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Le'Veon Bell turned 27 on Monday.
The former Michigan State midfielder was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers with a second-round pick in 2013 and, at the end of the 2014 season, he was the first-team All-Pro team. By definition, he was the best in the world in his work and had arrived at 22 years old.
Five years later, Bell still has not had the opportunity to acquire these skills and obtain what the NFL Free Trade Agency market decides to gain.
This is partly due to the four-year contract that he and all the other players have chosen after the first round in 2013. But he was supposed to become a free agent in 2017 and never got there, thanks to the tag of franchise.
It is an outdated tool that gives NFL franchises the opportunity to deny their most elite players the opportunity to negotiate their value. And it's time for the franchise label to be rejected.
Why does the franchise label exist?
In early 1992, John Elway had nine seasons in his career with the Denver Broncos. He had already led the team to three Super Bowls, but he had not won yet. Although his stats in 1991 were terrible by today's standards – 13 touchdowns, 12 steals and 3,253 passing yards – Elway beat the Broncos to a 12-4 record and earned a spot in the Pro Bowl.
The problem for Denver was that the team was struggling to sign a new contract with Elway before reaching the free agency. according to Sports IllustratedPat Bowlen, owner of the Broncos, explained at league meetings that he should adopt a rule allowing him to keep Elway again at the best price so he has more time to negotiate a new deal.
Elway received just under $ 1.957 million for the 1992 season – the 18th highest salary of the NFL this season. This gave the Broncos enough time to sign a four-year, $ 20 million deal with him in 1993, making Elway the highest paid player in the league.
"The rule of Elway" has evolved to become the label of the franchise. A full explanation of the franchise tag and its little brother, the transition tag, is here. But the bottom line is this: NFL teams can identify an impending free agent per season, which ensures they can not leave the year in return for a high and fully guaranteed salary, which is among the best in the world. their position.
Players have no way to avoid being tagged
he sounds very nice to get a fully guaranteed salary of one year at a high price. A player like Bell does not really have financial problems because of that. He had received $ 12.12 million under the franchise label in 2017 and would have earned $ 14.544 million if he had played instead of holding on in 2018.
The free market is a different beast, however.
When teams compete for a player – especially one who is the best of the NFL at his post – the price is skyrocketing.
That's why Kirk Cousins received $ 19.953 million and $ 23.95 million under the franchise tag in 2016 and 2017, respectively, but a three-year contract averaging $ 28 million once that he became free agent. And that's for a quarter who is above average, at best.
Bell should have reached the status of free agency in 2017 at the age of 25 years. He would have had the opportunity to reset the halves market with a record contract for the job. He should have had this opportunity again in 2018, at age 26, after his second season of professional insurance.
The Steelers even have the chance to deny him this chance this season with the transitional etiquette, although this seems unlikely.
Meanwhile, Bell's value continued to diminish as he approached 30 and had amassed a handful of offensive passes.
For his problems, Bell has been described as selfish discontent. But it's just what other stars have been threatening to do before.
Eric Berry told reporters in 2017 that he was ready to spend a season when he was again scored by the Chiefs, and Von Miller introduced the same threat in 2016 after winning the player title by excellence of the Super Bowl.
"No, I'm not going to play on the label of the franchise," Miller told ESPN. "I never really played for money. It's bigger than that for me. This is a problem that affects the entire league and for which I feel I can help. "
The franchise tag is obsolete and must go
This probably triggers your alarms "Am I really old?" To hear a rule invented in 1992 called antiquated, but the economics of the NFL were very very different at the time. An average starter earned just over a million dollars a year and the top tier players about $ 4 million.
Now the stakes are much higher and the teams can prevent unprecedented bidding wars. The franchise tag is a tool that prevents players from placing the market higher.
It worked pretty well for the Cousins. He spent two seasons raising his price with consecutive labels, then hit the market for his huge contract. But Cousins occupies a more sustainable position, less worn and an average salary significantly higher than that of Bell.
Few players are as lucky as the cousins. With the franchise label, most are often forced to compromise their chance of winning the biggest payday of their career.
The NFLPA must eliminate the franchise label in 2021
There is really no equivalent to franchise etiquette in the rest of the working world. The best doctor in the world is not obliged to stay in a hospital that holds the rights of his service. The best teacher in the world is not stuck in a university.
Professional sports are different for reasons of entertainment and equality. It's not just a franchise problem. The draft NFL also has no equivalent in the real world. This forces a player to spend several years under the employer who has earned the rights to his service, and there is no realistic alternative for that player.
We can argue for the elimination of jousting in sports, but the parity of the NFL is a stronger argument than it should go anywhere. And that will not be the case.
There is nothing comparable to the etiquette of the franchise in other sports. The Cleveland Cavaliers could not force LeBron James to stay, nor the Washington Nationals with Bryce Harper.
Is there even a logical argument for the franchise label to remain at this point? If an elite player does not receive a contract extension from the team that drafted it, that's his problem. He has had four or five years of excellent play and he will have a compensating draft pick for that player's departure.
Are we really supposed to complain about Steelers (valued at over $ 2.5 billion) having only had four or five years of elite Bell play, because they have chose to offer him a fictitious currency contract with few real guarantees?
The franchise label is authorized under the collective agreement in effect between the NFL and the NFL Players Association, but expires after the 2020 season.
Both parties have a lot to negotiate and a long labor dispute is likely to be on the way for 2021. It remains to be seen what the NFLPA will do with its top priorities, but eliminating the brand from the franchise should be one. All he is doing now is limiting players to their earning potential and, eventually, driving up the price for the rest of the NFL talent pool.
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