Not likely, but consider the possibilities. Andrew Brandt
As I suffered through the LeBronathon last night, several thoughts went through my head about the spectacle and how the NBA relates to the NFL.
NFL version?
I have spent much time opining that free agency in the NFL does not work the way it does in the NBA – or MLB for that matter. However, with the well-conceived master plan that LeBron, Wade and Bosh (and Pat Riley) hatched years ago with simultaneous expirations of their contracts, I wondered if this could happen in the NFL?
Well, assuming a new Collective Bargaining Agreement that maintains the previous four-year requirement for free agency, there will be a strong group of free agents next year. With all the 212 “limbo” free agents that were stuck in purgatory this year turning free next year, a team or teams could make a Heat-ish power play.
Let’s assume one of the A-list quarterbacks with an expiring contract – Tom Brady or Peyton Manning – actually becomes free in March (I realize it unlikely with the Franchise tag, but stay with me). What if Brady – the more likely of the two to not have his contract renegotiated – recruited other free agents in a Wade-like fashion?
Brady could call his buddy Randy Moss – he recruited him to the Patriots once before -- or Vincent Jackson or Sidney Rice or Miles Austin for his receiver; Joseph Addai or DeAngelo Williams for his running back; Marcus McNeill and/or teammate Logan Mankins to block for him and perhaps old buddy Richard Seymour and two Broncos playing out their contracts, Elvis Dumervil and Champ Bailey, to go after the opposition.
Or what if, in 2012, if somehow their teams do not extend them or they refuse such overtures, Adrian Peterson, DeSean Jackson and Darelle Revis decide to team up in free agency? For the NFL, that would be about as dynamic a trio as possible.
As I write this, I know that there is not likely a team willing to gut its roster the way the Heat did to take a chance on acquiring this group. And with so many players and the injury rate what it is, the truly elite players never make it to free agency either due to extensions or the Franchise tag.
Interesting to ponder nonetheless.
LeBron’s game
The power of LeBron still amazes me. While he and his childhood buddy sat back in sweats knowing they were going to Miami, caravans of owners, executives, coaches, Cap managers and celebrities groveled at their feet to beg and plead for his signature. They probably had some nice laughs about the suits and ties after the groups left.
Let’s not be naïve about this whole thing. This plan was made long ago. Although Pat Riley and owner Mickey Arison couldn’t talk to LeBron due to tampering rules, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh did all the work for them.
$eriously?
It is amazing how much money NBA teams – who have been claiming poverty -- threw around for players not named LeBron or Dwayne. $84 million for Rudy Gay? $80 million for Carlos Boozer? $55 million for Brendan Haywood? $35 million for Travis Outlaw? Seriously?
I know the NBA has fewer players and plays more games. I get that. However, that does not provide equilibrium to NFL players with shorter careers and much higher injury rates. The best players in the NFL make $30 million in guarantees. Average players in the NBA make that. When it comes to guaranteed money, NFL players clearly are sitting at the children’s table.
Cap room the winner
The NBA Cap was set yesterday at $58 million with a luxury tax threshold at $70.3 million. In Miami, the three stars will take up most of that number, with the rest spread out among rookies and Cap exceptions. The NBA Cap –like the NFL Cap as it was -- is a soft cap; a “yarmulke” that teams can maneuver around if willing to pay the tax.
Cap room was the winner in the long-awaited 2010 free agency in the NBA. There was a reason the Heat had only two players under contract and they played it perfectly. And isn’t it interesting that players like James and Wade are lauded for “not going for the money” when they will be making around $15 million this year, rising by 8% each year.
The Heat orchestrated the perfect storm. Chances are it will never happen in the NFL, if ever again in any sport.
Follow me on Twitter at adbrandt
This is the dumbest article I ever read....revis, peterson and deshaun jackson are a dynamic trio...that doesnt make a football team...basketball has 5 starters, football has 22 not including special teams in case you didnt know that
The nice thing about the NFL is free agency isn't the "fix" like it is in the NBA. We all know Lebron James is going to be a dynamic player for his team, even at his salary.
Look at some of the recent highest paid free agents - Albert Haynesworth, Asante Samuel, Nate Clements, Alan Faneca, Leonard Davis, etc. These players aren't providing the impact their salaries indicate.
