Free agency period is more lucrative in basketball. Andrew Brandt
There are a few flashpoint dates in the NFL calendar when teams pay retail or above in guaranteed money to secure the services of players with contracts that set new levels. The most prominent time for this luxury shopping are the first days of free agency at the end of February and beginning of March.
AP Julius Peppers
Another time when the guaranteed money stood out was last week around the July 15 deadline for teams to come to terms on long-term deals with players designated as franchise players within the free agency system. Certain teams and players tried unsuccessfully to come to terms – Julius Peppers with the Panthers, Karlos Dansby with the Cardinals – while others were able to agree on lengthy deals with eye-popping numbers. These numbers are startling, but compared to another sport having its free agency dance this time of year, perhaps not so much.
With Wednesday’s mega-deals for Matt Cassel and Terrell Suggs – both topping out at $63 million in total value -- it got me thinking about how the best of the best deals compare to the NBA, another sport now going through its free agency ritual.
Here are some of the top guaranteed deals in the NFL – all but Peyton Manning in the last year -- including the much-discussed rookie contracts of Matthew Stafford, Matt Ryan and Mark Sanchez:
APMatthew Stafford
Matthew Stafford, Lions, $41.7M
Albert Haynesworth, Redskins, $41M
Terrell Suggs, Ravens, $38M
Peyton Manning, Colts, $34.5M
Matt Ryan, Falcons, $34M
Dwight Freeney, Colts, $31M
Jake Long, Dolphins, $30M
Chris Long, Rams, $29M
Nnamdi Asomugha, Raiders, $28.5M
Matt Cassel, Chiefs, $28M
Mark Sanchez, Jets, $28M
These are the cream of the crop of NFL contracts in the all-important category of guaranteed money, meaning that regardless of injury or a downturn in performance and skill, the players will make their money (there’s still the question of forfeiture of these monies for bad behavior, although the players seem to be winning most of the cases).
Let’s compare these numbers to the NBA, which is in the middle of its free agency period, admittedly amidst tough times and economic concerns for the future. The NBA did not expect a robust free agency period this year. We’ve also heard about the “Summer of Love” a year from now as owners are keeping their hands in their pockets in 2009 for a possible seat at the table when the auction for LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade and others begins on July 1, 2010. And, more importantly, we’ve learned that the salary cap in the NBA for 2009-10 will go down $1 million from 2008-2009 – from $58.7M to $57.7M – with a corresponding drop in the luxury tax number and predictions of further dips in the uncertain economic future.
Keep in mind, the NFL salary cap went up from $116M to $123M, with another $5M in a CAM adjustment to make it $128M.
With all the gloom and doom of the NBA’s financial picture presented above, and with a relatively lackluster group of free agents on the market, here are some of the contracts that have been given out in the first weeks of the NBA’s shopping season (all contracts are for five years):
APAnderson Varejao
Ben Gordon, Pistons, $55M
Hedo Turkoglu, Raptors, $53M
Anderson Varejao, Cavaliers, $50M
Shawn Marion, Mavericks, $39M
Charlie Villanueva, Pistons, $35M
Martin Gortat, Magic, $34M
Paul Millsap, Jazz, $32M
Hardly a bunch of household names. More important, the numbers above are the amounts of the entire contracts, although the amounts of the entire contracts and the amount of the guaranteed portion in most NBA contracts is the same. Therefore, every dollar above is guaranteed money, unlike virtually all NFL contracts.
All of these players have more guaranteed money than all but three or four NFL players. Varejao, a role player with the LeBronairres, makes more guaranteed money – by almost 25 percent -- than any player in football. Gortat, a backup center to Dwight Howard, who doesn’t come out of the game that often, makes about the same guaranteed money as one of the two or three best players in the NFL, Peyton Manning.
I know the arguments, and have made them myself: There’s only a fraction of the players in the NBA compared to the NFL, many more games, only five players playing at one time compared to eleven in football, etc. The stark reality is that the players above are not recognized “stars” – with the possible exceptions of Gordon and Turkoglu – while NFL stars are unlikely to receive anywhere close to these amounts of guaranteed money.
