Free Agency: What will it be?

By: Roshan Bhagat

With the owners having opted out of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement set to expire in 2010, there could be some dramatic changes reshaping the NFL the way we know it. If a new CBA isn’t agreed upon by March of 2010, the NFL’s salary cap will vanish. Fans: Don’t fret; it may not be quite as bad as you imagine. Like most people, I would like to see the two sides get a deal ironed out, but here are a number of changes that will fall into place, preventing the deep pockets of Daniel Snyder and Jerry Jones buying themselves a Championship.

Players must accrue SIX seasons. Currently, players must accrue only four seasons before they can enter the market as an unrestricted free agent. So what is the change? Players will have to accrue six full seasons before having the ability to enter unrestricted free agency. For example, many players drafted in the second round or later in the 2006 draft are scheduled to be unrestricted free agents under a 2010 capped season, having signed four-year rookie deals. If a new CBA is not agreed upon and the 2010 season becomes uncapped, free agents-to-be such as Vincent Jackson, Jahri Evans, and DeMeco Ryans will not have accrued six seasons and will therefore qualify as Restricted Free Agents. The Restricted Free Agents pool will consist of all players who have accrued three, four, or five years and have expiring contracts

Two tags. Under the current CBA, teams have one franchise tag OR one transition tag to apply on one of their free agents-to-be while paying them at an elite level. Under the conditions set forth, a 2010 uncapped year would lead to an extra transition tag being available. So, teams would be able to retain their top two unrestricted players with either two transition tags, or one franchise tag and one transition tag. This would make it all the more difficult for players to reach unrestricted free agency.

Restrictions on playoff teams. The eight teams that make the divisional playoffs will have restrictions placed upon them in unrestricted free agency. They will be able to only sign free agents in accordance to the number of players they lose. The four teams that lose in the Divisional rounds will have some additional flexibility. They may sign one player with a salary of $4.925 million or higher, as well as any number of free agents with a first year salary under $3.275 million and an increase of no more than 30 percent in the subsequent years. This will prevent the competitive teams from dominating the open market year in and year out.

There are obvious rules put in place to keep the NFL competitive even with an uncapped season and future. However, where there is money, there are always people finding loopholes; the NFL is no different. You can bet the rich owners will find ways to manipulate the rules, but the league should stay far more competitive than some are envisioning. The owners and the players will also have an incentive to agree upon a new deal because an uncapped future could be detrimental to members on both sides.

Free Agents by position: QB | RB | WR | OL | DL | LB | DB | P/K