career contracts

[OLD FAN MAN]

since draft picks when they become stars, most often chase the money, could career contracts be feasible or legal, would they work to improve fan spirit?

[21isSuperman]

There's too much risk involved, in my opinion.  Take the case of Rick DiPietro, of the New York Islanders.  He was the first overall pick in the 2000 NHL draft and signed a 15 year deal in 2006.  Injuries then forced the Islanders to buy him out a few years later.  If you give someone a lifelong contract and he gets hurt, you're going to be on the books for him for a long time. 

 

Gilbert Arenas signed a 6 year, $111 mil contract in 2008.  He was one of the NBA's highest paid players in 2013 despite not playing in the NBA.  There's too much risk involved in a career contract for them to be realistic, in my opinion

[RockThatBlue]

since draft picks when they become stars, most often chase the money, could career contracts be feasible or legal, would they work to improve fan spirit?

Not even remotely feasible. And last I checked fan spirit is at an all time high, not sure at all what you meant by that.

[crazycolt1]

Only if insurance policies are put in place to cover a player who gets hurt. Maybe the cost of the insurance could be split between the team and the player? Injuries can happen at any time to any player and long term contracts are a gamble.

[Swan Ronson]

That would be indentured servitude.

[amfootball]

IMO, no way a player would ever agree to it and forgo his chance at FA.

[BrentMc11]

There's too much risk involved, in my opinion.  Take the case of Rick DiPietro, of the New York Islanders.  He was the first overall pick in the 2000 NHL draft and signed a 15 year deal in 2006.  Injuries then forced the Islanders to buy him out a few years later.  If you give someone a lifelong contract and he gets hurt, you're going to be on the books for him for a long time. 

 

Gilbert Arenas signed a 6 year, $111 mil contract in 2008.  He was one of the NBA's highest paid players in 2013 despite not playing in the NBA.  There's too much risk involved in a career contract for them to be realistic, in my opinion

Excellent post.  I agree 100%.

[Valpo2004]

Too much risk to both parties.  

 

Teams are taking a huge risk against decrease in abilities and injuries.

 

Players are taking a huge risk in that the value of their play might increase.

 

It's like I said before that I think Luck, if I where him would avoid taking much more then a 5 year contract.  The main reason is that he may be the highest paid QB when he signs but if he waits for 6 or 7 years he could be the 8th highest paid QB while also at the same time being the best QB.  

 

Neither side is willing to take those kinds of risks. 

[RealityIsLuck]

I think it's most possible in the NFL because of guaranteed money. Can't try that in the NBA or NHL or you'll end up paying them they're full salary back not to be playing for them.

[bababooey]

There's too much risk involved, in my opinion. Take the case of Rick DiPietro, of the New York Islanders. He was the first overall pick in the 2000 NHL draft and signed a 15 year deal in 2006. Injuries then forced the Islanders to buy him out a few years later. If you give someone a lifelong contract and he gets hurt, you're going to be on the books for him for a long time.

Gilbert Arenas signed a 6 year, $111 mil contract in 2008. He was one of the NBA's highest paid players in 2013 despite not playing in the NBA. There's too much risk involved in a career contract for them to be realistic, in my opinion

kovulchuk, NJ Devils, something like 17 years. NHL put Kabbash on it. Post lockout NHL makes it harder for talent to leave anyway though, you lock up your stars earlier.

[jabbanobadda]

Not even remotely feasible. And last I checked fan spirit is at an all time high, not sure at all what you meant by that.

He's still mad at the Colts for cutting T-Rich.

[Superman]

"And then he said it would IMPROVE FAN SPIRIT!!!"

 

[Superman]

That would be indentured servitude.

 

Most fans would LOOOOVE that.

[Superman]

There's too much risk involved, in my opinion.  Take the case of Rick DiPietro, of the New York Islanders.  He was the first overall pick in the 2000 NHL draft and signed a 15 year deal in 2006.  Injuries then forced the Islanders to buy him out a few years later.  If you give someone a lifelong contract and he gets hurt, you're going to be on the books for him for a long time. 

 

Gilbert Arenas signed a 6 year, $111 mil contract in 2008.  He was one of the NBA's highest paid players in 2013 despite not playing in the NBA.  There's too much risk involved in a career contract for them to be realistic, in my opinion

 

The NBA has max contracts, both in terms of length and value. Their union has successfully reduced the length of max contracts in three straight CBA negotiations. You won't see anything longer than five years.

