Here's a downer to start your day...no football in 2011? The PD offers an assessment of where things stand at the moment, with CBA negotiations and, more specifically, the future of the salary cap between the players union and owners. This will be a topic of much discussion as D-Day gets closer.
One preliminary thought I have on the union's no-cap position, on top of the fear that it will wipe out small market teams like St. Louis, is that to give smaller market teams some advantage in that environment rookie contracts need to be scaled back dramatically and teams given more control over rookies for longer periods of time. That's already part of the arrangement under the no-cap season of 2010 where teams get two franchise or transition tags and players have to have six years of experience rather than four to be a free agent.
Reigning in the cost of unproven draftees would be a huge benefit to those smaller teams who would inevitably be drafting among the higher picks as larger market teams lay out the cash to chase titles every year. Drastically cutting back on the cost of rookie contracts would prevent these teams from having to tie up large heaps of their player budget in unproven talent, preventing them from signing free agents or otherwise keeping quality players on the roster.
There's LOTS more to this discussion, so stay tuned. This situation will get much uglier before it gets resolved.
And now for some links...
- The Rams have a private workout scheduled with Utah CB Sean Smith. The Ute CB could very well be a late first, early second round pick, putting it within the realm of possibility for the Rams to draft him. He's a big guy at 6'3" who can handle top receivers. The scouting report at Mocking the Draft compares him to Oakland's fabulously rich CB Nnamdi Asomugha. That second round pick might be the most intriguing moment in the Rams draft.
- The Rams also have a private workout scheduled with Cincinnati CB Mike Mickens on March 28. Mickens, a potential third rounder, looks to be a solid NFL cornerback who needs to add some bulk.
- There's a rumor that the Jaguars are currently in contact with Torry Holt's agent. Seems like a strange destination for a guy who wants to wind down his career on a playoff team, but there are still plenty of teams interested.
- One fantasy site says to keep an eye on Rams WR Keenan Burton in his sophomore season. I hope they're right.
- Here's a bit of good news from ESPN's Mike Sando. The league has worked out an extension of their deal with DirecTV to make Sunday Ticket available on the internet by 2012. Let's hope there's still football at that point.