Financial burden on agenda for Owners of teams with bad boys

[tsylvester]

Well, we knew this was coming. We talked about bout last year, and in the off season this year. Oh, not the comish exempt list, (no one knew about this list except the comish, odd) but getting cap relief for players who turn out to be criminals and need to be cut, but carry a high salary and thus, big cap hits. I doubt the owners of clubs with good citizens or clubs with torubled players who did not know about this mysterious list, will balk at the exclusionary relief for those on the list..... Also this may lead to relief for the "franchise player", not the tag, but that player, usually a quarterback, who warrants a big salary but hogs a good postion of the cap. This should ge interesting.

 

One of the topics on the agenda for the NFL owners meetings next week will be to discuss how teams should be financially responsible for players who are banned while being paid full salaries, sources told ESPN on Wednesday.

Two examples of such cases are Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson and Carolina Panthers defensive end Greg Hardy. Both players are receiving their salaries in full -- and counting against their teams' salary caps -- while on the commissioner's exempt list.

Whether the subject is included on the official agenda or becomes discussed in breakout sessions remains undetermined, sources told ESPN.

One model that could be discussed is whether all teams should share the financial burden in such extreme situations. Peterson and Hardy are both receiving the equivalent of their weekly game checks -- amounts in excess of $700,000 -- even though they are not eligible to play while both address off-the-field legal issues.

The solution reached by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, the teams and players involved, as well as the NFL Players Association, was mutually beneficial to all involved, but it also imposed hardship as the league successfully shifted the focus from the misconduct of the two prominent players back to the games being played.

Now there are emerging questions of fairness as the salary-cap impact for those players restricts options available to the Panthers and Vikings as they manage their rosters and confront personnel challenges.

 

 

 

 

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/11621488/nfl-owners-discuss-financial-burden-banned-players-sources-say