of the NFC South last season, hosted the wild card New York Giants in the first round despite having one less win than the eventual Super Bowl champions. The Bucs rested several starters in Week 17 since there was no playoff incentive to win their finale (while the Giants played the New England Patriots hard in a 38-35 loss).
Under the new proposal, more teams, whether in line for a division title or a wild card, will be motivated to play hard later into the season with better seeds and a possible home game at stake based on overall record.
Our take: The system isn't broken, as the Giants showed in their Super Bowl XLII upset of the Patriots as the NFC's fifth seed. Yet the re-seeding shakeup is made for the right reasons: The competition committee wants more late-season games of the caliber of the Patriots-Giants Week 17 classic.
DISCUSS: Would you re-seed the NFL playoff format?
With the top two teams locked down, seeding teams 3-6 should be based on won-lost record (ties go to division winners). This would reward those who earned their chance at postseason hospitality on the field. The final regular season weekend shouldn't turn into a re-run of the preseason.
ISSUE: Personal conduct
Analysis: Nearly a year since commissioner Roger Goodell instituted a tougher personal-conduct policy, there are no major revisions expected. The gist of the presentation at the meetings this year will be to review the results which league officials view as positive. Considering that there have been fewer headlines this offseason stemming from unruly off-field behavior, the policy seems to be working as intended.
Our take: The tough stance sent a strong message to fans and business partners of the league, in addition to the players that Goodell means business when protecting the league's image and is proactive and decisive in addressing issues. That the policy has the full support of the players' union has added to its teeth. Goodell was wise to get input from the union and individual players, in addition to owners and outside experts, in crafting the policy that has been hailed in many circles.
ISSUE: International growth
Analysis: The San Diego Chargers and New Orleans Saints will play in London in October, following up on last year's first regular-season game outside North America played between the Giants and Miami Dolphins. The Buffalo Bills received permission to play a regular-season game in Toronto each of the next five years in addition to three preseason games during the same span. These are the latest examples of the international growth for America's most popular sport.
Our take: Some Bills fans are worried that the Toronto agreement might be a precursor to losing their team permanently to their Canadian neighbors when the team's Buffalo stadium lease is up in 2012. And the stability of the team is very much in flux, so their concerns are well-founded.
"International growth is an inevitable outgrowth of the popularity of the game," former Bills general manager Marv Levy said. "There's worldwide interest in the NFL. It's revenue-driven. Everybody would like it to be like it used to be. But everything evolves.
"The Bills are not just a Buffalo team. We're a western New York team and many who come in from Canada for games are fans of the Bills as well. A game a year in Toronto? Why not? If it helps to extend the fan base."
ISSUE: HGH testing
Analysis: Closing the loophole in the league's steroids policy still begins with the development of a reliable urine test for human growth hormone. There is no definite timetable for this, so no significant changes are expected in the steroids policy for this year.
The NFL has contributed $3 million to a Partnership for Clean Competition (which received similar grants from Major League Baseball and the U.S. Olympic Committee), headed by drug-testing pioneer Don Catlin, to develop reliable tests for HGH and other performance-enhancing drugs. Catlin has also worked on the NFL's behalf for years to develop a urine test for HGH. So the league continues to wait on the research mission.
The league will also keep a close eye on testing for performance-enhancing drugs at the Summer Olympics in Beijing, but that monitoring is attached to another issue in addition to reliability: Blood tests. The NFLPA has vehemently opposed blood testing.
Our take: The prospect of blood tests seems like a legitimate area to pursue, if such tests prove reliable. But that's a big if. At the 2004 Olympics in Athens, not a single athlete tested positive through the blood tests, fueling criticism that the tests weren't reliable. Upshaw has been adamant that he won't subject his players to blood samples, but with the credibility of the game at stake and Congress watching, that possibility looms as an option. At the moment it isn't because there are no sanctioned labs in the U.S. to administer such blood tests. Stay tuned.
ISSUE: 'Radioactive' helmets
Analysis: Defenses have never had the benefit of coach-to-player communication that's a staple of offensive play-calling, where quarterbacks receive plays from coaches through a radio receiver installed in their helmets. After failing in two previous attempts, a revised measure to allow one defensive player to use such technology is back for another vote. Rules are often slanted in favor of the offense, but the league's competition committee is backing this proposal on the basis of equality.
Our take: After falling just two votes shy last year, the stars are aligned for adoption this year. First, the proposal was tweaked to address concerns of defensive coaches who worried about alternatives due to injuries or substitutions. Although just one player will be allowed to play with the radio-equipped helmet, a second defensive player will also have such equipment the helmet to remain on the sideline until needed. This would allow for, say, a safety to switch to a radio helmet if the middle linebacker designated for the ramped-up helmet comes out of the game on dime packages, or is injured. Both players would have to be designated before the game.
