How Much? For Who?
Anyone who follows baseball closely enough knows what typical free agent contract figures look like these days. And anyone who knows the contract figures in the other major sports knows the baseball numbers look astronomical by comparison.
So when I saw a seven year, $49 million contract handed out to an NFL player yesterday, I didn't think much of it, considering even Gil Meche can get a better contract in the Major Leagues. Then I saw who the player was: Cory Redding, defensive tackle for the Detroit Lions.
This still isn't hard-hitting news until you consider that the contract made Redding the highest paid defensive tackle in the entire NFL. Like me, a lot of people didn't even know who Cory Redding was two days ago and now he is introducing himself to us as the highest paid player at his position.
Again, I don't really know Cory Redding the player, and I certainly don't know Cory Redding the person. He may good enough to warrant consideration as the top d-tackle in the league and the only way I know how good d-tackles are in the NFL is if they are either a) on a good defense, b) on tv a lot, c) talked about by the talking heads on ESPN/NFL Network, or d) all or some of the above.
The NFL analysts on ESPN are pretty worthless for the most part, so I'm willing to concede that Redding could be very good without any "expert" talking him up on camera. I just find it hard to believe that a DT on the 28th-ranked defense and the 21st-ranked run defense is enough of an impact player to make the highest-paid player at his position. Maybe the highest-paid on the team, but in the whole league? So Redding is a class with Jamal Williams, Tommie Harris, Marcus Stroud, John Henderson, Casey Hampton, Vince Wilfork, Kris Jenkins, and his own teammate Shaun Rogers? I don't even mean to be completely facetious, but is this guy really that good? And if so, is he worth more than all of those DT's, or at least the ones who have earned contract extensions?
This is why, at the end of the day, the free market economics of baseball work better than any salary cap structure out there. It is frustrating to see Barry Zito get $126 million, but at least the market will correct itself when superior pitchers like Carlos Zambrano get better offers if and when they go to free agency or the market just dives in a few years. While guys like Tommie Harris and Jamal Williams will certainly benefit from this contract, there is a ceiling on how much a team can pay them because of the salary cap.
The players may get exorbitant amounts of money in baseball, but the owners can definitely afford it. And in a league that rakes in even more money than the baseball owners, the NFL owners can afford it too. They can use some of the $100 they make on one lousy preseason ticket (redundancy alert) if money is a little tight.
So when I saw a seven year, $49 million contract handed out to an NFL player yesterday, I didn't think much of it, considering even Gil Meche can get a better contract in the Major Leagues. Then I saw who the player was: Cory Redding, defensive tackle for the Detroit Lions.
This still isn't hard-hitting news until you consider that the contract made Redding the highest paid defensive tackle in the entire NFL. Like me, a lot of people didn't even know who Cory Redding was two days ago and now he is introducing himself to us as the highest paid player at his position.
Again, I don't really know Cory Redding the player, and I certainly don't know Cory Redding the person. He may good enough to warrant consideration as the top d-tackle in the league and the only way I know how good d-tackles are in the NFL is if they are either a) on a good defense, b) on tv a lot, c) talked about by the talking heads on ESPN/NFL Network, or d) all or some of the above.
The NFL analysts on ESPN are pretty worthless for the most part, so I'm willing to concede that Redding could be very good without any "expert" talking him up on camera. I just find it hard to believe that a DT on the 28th-ranked defense and the 21st-ranked run defense is enough of an impact player to make the highest-paid player at his position. Maybe the highest-paid on the team, but in the whole league? So Redding is a class with Jamal Williams, Tommie Harris, Marcus Stroud, John Henderson, Casey Hampton, Vince Wilfork, Kris Jenkins, and his own teammate Shaun Rogers? I don't even mean to be completely facetious, but is this guy really that good? And if so, is he worth more than all of those DT's, or at least the ones who have earned contract extensions?
This is why, at the end of the day, the free market economics of baseball work better than any salary cap structure out there. It is frustrating to see Barry Zito get $126 million, but at least the market will correct itself when superior pitchers like Carlos Zambrano get better offers if and when they go to free agency or the market just dives in a few years. While guys like Tommie Harris and Jamal Williams will certainly benefit from this contract, there is a ceiling on how much a team can pay them because of the salary cap.
The players may get exorbitant amounts of money in baseball, but the owners can definitely afford it. And in a league that rakes in even more money than the baseball owners, the NFL owners can afford it too. They can use some of the $100 they make on one lousy preseason ticket (redundancy alert) if money is a little tight.
posted by Matt Manley at 5:42 PM
2 Comments:
From what I hear, Cory Redding is going to earn a 4 seed in the 2008 Who's Now Tournement on ESPN.
...Show some respect.
You Missed one to watch for Shore Regional. Taylor Scarpino 3 A in first Varsity game (Sophomore)
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