Contracts in sports are truly unfathomable to the average person. In many cases, millions of dollars are doled out to athletes over the course of a few short years.
During the winter of 2000, the Texas Rangers signed Alex Rodriguez to a 10-year, $252 million contract. Fans often view players as greedy for holding out for a few extra million dollars, and generally I would agree. Latrell Sprewell's comment that a three year, $21 million deal was not sufficient because "I need to feed my family" was an embarrassing statement about the state of sports and its stars.
But then there are the players who do not seek out big figures like bounty hunters. Guys like Tedy Bruschi, who took less money than he could have gotten out on the free agency market to stay with a Patriots team he loved. Or Bronson Arroyo, who negotiated a three-year deal with the Red Sox last season that priced him between $11 and $12 million over that period, a price well below his market value. Arroyo brokered the deal against the advice of his agent because he wanted to remain a Red Sox player. However, the team took advantage of the situation and traded off the discounted pitcher because of his high production and low price.
The question then becomes, "How should professional athletes negotiate their contracts?" Should the bottom line be all they care about, or are loyalty and team chemistry major factors?
In New England, Deion Branch most recently filled the role of the spoiled athlete who was holding out for the big bucks. Local papers and fans vilified the former Patriots wide receiver because he refused to play even though he still had one year left on his contract. But to be completely fair, contract rules in the NFL entirely favor team ownership, not the players. NFL contracts are not guaranteed, which means that a team can cut a player at any time and not pay off the remainder of his contract. Granted that the player did agree to perform at that dollar value, it is unfair that only one side should be able to terminate the contract.
One factor to consider is the average length of a professional football player's career. Due to the extreme physical grind of the occupation, the average length of an NFL player's career is only 3.2 years, according to the NFL Players Association. That means that during that period of time, the athlete needs to make as much money as he possibly can to avoid a career in car dealerships or Viagra ads after his retirement from athletics.
So is Branch the bad guy here? He put up very good numbers last year and wants to cash in on his success before his career is over, due to injury or old age. If he were to suffer a career ending injury while playing for his sparse rookie contract, he would forgo the big bucks he feels he has earned through his professional success. However, he did sign a contract. Is it right to bail out of this legal agreement?
The issue concerning Branch ended when he was traded to the Seahawks on Monday and subsequently signed a contract that he viewed as fair. However, contracts will continue to be an issue in athletics so long as people are willing to shell out big bucks to see their teams play. While that money is pouring in, teams will continue to show outrageous revenue figures and players will want their piece of the pie.