The second reason this passes? Spygate. Allowing the defense to use radio communication would eliminate the need for hand signals which is what the Patriots were caught stealing with their videocams in September.
ISSUE: 2012 Super Bowl
Analysis: The deadline for submitting bids for Super Bowl XLVI is April 1, with at least four cities expected to compete Phoenix, Indianapolis, Houston and New Orleans. There will be no formal presentations or action at this week's meetings, although that won't preclude back-door lobbying. The issue will be on the agenda for the next round of meetings in Atlanta in late May, when presentations will likely be followed by a vote and the awarding of the Super Bowl site.
Our take: If New Orleans submits a bid, it would be the unquestioned sentimental favorite. Although some big events have returned to the Crescent City (the 2008 NBA All-Star Game, the 2008 BCS championship game and ArenaBowls XXI and XXII among them), obvious questions will arise about the capability of the city ravaged by Hurricane Katrina to handle an event as large as the Super Bowl.
In the past, New Orleans has been arguably the best site for a Super Bowl, due in part to the city's embrace as a consummate host. That has to help. By putting its signature event in New Orleans, the NFL would further back up its goodwill pledge to help the city back on its feet. Still, it's business and a matter of timing.
Indianapolis narrowly lost out to Dallas/North Texas for the 2011 Super Bowl, and has to be considered another favorite with a new stadium. Weather is not in Indy's favor, but with the league intent on including northern sites in the rotation (the last was Detroit, XL), it might be time after this year's ho-hum Phoenix experience is followed by Tampa, Miami and North Texas. Houston? Deserving of a repeat performance after a well-executed Super Bowl in 2004.
By Jarrett Bell and Jim Corbett, USA TODAY
USA TODAY analyzes the key issues facing the NFL as the league's owners gather for their annual meeting March 30-April 3. Among the topics that may be tackled by the owners: A cheating policy, the collective bargaining agreement, rookie salaries, playoff seeding, the personal-conduct policy, HGH testing, radio communication for defensive players and the site of the 2012 Super Bowl:
ISSUE: Spygate's cheating legacy
Analysis: Seven months after the New England Patriots were caught and harshly punished for illegally videotaping the New York Jets' defensive signals during last year's season opener, the specter of Spygate still lingers.
Commissioner Roger Goodell sent a March 6 memo to the competition committee about his intention to strengthen safeguards against possible further cheating by conducting unannounced inspections of locker rooms, coaches' booths and team technology as a deterrent against any future illegal videotaping of opponents signals.
Our take: One thing about Goodell: He is always proactive when it comes to upholding the integrity of the game or addressing any perceived black eye to the league's image. Last year it was a crackdown on player conduct, which the NFLPA said has resulted in a 20% reduction in incidents.
Interesting how the focus has shifted in the wake of Spygate to organizational behavior and accountability.
Goodell's decision to conduct spot checks of locker rooms and vigorously monitor teams is his way of reinforcing fan confidence. His latest suggestion would require that a team executives, including the owner and head coach, certify annually that the organization is in compliance with league policy and did not engage in any illegal practices.
Clearly, there is a heightened sense of urgency in erasing any lingering cloud from Spygate.
DISCUSS: What anti-cheating measures would you employ?
"It would be naοve to think that our house has been pure forever," said Ray Anderson, the NFL's vice president of football operations. "But we are compelled to move forward."
ISSUE: State of the CBA
Analysis: Not two minutes after owners announced the last collective bargaining agreement extension in March 2006, there was talk of exercising a clause that would allow either side to opt out. That rhetorical sentiment has escalated as a Nov. 8 deadline looms for terminating the CBA after the 2010 season.
Several owners have expressed dissatisfaction with a deal that guarantees players nearly 60% of total league-wide football revenues that exceed $6 billion per year. While there is no vote on the agenda for the upcoming meetings, there will be plenty of discussions and analysis about how the owners proceed.
When they agreed (30-2) to the extension two years ago, they faced the prospect of an uncapped season in 2007 and had to clear a major hurdle in developing a new revenue-sharing model to address the disparity of more than $100 million per year between teams on the high and low ends of revenue production. That a deal wasn't struck until the 11th hour, in former commissioner Paul Tagliabue's last significant act, was one bit of evidence that the players got the better end of the deal.
As Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones put it on that night in March 2006, "If I'm going to get my fanny kicked, I can put that off until another day." Well, it's another day indeed.
Our take: The shoe is clearly on the other foot. For decades, owners held leverage over the players when dividing the pie. Now NFLPA chief Gene Upshaw insists there will be no "givebacks," while owners threaten to pull out of the deal which opens the door to worse-case scenarios such as strikes and lockouts.
