The power to choose has empowered humans for many centuries. Democracy, a crucial component to the foundation of America, is based on the power of choice. Choice is no longer an unproven idea, in the 21st century it is how we run our lives. To preserve this power of choice, the professional sports leagues of the National Basketball Association and the National Football League have adopted a policy of free agency. However, several aspects of NBA and NFL free agency are different, which means one must be superior. Free agency in the NBA trumps free agency in the NFL in many ways: max contracts, different value max contracts, guaranteed contracts, and use of the franchise tag.
Before the free agency’s of the NBA and NFL can be compared, what …show more content…
The first major difference is the existence of max contracts. The NBA has them, while the NFL does not. A max contract is the most money a player can sign for in free agency. The NFL does not have max contracts, which means star players get huge contracts taking up large parts of the salary cap, the most a team can spend on contracts. Since the max contracts in the NBA take up less percentage of the salary cap than the NFL non-max contracts, more money is free to spent elsewhere. This is an extraordinarily significant detail, because “we end up with a feeding frenzy for middle-tier and lower-tier free agents[...] that is not the case in the NFL”(Ziller 23). The max contract system gives more money to more players in the NBA, which helps benefit the whole league and keeps players happy by putting money in their pockets. In contrast, NFL middle to lower-tier players receive smaller amounts, despite still playing a grueling professional sport. The NFL should adopt the max contract system to benefit the players with shorter careers earn more money and to help more evenly distribute money amongst the …show more content…
The franchise tag is a deal forcing the player to stay with his current team for one year with a predetermined league wide salary. Usually during this time, the player negotiates with his team about a potential long term contract to avoid free agency all together. While this sounds admirable in theory, in reality the franchise tag is rarely effective. The tag results in irritated players, because they did not get long term contracts which would provide them security and reassurance of their team’s support. Players routinely skip practices while refusing to negotiate long term deals in protest, which in turn outrages the player’s team. The team is angry the player is not focused on the season and their team, instead focusing on themselves. The NBA solved this problem by not having a franchise tag and the NFL would reduce angry teams and players by eliminating the franchise tag as well. This move gives more power to the players, who ultimately determine the success of the league by their popularity, level of play, and by audience
Before the free agency’s of the NBA and NFL can be compared, what …show more content…
The first major difference is the existence of max contracts. The NBA has them, while the NFL does not. A max contract is the most money a player can sign for in free agency. The NFL does not have max contracts, which means star players get huge contracts taking up large parts of the salary cap, the most a team can spend on contracts. Since the max contracts in the NBA take up less percentage of the salary cap than the NFL non-max contracts, more money is free to spent elsewhere. This is an extraordinarily significant detail, because “we end up with a feeding frenzy for middle-tier and lower-tier free agents[...] that is not the case in the NFL”(Ziller 23). The max contract system gives more money to more players in the NBA, which helps benefit the whole league and keeps players happy by putting money in their pockets. In contrast, NFL middle to lower-tier players receive smaller amounts, despite still playing a grueling professional sport. The NFL should adopt the max contract system to benefit the players with shorter careers earn more money and to help more evenly distribute money amongst the …show more content…
The franchise tag is a deal forcing the player to stay with his current team for one year with a predetermined league wide salary. Usually during this time, the player negotiates with his team about a potential long term contract to avoid free agency all together. While this sounds admirable in theory, in reality the franchise tag is rarely effective. The tag results in irritated players, because they did not get long term contracts which would provide them security and reassurance of their team’s support. Players routinely skip practices while refusing to negotiate long term deals in protest, which in turn outrages the player’s team. The team is angry the player is not focused on the season and their team, instead focusing on themselves. The NBA solved this problem by not having a franchise tag and the NFL would reduce angry teams and players by eliminating the franchise tag as well. This move gives more power to the players, who ultimately determine the success of the league by their popularity, level of play, and by audience