Blame owners, not the system, for the all NFL's too-rich rookies

Matt Ryan of the Atlanta Falcons will make more money in his rookie season than Tom Brady will earn from the New England Patriots in 2008.

When you put it like that, Roger Goodell appears to be right - it's "ridiculous" to pay untested first-year players more than proven performers.

"There's something wrong about the system," Goodell said at a recent sports symposium.

Goodell sounds like he has got the best interest of the veterans at heart, but stop and ask yourself exactly what "system" is giving him heartburn?

Could it be the good-old free-enterprise system?

That's the system that accounts for the ridiculous rookie contracts. It's not the fault of the players' union. Or agents. There's nothing wrong about that system.

Nobody put a gun to the heads of Falcons ownership and ordered the team to make Ryan a mega-millionaire before he took his first snap in an NFL game.

No evil forces twisted the arm of the Miami Dolphins until they coughed up a $30 million guarantee as part of Michigan tackle Jake Long's five-year, $57.5 million deal.

Now the owners are saying, "Stop me before I give away another super jackpot, mega-millions in guaranteed money." The owners want the players' union to protect them from themselves. That's rich.

Goodell's lament about rookie salaries came out of leftfield. It was a public relations stunt that jump-started talk show debates that went nowhere. It was red meat

for the masses, because fans love tough talk about cutting salaries and rookie bonuses.

Perhaps a rookie salary cap would be a good thing for the NFL, but it's not the problem Goodell claims it is.

The bonuses paid high draft picks, he said, "should go to people who perform."

The comment sounds compassionate but actually is very calculating. Goodell would have us believe that money saved through a rookie salary cap would be funneled to veteran players. But that's just so much spin.

A commissioner's first loyalty is to the league owners. Goodell wants to change the NFL's financial picture to deal with a weakening economy and the rising cost of stadium construction.

Now that the owners have decided to reopen the collective bargaining agreement, the Players Association will be asked to assume some of the burdens. Because some franchises can't control their spending and in some cases can't cover the cost of stadium construction, the players will be asked to pitch in.

But even more indicative of what Goodell is really up to is his apparent satisfaction with a system that allows franchises to gouge fans. He talks about the need for the league to adjust to a weakening economy, yet there there's not a peep from his office as teams soak the fans for all they're worth.

Fans will help carry the freight for construction of a new stadium for the New York Giants and New York Jets, with the Giants asking from $1,000 to $20,000 for personal seat license fees - a tariff paid by the fan for the right to buy a season ticket.

Meanwhile, the Dallas Cowboys reportedly are asking as much as $50,000 for some PSLs for their new stadium.

League-sanctioned extortion has gone on for years. Now that the economy is weakening for all of us, where is the NFL's concern for the fans?

"There has to be some recognition of the costs," Goodell said. But his interest in fiscal responsibility doesn't include a moratorium on fleecing fans.

Ah yes, the fans, loyal to a fault. The NFL depends on that.

Goodell sings to the choir when he talks about reducing rookie salaries, but his comments are only meant to camouflage the game the owners are running.

Bob Molinaro, (757) 446-2373, bob.molinaro@pilotonline.com