This is basically another negotiation, although it hasn't reached the formal stage. Despite the rhetoric, the last thing either side wants is a stoppage of play which would jeopardize the fan and consumer support for the nation's most popular sport, probably require refunding a portion of the $3.7 billion annual TV contract and perhaps cause a dip in franchise values.
In past 20 years, the NFL has benefited tremendously as the only major sports league without a work stoppage. Now would not be the time, especially considering the debt load some owners are carrying with new stadiums. Sports Business Journal recently reported that the NFL carries a combined $9 billion in debt more than any other league, but economically palatable given the cash flow. Stop playing the games, though, and it's a different story. And both sides stand to suffer tremendous losses.
ISSUE: Rookie salary cap
Analysis: There is growing discontent among league executives with the exorbitant amount of guaranteed money paid to rookies at the top of the draft. Colts president Bill Polian has already suggested that a rookie salary cap can correct the out-of-whack system.
Consider the recent lack of blockbuster trades such as the deal struck by the San Diego Chargers and New York Giants in 2004 when the Chargers selected, then traded Eli Manning to the Giants in return for the fourth overall pick, Philip Rivers, and a bounty of picks.
The reason for the drought? The top-of-the draft deals are too expensive.
"Trades are a unique thing in the first round anymore because of the cost of the top 10 picks financially," Polian said. "To take on that cost, then to give up something to do so is almost counterintuitive, and that's clearly not what the draft was designed to be.
Our take: The guaranteed money given to top-10 picks is soaring out of control. More and more team executives want something done to correct the biggest inequity in the salary-cap system.
Why should an inflated amount of guaranteed money go to a rookie who can ruin a team's salary cap if he goes bust in the high-risk crapshoot that is the top of any draft? The NBA has it right with a rookie wage scale that mandates fiscal sanity.
Contrast the deal signed by last year's No. 1 pick, Oakland Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell, (six years, $68 million with between $29 and $31 million guaranteed) with that signed by seven-time Pro Bowl guard Alan Faneca with the New York Jets this month (five years, $40 million with $21 million guaranteed).
With free agency, "At least those guys are getting paid on a little bit of production," ESPN analyst and former Tennesse Titans general manager Floyd Reese said.
"The upper five to seven draft picks are getting paid for zero production. The most absurd thing is you end up holding the guy out over negotiations and you still pay him the money and he can't really help you that first year. That's why it's lose-lose."
When rookies are earning as much if not more than future Hall of Famers, a draft system created to help the weak recover quickly is actually threatening to burden those teams further.
"There has to be a way to figure it out," CBS analyst and former Houston Texans and Washington Redskins general manager Charley Casserly said. "Frankly, the veteran players should stand up and demand it."
ISSUE: Playoff re-seeding
Analysis: The competition committee has proposed shaking up the playoff format by seeding teams based on overall record and without regard to divisions. The push is intended to prevent teams from resting starters late in the season with their playoff fate already secure.
Case in point: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, winners of the NFC South last season, hosted the wild card New York Giants in the first round despite having one less win than the eventual Super Bowl champions. The Bucs rested several starters in Week 17 since there was no playoff incentive to win their finale (while the Giants played the New England Patriots hard in a 38-35 loss).
Under the new proposal, more teams, whether in line for a division title or a wild card, will be motivated to play hard later into the season with better seeds and a possible home game at stake based on overall record.
Our take: The system isn't broken, as the Giants showed in their Super Bowl XLII upset of the Patriots as the NFC's fifth seed. Yet the re-seeding shakeup is made for the right reasons: The competition committee wants more late-season games of the caliber of the Patriots-Giants Week 17 classic.
DISCUSS: Would you re-seed the NFL playoff format?
With the top two teams locked down, seeding teams 3-6 should be based on won-lost record (ties go to division winners). This would reward those who earned their chance at postseason hospitality on the field. The final regular season weekend shouldn't turn into a re-run of the preseason.
ISSUE: Personal conduct
Analysis: Nearly a year since commissioner Roger Goodell instituted a tougher personal-conduct policy, there are no major revisions expected. The gist of the presentation at the meetings this year will be to review the results which league officials view as positive. Considering that there have been fewer headlines this offseason stemming from unruly off-field behavior, the policy seems to be working as intended.
Our take: The tough stance sent a strong message to fans and business partners of the league, in addition to the players that Goodell means business when protecting the league's image and is proactive and decisive in addressing issues. That the policy has the full support of the players' union has added to its teeth. Goodell was wise to get input from the union and individual players, in addition to owners and outside experts, in crafting the policy that has been hailed in many circles.