 

The NFL doesn't have max contracts, but they do have a hard cap, which is the primary deterrent to fully guaranteed contracts on more than an individually negotiated basis. Otherwise, the players who are performing and deserve the lion's share of the money wouldn't get it, because it's been locked up by older players who have been under contract for a decade but aren't worth the money anymore (like Kobe Bryant, for instance, or Albert Pujols or Alex Rodriguez). And if the contracts aren't fully guaranteed, then there's no such thing as a career contract. Even when guys like Albert Haynesworth sign for ten years, they don't make it past three or four years; Haynesworth was traded before his third year, and released before he finished that third season. Six years after he signed his ten year deal, he's out of the league.

 

MLB is closest, with no max contracts, no real limits on length or value, fully guaranteed deals, no salary cap, a mostly inconsequential luxury tax (the Dodgers had a tax bill of 39% for being $68m over the tax threshold in 2014; if an NBA team was $20m over the tax threshold in 2014, they would have paid a 375% tax bill), and a moderately sized active roster. And you still don't see anything more than a ten year deal, and that's becoming less frequent, even for GREAT players -- Mike Trout signed a six year deal; Clayton Kershaw signed a seven year deal. 

 

I don't know the NHL contract system, at all. But it's still about leverage, just like any money negotiation is. No one is going to agree to a lifetime contract in sports. Some NFL players are holding out just two or three years into a deal. I don't know why anyone would think they'd agree to just one contract for their entire playing career.

 

A long time ago, Magic Johnson signed an exorbitant 25 year contract for $25m with the Lakers. He was 21 year old. No one expected him to play until he was 46. He didn't even make it to 36 before having to retire (the first time). He had a role with the coaching staff, front office, and eventually a minority ownership stake. By 1999, after the lockout, the NBA had a strict salary cap and max contracts. We'll never see anything like that again.

[LogicLover]

Guaranteed clause is another grey area.

 

Sam Bradford and Jamarcus Russell are examples.

[21isSuperman]

The NBA has max contracts, both in terms of length and value. Their union has successfully reduced the length of max contracts in three straight CBA negotiations. You won't see anything longer than five years.

 

The NFL doesn't have max contracts, but they do have a hard cap, which is the primary deterrent to fully guaranteed contracts on more than an individually negotiated basis. Otherwise, the players who are performing and deserve the lion's share of the money wouldn't get it, because it's been locked up by older players who have been under contract for a decade but aren't worth the money anymore (like Kobe Bryant, for instance, or Albert Pujols or Alex Rodriguez). And if the contracts aren't fully guaranteed, then there's no such thing as a career contract. Even when guys like Albert Haynesworth sign for ten years, they don't make it past three or four years; Haynesworth was traded before his third year, and released before he finished that third season. Six years after he signed his ten year deal, he's out of the league.

 

MLB is closest, with no max contracts, no real limits on length or value, fully guaranteed deals, no salary cap, a mostly inconsequential luxury tax (the Dodgers had a tax bill of 39% for being $68m over the tax threshold in 2014; if an NBA team was $20m over the tax threshold in 2014, they would have paid a 375% tax bill), and a moderately sized active roster. And you still don't see anything more than a ten year deal, and that's becoming less frequent, even for GREAT players -- Mike Trout signed a six year deal; Clayton Kershaw signed a seven year deal. 

 

I don't know the NHL contract system, at all. But it's still about leverage, just like any money negotiation is. No one is going to agree to a lifetime contract in sports. Some NFL players are holding out just two or three years into a deal. I don't know why anyone would think they'd agree to just one contract for their entire playing career.

 

A long time ago, Magic Johnson signed an exorbitant 25 year contract for $25m with the Lakers. He was 21 year old. No one expected him to play until he was 46. He didn't even make it to 36 before having to retire (the first time). He had a role with the coaching staff, front office, and eventually a minority ownership stake. By 1999, after the lockout, the NBA had a strict salary cap and max contracts. We'll never see anything like that again.

Well said.  There are too many unknowns for career contracts to be realistic.  Injury, a player outperforming his contract and holding out for a new one, a player underperforming his contract and the team releasing him, etc.  I also know that you could run into cap circumvention issues, like the New Jersey Devils did with Ilya Kovalchuk, and the Devils actually got penalized by the NHL.  Here's a link to that situation if you're interested: http://www.quora.com/How-did-Ilya-Kovalchuks-proposed-deal-circumvent-the-NHLs-salary-cap