Matt Ryans 6-year, $72 million dollar contract
has to be one of the worst moves of all time. Arthur Blank is taking a colossal
gamble on an unproven player. Blank is either crazy or he sees something in
Ryan that no one else does and truly believes that he can pull Atlanta out of the basement.
Writer's Q&A: Should rookies in the NFL have a cap on their salary?
Bill Smith: The current “rookie salary cap” is a joke. The
NFL needs a slotted rookie salary system just like—I can hardly get it out of
my keyboard—the NBA. Matt Ryan's contract makes a rookie the 5 highest paid QB
in the league. Is he worth it? Probably not but we won't know until he has a
large percentage of that contract already deposited to his bloated checking
account. Upshaw is going to try to get some concessions from the owners to
institute a slotted system but the rank and file want it as badly as the
owners. Every dollar that goes to a kid that barely shaves is a dollar that
does not go to a vet that has proven himself in the league. As a small
percentage of the players get huge contracts that eat up a larger percentage of
the salary cap, good experienced players are getting cut to be replaced with
minimum salary players. Not only is that not right, it hurts the quality of the
product on the field.
Ryan Leonardo: I don't think so. The incentives packages are always good
because it protects the team from paying a ton of money, even if that player
doesn't perform. It is risky regardless
of contract length and value to sign a rookie, because you never know which
guys just don't have what it takes to compete in the NFL consistently.
Eric Geier: Matt Ryans 6-year, $72 million dollar contract
has to be one of the worst moves of all time. Arthur Blank is taking a colossal
gamble on an unproven player. Blank is either crazy or he sees something in
Ryan that no one else does and truly believes that he can pull Atlanta out of the basement. I think Blank is
so desperate to rebuild a franchise that has been smeared by Michael Vick that
he making himself believe that Matt Ryan is going to be a star. We'll
see.
Pete Quint: A rookie salary cap would help teams to not
overspend on unproven players and it would free up more money for proven
veterans.
Steve Patterson: I can’t say it any better than Pete. Cap
the rookies so the teams don’t pay out huge money on potential and pay the
proven veterans better.