ISSUE: International growth
Analysis: The San Diego Chargers and New Orleans Saints will play in London in October, following up on last year's first regular-season game outside North America played between the Giants and Miami Dolphins. The Buffalo Bills received permission to play a regular-season game in Toronto each of the next five years in addition to three preseason games during the same span. These are the latest examples of the international growth for America's most popular sport.
Our take: Some Bills fans are worried that the Toronto agreement might be a precursor to losing their team permanently to their Canadian neighbors when the team's Buffalo stadium lease is up in 2012. And the stability of the team is very much in flux, so their concerns are well-founded.
"International growth is an inevitable outgrowth of the popularity of the game," former Bills general manager Marv Levy said. "There's worldwide interest in the NFL. It's revenue-driven. Everybody would like it to be like it used to be. But everything evolves.
"The Bills are not just a Buffalo team. We're a western New York team and many who come in from Canada for games are fans of the Bills as well. A game a year in Toronto? Why not? If it helps to extend the fan base."
ISSUE: HGH testing
Analysis: Closing the loophole in the league's steroids policy still begins with the development of a reliable urine test for human growth hormone. There is no definite timetable for this, so no significant changes are expected in the steroids policy for this year.
The NFL has contributed $3 million to a Partnership for Clean Competition (which received similar grants from Major League Baseball and the U.S. Olympic Committee), headed by drug-testing pioneer Don Catlin, to develop reliable tests for HGH and other performance-enhancing drugs. Catlin has also worked on the NFL's behalf for years to develop a urine test for HGH. So the league continues to wait on the research mission.
The league will also keep a close eye on testing for performance-enhancing drugs at the Summer Olympics in Beijing, but that monitoring is attached to another issue in addition to reliability: Blood tests. The NFLPA has vehemently opposed blood testing.
Our take: The prospect of blood tests seems like a legitimate area to pursue, if such tests prove reliable. But that's a big if. At the 2004 Olympics in Athens, not a single athlete tested positive through the blood tests, fueling criticism that the tests weren't reliable. Upshaw has been adamant that he won't subject his players to blood samples, but with the credibility of the game at stake and Congress watching, that possibility looms as an option. At the moment it isn't because there are no sanctioned labs in the U.S. to administer such blood tests. Stay tuned.
ISSUE: 'Radioactive' helmets
Analysis: Defenses have never had the benefit of coach-to-player communication that's a staple of offensive play-calling, where quarterbacks receive plays from coaches through a radio receiver installed in their helmets. After failing in two previous attempts, a revised measure to allow one defensive player to use such technology is back for another vote. Rules are often slanted in favor of the offense, but the league's competition committee is backing this proposal on the basis of equality.
Our take: After falling just two votes shy last year, the stars are aligned for adoption this year. First, the proposal was tweaked to address concerns of defensive coaches who worried about alternatives due to injuries or substitutions. Although just one player will be allowed to play with the radio-equipped helmet, a second defensive player will also have such equipment the helmet to remain on the sideline until needed. This would allow for, say, a safety to switch to a radio helmet if the middle linebacker designated for the ramped-up helmet comes out of the game on dime packages, or is injured. Both players would have to be designated before the game.
The second reason this passes? Spygate. Allowing the defense to use radio communication would eliminate the need for hand signals which is what the Patriots were caught stealing with their videocams in September.
ISSUE: 2012 Super Bowl
Analysis: The deadline for submitting bids for Super Bowl XLVI is April 1, with at least four cities expected to compete Phoenix, Indianapolis, Houston and New Orleans. There will be no formal presentations or action at this week's meetings, although that won't preclude back-door lobbying. The issue will be on the agenda for the next round of meetings in Atlanta in late May, when presentations will likely be followed by a vote and the awarding of the Super Bowl site.
Our take: If New Orleans submits a bid, it would be the unquestioned sentimental favorite. Although some big events have returned to the Crescent City (the 2008 NBA All-Star Game, the 2008 BCS championship game and ArenaBowls XXI and XXII among them), obvious questions will arise about the capability of the city ravaged by Hurricane Katrina to handle an event as large as the Super Bowl.
In the past, New Orleans has been arguably the best site for a Super Bowl, due in part to the city's embrace as a consummate host. That has to help. By putting its signature event in New Orleans, the NFL would further back up its goodwill pledge to help the city back on its feet. Still, it's business and a matter of timing.
Indianapolis narrowly lost out to Dallas/North Texas for the 2011 Super Bowl, and has to be considered another favorite with a new stadium. Weather is not in Indy's favor, but with the league intent on including northern sites in the rotation (the last was Detroit, XL), it might be time after this year's ho-hum Phoenix experience is followed by Tampa, Miami and North Texas. Houston? Deserving of a repeat performance after a well-executed Super Bowl in 2004.