Question

Are these players worth the money?

Answer

Yes. I would say they are. If the owners are willing to pay them and the fans are willing to pay to see them, then yes. This is a very free-market way of looking at it, but that’s how it works…that’s really how we want it to work, if we really want this kind of economy.

Q

Is this setting a new bar for the amount of money expected in the NFL?

A

It has to. Players can’t help but make comparisons to others; we see historical examples of this in every sport. Ricky Henderson, a major league baseball player, did this a few times. He saw other players who played his position making more money, so he would sit out the start of a season; demanding to renegotiate his contract, even though he was already under contract to play. A player’s best reference group for how they are doing is others who play the same position, making these comparisons unavoidable.

Q

Will these lofty NFL salaries create economic problems?

A

As long as there is a salary cap, I can’t see how it can; owners are limited as to what they can pay. If I had to say where the problem is with “overpaid athletes,” it would be that the fans support the sports economy. It’s so ironic; the fans are the first to complain about lofty salaries, yet they say it while they are wearing a team jersey outside the stadium after watching the game.

Q

Could runaway salaries potentially cause the NFL to function like Major League Baseball?

A

I don’t know how the NFL will lose its salary cap. However, if the NFL abandons the cap, then they will certainly have a large vs. small market problem, much like Major League Baseball. A purely free market salary system, not currently found in any major U.S. sport, gives rise to the small market vs. large market problem. I personally like the revenue sharing approach to dealing with this problem, but most professional sports franchise owners don’t seem to like this approach, perhaps for obvious reasons. They want the economic playing field to be level, but they want to win…these are mutually exclusive goals, I think.

Q

What do you see happening in the next decade, and can the NFL sustain itself?

A

I can see upward pressure on the per team salary cap. If the owners can stay organized, maybe that will be managed and the league will be OK. If it can’t, or the players decide to strike, then I think there will be much larger problems; a strike is always detrimental to a sport. The absence of a salary cap should not be a problem for owners. Presumably these owners know what they can afford, so they shouldn’t pay more than that. The salary cap is, in a way, protecting team owners from themselves. Should that be necessary?