Dan Pompei

It is about as likely that exorbitant rookie salaries will be the downfall of the NFL as it is that flies will be the downfall of American agriculture.

But that isn't to say the cows wouldn't be more comfortable without the buzzing and biting.

Look, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was right on the money when he said, "There's something wrong about the system" that pays high first round draft picks who never have played an NFL down more than proven veterans. "Ridiculous" is a word Goodell used that is completely appropriate.

But the rookie pay situation is not the main issue the league and the NFL Players association need to address—it's the percentage of money the NFL is willing to include in salaries.

The league believes it gave too much in the last extension of the collective bargaining agreement in 2006 when it allowed the players between 59 and 60 percent of the NFL's gross revenues, up from about 54 percent in the previous agreement. The NFL says it will spend almost $4.5 billion on player costs this year.

The union says they have no intention of giving anything back. But saying anything else would weaken their negotiating leverage. They never have given back in the past, but there is a first time for everything.

Nobody is buying the cry that NFL teams can't be profitable under the current agreement. But it is understandable that they can't be as profitable as they want to be. There is no question the profit margins of most NFL teams has decreased in the last few years. The lower revenue teams like the Bills, Bengals, Jaguars and Raiders—some of whom opposed the CBA extension from the start—have been hurt most by its terms.

Player salaries are part of the equation, and so are stadium issues, rising in other areas of operation and the faltering economy. NFL teams won't open their books, so no one knows for sure how much money they are making. One team president told me it's a good year if his team clears $1 million in profit. There is something wrong with a league in which Jake Long can make $30 million in a year and Wayne Huizenga makes only $1 million.

Which brings us back to rookie salaries. Veteran NFL players such as NFLPA president Kevin Mawae have taken issue with the system. Even Falcons rookie quarterback Matt Ryan, who is pocketing $34.75 million guaranteed, can see the ludicracy of the system. "You can understand the other side of it, the concern of the veterans who have been in the league 10, 12 years and proven themselves but not seen the money," Ryan told the Associated Press. "I can understand both sides."

The official NFLPA stance, however, is that big salaries for top draft picks drive up salaries for veterans. If, for instance, Ryan got $34.75 million guaranteed, that should help Phillip Rivers get more when his contract expires after 2009. NFLPA executive director Gene Upshaw also points out that the fact that the careers of NFL players tend to be so short means a rookie wage scale is not in the best interest of the people he works for. And The NFLPA does not believe the promise that NFL teams will give to veterans what they save in rookie costs.

So the debate rages on.

Figuring out how to pay rookies is really is the easy part. Figuring out how much teams will have to pay all players is the hard part.

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