It Aint' Easy Having Green

Word out of Washington is that commissioner Paul Tagliabue is having trouble brokering a new deal between the big market clubs and small market clubs. The argument essentially comes down to whether teams should have to share local revenues.

I can see both sides of the argument here. Why should teams such as Buffalo or Indianapolis be punished simply because they don't have as big of an argument as Dallas or Chicago? But on the other hand why should a team be forced to share revenue it earns from stadium naming rights, when a team such as Green Bay refuses to name their stadium? This essentially comes down to an argument about which types of revenue are fair to share.

It's essential that the NFL owners figure out a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) by the end of the 2006 season. The current CBA lasts until the end of the 2007 season, but the salary cap agreement runs out for the 2007 season. That would mean the 2007 season would be played without a salary cap. And it would be next to impossible to get the player's union to agree on a salary cap without the owners giving up a lot more than they would like to.

On a final note, the player's union originally agreed to a salary cap in exchange for the owners agreeing to institue free agency.