Yes, some owners have discussed limiting quarterback contracts

For years, we’ve been arguing that the highest paid players should seek contracts that tie their earnings to a percentage of the cap. This would ensure that a long-term deal never becomes obsolete — because the cap constantly goes up.

The league (specifically the NFL Management Council) has resisted that, consistently. (Players who have tried in the past to get a percentage of the cap as their compensation include Kirk Cousins and Darrelle Revis. It’s possible others have tried to do it more recently. Joe Burrow would have been a perfect candidate for it.)

But the league is interested in another kind of cap-based formula when it comes to quarterback contracts. Tom Pelissero of NFL Network (who works for the league and thus must tread lightly here) recently mentioned it on Rich Eisen’s show.

“There has certainly been discussion within the league among certain owners about even the idea of a quarterback cap, that at some point you don’t want quarterback numbers to go over a certain percentage of your salary cap,” Pelissero said Tuesday, via BleacherReport.com. “To my knowledge, that hasn’t really gained traction, in part because so many teams have paid their quarterbacks.”

As we’ve heard it, it wouldn’t be an official, separate cap. It would be an unofficial, off-the-books (and, more importantly, off the CBA) arrangement pursuant to which teams would refuse to go above a certain level. All teams. Which would make it pointless for, say, Dak Prescott to force his way to the open market. The best deal he’d get from the Cowboys would be the same as the best deal he’d get from someone else. (It would be like a max contract in the NBA.)

It’s the natural reaction to the dismay expressed by multiple owners when the Browns gave Deshaun Watson a five-year, fully-guaranteed contract. The owners, who meet at least four teams a year and (as the union has long believed) collude their asses off about matters that are otherwise the subject of individualized negotiation between…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/yes-owners-discussed-limiting-quarterback-141429551.html

Author : ProFootball Talk on NBC Sports

Publish date : 2024-06-20 14:14:29

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