Bradford to sign record contract
I just don’t get it. I write on this each and every year and I just don’t get it at all. Last season the Lions signed Matthew Stafford to a record contract and gave an unproven rookie 41.7 million in guaranteed money. Without ever having to perform well this guy will never have to work again. Now word is coming out that the Rams are going to shell out between 45 and 50 million in guaranteed money to a guy who is coming off a serious injury to his throwing shoulder after being tackled by a marginal college player. No wonder teams dont’ want top picks and who would. You’d be better off taking on a free agent and committing that amount of money on 3-5 players as compared to one guy. Is Bradford enough to turn the franchise around? NOT EVEN CLOSE. Now instead of him helping the team he actually handcuffs the team by hurting them financially.
The best part is that it isn’t even his fault. If Bradford comes in and says “I just want to play” and pulls a Ricky Williams from a decade ago then the rest of the players are all hurt financially. Whatever Bradford gets directly effects all the other players taken in the same round but especially the top part of the draft. The players are trying to get as big of a piece of the pie as they can so they actually want someone to get the money, just not Bradford. Any vet would tell you that this practice doesn’t make them happy. You see players who are stars who weren’t even drafted and earned everything they received and worked their way up while this guy get 50 million just for getting drafted and is completely unproven.
It’s the part of the process that is bound to change when the next collective bargaining agreement is created and I, for one, am very excited about it. Shift the money to the players who have earned it and not to some rookies.
