I'm digging back in the memory banks here- and this was from FOF 2004, but I remember someone somewhere figured out that salary demands went up regardless of what the cap increase would be set to. Now I remember this because in the HFL when the league was set up, the cap increase was set to a lower # (FFF, can you verify this for me?), and one owner did not like this because of the strain it would cause on the cap situation (not knowing at the time that it would actually be setting it to where it *should* be)..That owner was the former Fargo owner...his name is slipping my mind at the time... MC, maybe?
Now with all that being said- our current situation is this- roughly half the teams in the league have over 20 million in cap space, if the cap is increasing at 8 million a year (I do not know the exact number off hand)...it will take 2 full season once it is frozen to begin feeling the effect for most teams.
Then we have to bring up the bigger question, once it is frozen where to go from there? How long to keep it frozen, what to set it at once it is frozen and so forth and so on.
I may have missed it, but how many more seasons until the TV contract comes up? If it is at the end of this year, then I could see us saying ok sure- no rule needed, we will suck it up under the current situation and some teams will start feeling the heat, and that will cause a slight increase in FA talent.
If it is after that, then I still stand by we need something, and I'm on wade's side here that the final year works.
To those that say- you can't renegotiate down to a reasonable level- I'm say that is exactly what we want- a way to increase teams cap costs... We have no way to increase contracts to what they should be, so we should at least keep high contracts up. Its the same for every team, across the board...
My exception to the rules would be- allow traded players a small window to get the guys value down, that will increase trades a good bit- which I believe is good for the league.
We only have to deal with that for a few seasons until the contracts catch up with the cap- then we would have no need for the rule. We can implement it as- this rule is in effect until X day, at that time we will hold a vote to see if it stays in effect longer.
The root of the problem is- players are not asking for enough money. Simple as that. Look at the contracts around the league and you will see that. Besides the best of the best, contracts are wayyy to low.
I bring up Kent Goodwin again, and nothing against Fonzie- the contract is completely legit- but no way should a QB of his caliber ever accept a deal that is 11 mil a year...he should be double that, imo.
To sum it up- the final year does not address the problem, it is just a band-aid, but it gives us something until the real fix can take place.
Now, will anyone take the time to read the ramblings

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Home of Marvin "Muddy Waters" Raffo