In 2011, the NFL and NFL Players Association reached a deal on a new collective bargaining agreement. A huge piece of the new agreement was a rookie wage scale, limiting how much players on their first NFL contracts would be paid. In 2010, Sam Bradford’s six-year, $78 million deal made him the highest-paid player in NFL history despite never playing a snap, and owners pushed hard for the change.
Because rookie wages have been slotted in ever since, and the penalties for holding out were also greatly increased, we haven’t seen a lot of contract issues with rookies in the last decade. This year, it’s very different.
→ Continue reading at SB Nation
