Rookie Wage Scale Ironed Out

Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports has the full report:

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Here’s a tidbit:

"the league and the union have reached a basic compromise on a rookie wage scale that will replace the current rookie salary cap. The owners backed off the idea of requiring first-round picks to sign five-year deals, instead limiting the contracts to four years before a player could become a free agent. The agreement is also expected to include a stipulation limiting the amount of guaranteed money and signing bonus offered to draft picks."

First round picks are the key difference here:

"“We all saw the problem with the current system, but you have to give a guy a chance to get paid if he’s a good player,” one source said. “After three years, you pretty much know if a guy is a good player.”"

Under the new system, a good player would be able to receive a second and larger contract sooner if they deserve it. If not, they would hit free agency sooner as well.

And the extra part that could have effected the Giants years ago:

"In addition to the rookie wage scale, the NFLPA is also expected to agree on stronger language to allow teams to recoup money from players who get in trouble with the law, such as then-Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick or Plaxico Burress with the New York Giants. In the Vick case, he was allowed to keep approximately $20 million in signing-bonus money despite going to prison for dog-fighting and related charges."

Seems like a good agreement has been made. Now onto the bigger fish… an 18 GAME SEASON! No wait that was just taken off the table. DAMN.