Like the situations of Cassel and Suggs, timing is everything, and the timing of the NBA players above, even with the economic forces in the NBA working against them, is fortunate. I have always said that free agency is like the Wild West; anything can happen, good or bad. It’s been all good for the NBA players above, players whose equals in football would not be looking at nearly the numbers these players are getting.
Whenever I discuss these facts with NFL players, I always get the same response: “I should have been taller!”
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Could the American Needle vs. NFL court case, the Supreme Court has agreed to hear, change all this?
It baffles me when NBA gm's give these marginal guys long term contracts. These guys will be traded at the end of their deals to "clear cap space".
Why does any established NFL player agree to non-guaranteed money? In baseball, the non-guaranteed portion would be called a "club option." There is no such thing as a player option in the NFL. So why agree to it?
If the union was smart, they'd end non-guaranteed money. And if agents were smart, they would only allow their clients to sign guaranteed deals.
Take the Cassel deal. Why wouldn't he just agree to a two-year $28 million dollar deal? Why let it extend beyong the guaranteed portion? What does he have to gain? If he doesn't play well enough to be paid the back end, he'll be cut. If he outplays the deal, he'll be told he negotiated in good faith, so holding out/renegotiating is unfair.
WHY do agents play this game?
Andrew B.:
Incisive point of view.
In addition, please note further evidence for the Grand Canyon chasm difference between the NBA and NFL contract situation:
1. NBA players do NOT choose to play with 100% effort compared to NFL players.
That's because the 82 game NBA schedule forces some players to try their utmost during only portons of games.
When there's back-to-back games on consecutive nights, you sometimes see an entire team take the night off with a 20 to 30+ point loss.
That kind of "take the night off" attitude never happens in the NFL where every game counts as huge in the 16 game schedule.
2. The NBA regular season is boring. Many people would choose to watch the 4th quarter only, if they told the truth.
The NFL's regular season is dynamic. Every play as front-of-your seat vibrancy.
3. The NBA's chosen master plan/business plan in marketing itself is centered on highlighting superstars instead of teams.
Yes, likewise, the NFL has superstars and they get publicity, but it's the team-centric approach that works best and is honored (e.g., Pittsburgh, NY Giants, etc.).
In closing, the NBA is a dysfunctional league with a fatal flaw business plan that causes teams to "dump" their best players to achieve salary cap room.
Meanwhile, the NFL has the best CBA and, and, in part, the non-guaranteed salaries are part of the reason.
Also remember that basketball players play offense AND defense, meaning they never come off the field for an extended time other than substitution for rest/poor play/strategy, which for the better players usually isn't more than a few minutes. The union for the NBA was wise in getting player contracts completely guaranteed. If they weren't, you'd see the same system that the NFL uses, with players getting dumped once they are deemed expendable.
Regarding what InFact wrote:
I would say plenty of NFL players take plays off, in fact plenty of highly-paid players have been known for doing such things, and if you think differently you are naive. That's not a real black-and-white argument at all. To say that players "mailing it in" never happens in the NFL is a rather ignorant statement to make.
I agree their are too many games in the NBA. The same goes for hockey and baseball. That has little to do with the issue at hand though, and speaks more to the fact the the owners make money from stadiums being filled with people, and the more times it happens the better, relevance be damned. The NFL would have more games, and wants to, but injuries are a much bigger concern in football than other sports. I'm sure if it were up to the owners, they'd play a bunch more games, but the players bodies would break down. So I think that's one unfair comparison to make.
By criticizing who the NBA markets, you are again taking the discussion away from comparison of contracts. The reason Anderson Varejeo (just as an example) gets the contract he does is because their are very few people who can do what he can. He may not be a star, but any talent evaluator would tell you it's important to have people like that on your team. They are not easily replaced.
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Jul 20, 2009
02:01 PM
As far as I'm concerned, if they want that kind of money, they should see which NBA teams will pay them.