What makes the NFL great is that free agents are luxuries of teams willing to overspend on a few older veterans to supplement the real meat and potatoes of your team: rookie contract players and 2nd contract players that were signed early (or under RFA tenders); both groups of which have been in your organization and work within the system of the team.
Free agents in the NFL can be overpaid because so many other contributors on a team can be underpaid. It's a balancing act every good team in the league does. Philadelphia, New England, Pittsburgh, Green Bay... all are getting value and production from their rookie classes so they can afford to overpay a bit on key veterans. Players like Hines Ward can only make the salary he's making because there's a Lamar Woodley making peanuts. Asante Samuel is making what he's making because Deshaun Jackson is making pennies on the dollar. Randy Moss and Adalius Thomas made what they made in New England because all those recent 2nd round picks (Volmer, Brace, Merriwether) are going to make a lot less than what they contribute for a while.
It's a great system. The good older players get slightly overpaid, the young hungry players play hard and have something to aim for. The good middle-aged players get a balance and security by signing a year early than UFA and make up the heart of the NFL.
Please, please, please don't ever change this basic system. The NBA stinks.
It already did happen..Brett Favre whining ,crying ,faking retirement twice to orchestrate his own form of free agency..I cannot believe no one has stated the obvious and anyone who does not see it that way has been living in a cave.
Until proven differently, the NFL is still the ultimate team sport and my first football coach was a collegiate offensive lineman. He put it in my head that without a line, you're nothing. That's true and brings up a good point for championship-caliber teams. Everyone must do their job. In the NBA, when only five players play for a team at a time, you might be able to circumnavigate this, but not in football.
The franchise tag and this year the RFA rule changes kept it from totally happening, but it still does to a lesser extent. The Pats were able to pick up good vets at less than normal compensation for years because they just wanted to win at that point. I still do not know how they got Moss for a 4th and my team did not get him for a 3rd. The Ravens have always crushed it in free agency as well as the draft though. The SB team was full of guys brought in from other teams. Goose, Adams Woodson, Sharpe, Gash, Dilfer, Banks. Look up and down the roster that year and they may have had more FA starters than drafted ones.
Since then the Ravens have continued to fill out the roster with quality vets at reasonable prices. Trevor Pryce, Matt Birk, Derrick Mason to name a few.
They also recruit guys like Ray talking to Boldin at the PB for years. Guys this year like Redding, Bulger, Hamlin, Harris, Fisher, Stallworth and Graham are glad to get on board for a SB run, and may not have been willing to play in Cleveland even for more money.
The NBA is insane and inane and I stopped watching pro hoops a long time ago. The reason? There's really no competitive balance. The team that has two superstars and one near superstar wins year after year. Hey I live in Chicago and I loved the Jordan/Pippen/Grant or Rodman Bulls. But I'm sure everyone else in the country was bored.
And that spectacle last night was bizarre. Can anyone imagining a NFL player doing that?
Oh wait, #4 hahahahahaha
I still love teh NBA, but maybe because I live in a town that loves hoops but does not have a team. It is pretty much the only thing on TV in the winter time for me. I like the fact that it is sort of predictable but not a given and not easy. You pretty much knew LA had the best team in the NBA last year but they were in trouble sevral times in the playoffs. The regular season is sort of like preseason NFL unless it is a good matchup, but the playoffs are a nice month long story when there really is nothing else going on in sports, to watch anyway.
What about the Vince Jackson and Marcus McNiel situation? How does that play out from here? I can not see tehm signing that tender for 600k at this point. Is there any chance they become UFAs next year after sitting out if the old CBA rules of 4 years to be eligible comes back, of do they not risk that and come back in week 10 or soon enough to be traded?
Being a Bulls fan, I understood that the prospect of James coming to Chicago were small. It was really down to Bosh. If they could have enticed him, Wade may have come as his kids and mother are here. That wasn't likely either. This was three guys who decided long ago that they wanted to play together. For it to happen, each had to play well - they did.
If Gilbert could have broken the bank for Bosh, he may have changed his mind and agree to a sign-and-trade. Worth a try I guess.
C'est La Guerre
What is intriguing is LBJ saying that he doesn't want to be the man every night. Huhhhhhh??
Imagine MJ or Kobe saying that they don't want the ball in crunch time - all the time!!
So, the Heat remain Wade's team (for now)and I guess that LBJ has just signed up to being not option number 1 but option number 1B at best
The best scoring player in the world wants to be Scottie Pippen.
Being a Bulls fan, I understood that the prospect of James coming to Chicago were small. It was really down to Bosh. If they could have enticed him, Wade may have come as his kids and mother are here. That wasn't likely either. This was three guys who decided long ago that they wanted to play together. For it to happen, each had to play well - they did.
If Gilbert could have broken the bank for Bosh, he may have changed his mind and agree to a sign-and-trade. Worth a try I guess.
C'est La Guerre
What is intriguing is LBJ saying that he doesn't want to be the man every night. Huhhhhhh??
Imagine MJ or Kobe saying that they don't want the ball in crunch time - all the time!!
So, the Heat remain Wade's team (for now)and I guess that LBJ has just signed up to being not option number 1 but option number 1B at best
The best scoring player in the world wants to be Scottie Pippen.
There's only one basketball to go around, and you're going to run a lot of three guard offense so you better have a seven foot shot blocker out there a lot as well.
Kjo
Favre was not a free agent. There is ample history of guys becoming a pain-in-the-ass in order to engineer a trade. That is the route that Favre took.
How does just about every thread have to have Favre in it?
Stick to the subject matter of the article
As I suffered through the LeBron-Athon last night...
several thoughts went through my head about the Spectacle...
With the last several years worth of Favre-Athons...
I would say those Spectacles are compareable...
and reasonable to bring up as blog commentary on this subject.
I would LOVE to see the next FA to sign with the Miami Heat be the return of Shaq, playing for the minimum salary, just to get two more rings... and one more than Kobe!
Favre was a free agent. He got the Jets to release him after they drafted Mark Sanchez after which time he was an unrestricted free agent.
I think the bigger difference is the NBA has a max contract clause which severely limits true free agency. Every team can only offer the same contract. Teams like the Bulls, Knicks, Nets could have overwhelmed Lebron with a much better offer, but they were limited and hamstrung.
No way this ever happens in football or baseball. True free agency allows teams to bid against each other with superior offers. Basketball has no true competitive balance as players can work together or just go to the landmark teams. What star player, like Carmelo Anthony next year, will bother with Minnesota or Memphis when he can get the same contract in New York, LA, or Chicago?
If the NFL had the same structure, every star player would look to go to Dallas, Miami, New York, or Chicago. True free agency with a reasonable hard cap is the best system for equitable competition. Guaranteed contracts are the other major problem in basketball, but that is a seperate issue.
John G..Favre was NOT a free agent..he RETIRED..again.then and only then did the Jets release him..Favre retired twice to get where he wanted..he was NOT a free agent..Lebron WAS a free agent..he can do whatever he wants Favre was under contract with the Jets and Green Bay both times he "retired" to go where he wanted. Lebron did nothing wrong..if anyone crapped on anything..it was Favre and the Favre butt licker media.
It does - every year before and when Brett Favre decides he's returning
But only Brady and Manning could command such attention, and I don't think either of them would want to do such a thing, even though unlike LeBron they've actually won championships.
The NBA: An NBA team only needs an 8-man rotation. For this coming season, the Heat need to have 5 competent players beyond their Big 3. Haslem and the PG they have are a start. One more known solid player (with the money from the T-Wolves trade) and they only need two more competent players. That isn't a given, but it is far from impossible, too.
The NFL: The hard cap, the greater number of players, and the lesser degree to which 1 player can control a game all make this situation far less likely to work in the NFL.
It does - every year before and when Brett Favre decides he's returning
Cap and cash ramifications of...
Thoughts on Indy, Eli, Wes, Mario...
The numbers behind the game
Real action is week before the...
Signs point to the end of an era
Jul 09, 2010
11:28 AM
The problem the heat will have, and any NFL team foolish enough to walk the path, is finding the 9 other bodies they need to practice and play. Forget that Bosh won't play the 5. Forget that Wade and James both play the same game. To fill out a roster, you need 9 guys willing to make the MINIMUM.
And in the NBA, to quote Dylan, "money doesn't tak it swears."
Wouldn't it be funny if the Heat became the NBA's Redskins rather than the Yankees?