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As we close the book on another year of NFL business, as always, there’s no shortage of topics that demand our attention. In the year Here are my top 10 soccer business stories from the world’s most profitable and popular sports league in 2022.
The Watson trade and suspension, Snyder’s call to sell the Chiefs and Jackson’s contract negotiations were among the biggest stories of the year.
Joseph Maiorana / USA Today Sports (Watson); Jeff Burke / USA Today Sports (Snyder); Daniel Parhizkaran/NorthJersey.com/USA TODAY Network (Jackson)
1. Discipline Deshaun Watson
The first major disciplinary case since the new CBA revised the league’s personal conduct policy was against Watson, one of the league’s young stars, and the allegations stemmed from sexual harassment and assault against dozens of massage therapists over a 17-month period. The first reprimand was handed down by an arbitrator jointly selected by the NFL and the NFLPA, former referee Sue Robinson, who made commissioner Roger Goodell an “enforcer” rather than a referee and judge. Robinson called Watson’s behavior “interesting” and even “predatory” but only pointed to a six-game suspension for what she saw as “violent” behavior. Goodell exercised his right to appeal—to protect himself—and chose an appeals officer to impose severe discipline. That appeals officer, however, never made a decision because the 11-game suspension was settled. Although Watson was unrepentant about accepting the punishment, the league regretted pushing through for a year (or more), perhaps wanting to put this year-long cycle of bad news and more than 50 civil lawsuits (which were settled by Watson among the Texans’ settled cases) behind them.
2a. Deshaun Watson deal
The player featured above signed the biggest, most secure, and strongest contract in NFL history, and it’s not even close. The title of “best contract in the NFL” does not go to Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, etc. He goes to Watson. And as I said before, mostly, because of his own bad behavior. The Texans’ not wanting Watson on their team created a perfect storm: Houston’s pre-eligible teams traded three first-round draft picks, and then those teams — the Panthers, Falcons, Saints and Browns — made bids for Watson’s services. The Browns were out first, and Watson narrowed it down to the Falcons and Saints. And then voila: the brown ones weren’t the only ones no i don’t He went out, but found it. Looking at the contract, we know why: the most guaranteed money to date ($230 million), the first fully-guaranteed veteran over three years, and the $45 million bonus that almost certainly loomed. . Even after the 11-game suspension, Watson will pocket $45.365 million in 2022, which is impressive for a month and a half of games.
2 b. Effect of Watson agreement
Ever since the Browns and Watson struck that deal, the biggest question in the NFL’s player contract business has been this: Does Watson’s contract at least preempt top-tier quarterbacks, or is it an outlier, a sham, as owners will surely argue? Up to this point, the answer is clearly the latter. Since Watson’s contract, there have been three quarterback extensions, and all three – Derek Carr, Kyler Murray and Russell Wilson – have returned to the typical owner-friendly NFL contract structure, with only the first years of long-term contracts guaranteed (two or at most three years) and then all risk to The player moved. The owner’s shout, “Out!” Regarding Watson’s contract, which allowed the Browns to avoid internalizing future guarantees, which they were required to do, this month sparked an NFLPA complaint as they looked for a smoking gun for teams to cooperate in removing Watson’s condition. But for now, Watson isn’t dominant, it’s just a disaster. Unless…
3. Lamar’s Lament
It could be argued that Lamar Jackson was far more (1) productive, (2) healthy, and (3) successful than Watson when negotiating his own contract without an agent. And Jackson, unlike the agents of the three aforementioned quarterbacks, appeared steadfast in demanding that Watson’s contract be his priority. Those arguments got him nowhere with the team, as they held the outsider’s claim. Jackson shuts down the deal and says he’s betting on himself. The problem for him, of course, is that NFL superstars who want to bet on themselves on the open market also have to contend with the franchise tag. Jackson, with or without a traditional agent, is a victim of the system and the owners seem stuck, unwilling to admit that it takes precedence over Watson’s contract. If the Ravens win here, Watson’s deal seems to fit what the owners say: an outsider.
4. The end of the Snyder era?
The bills keep coming for Dan Snyder, as the bills keep coming due to his decades of involvement with Poison and Snyder. (1) There was a congressional investigation and a scathing report; (2) another investigation by the NFL, after the initial report has been filed; (3) suit from the Washington, DC, Attorney General; (4) calls for Coles owner Jim Irsay to be fired and, perhaps most importantly, (5) zero offers from DC, Maryland or Virginia for public stadium funding. Like I said, the NFL didn’t pick him out; He doesn’t want to be in litigation for years to come. But he could be “Sarverd.” My phrase for the NBA’s coordinated campaign to remove Sun and Mercury owner Robert Sarver coincidentally coincided with the same reprimand that Snyder was given by the NBA for the same misconduct in the NFL: a toxic, misguided workplace of leadership. A better-than-expected performance on the field by the Chiefs helped Snyder. No amount of pay for coach Ron Rivera is enough. Snyder is “exploring options” with the reports he sells; I’ll believe it when I see it.
5. A new market for a wide receiver
The top end of the wide receiver market will experience a significant increase in 2022 unlike anywhere else. The ups and downs started with two “trade-and-marks”. Contracts for Davante Adams and Tyreek Hill. They moved from the Packers to the Raiders and the Chiefs to the Dolphins for new contracts worth $25 million a year. Then two more veterans approached that number: the Jaguars’ Christian Kirk in free agency and the Rams’ Cooper Kupp via extension. Then in April, the most impactful “trade and sign” of the year happened: The Titans traded AJ Brown, and the Eagles made him the first player to reach that plateau on a rookie contract. Once that happened, three more receivers from the Browns’ 19 rookie class—DK Metcalf, Terry McClarin and Debo Samuel—painted the same extensions that mirrored the Browns. While other skill positions — tight end and running back, for example — continue to stagnate or lose value, the high-end wide receiver market has exploded this year.
6. Broncos busting franchise value
The long-awaited sale of the Broncos resulted in the biggest check ever written to the league. The team was sold to Rob Walton of the Walmart family for $4.65 billion, more than double the previous sale of an NFL team, more than the $2.275 billion the Panthers bought for Dave Tepper in 2018. Walton is now in the NFL. A very rich owner; Tepper was second, followed by Walton’s brother-in-law, Stan Kroenke, in third. Walton soon doubled his investment by awarding Russell Wilson a shiny new contract, an investment that certainly didn’t pay off in Walmart-like proportions. The Broncos, who fired their coach before the end of his first season on the job, became both the NFL’s most valuable franchise and most disappointing team in the same year.
7. Bills and Titans stadium subsidies
Player contracts, even lucrative ones like Watson’s, are couch-cushion money compared to what NFL owners receive from the public to build stadiums. By using unspoken (or even verbal) threats to move the team, NFL owners can squeeze state and local municipalities into providing hundreds of millions to keep their teams. This year, the Bills set a new NFL record for public funding for the first time when they received an $850 million commitment for stadium funding: $600 from New York State and $250 million from Erie County. Later in the year, the Titans surpassed that record; They will get $500 million from Nashville and another $760 million from revenue bonds to build a new stadium. The teams are receiving huge stadium subsidies, and with their explosive value increasing, future profits are nowhere near municipal. It’s an incredible business model: socializing spending; Privatization of profits.
Brady has been in the news a lot this year…even by his standards.
Nathan Ray Sebeck / USA Today Sports
8. Tom Brady’s wild ride
Brady will retire shortly after the 2021 season, according to ESPN. The next day, the quarterback dropped the topic on his podcast. He then retired the next day. He did not retire after forty days. It was then revealed – unbeknownst to his employer, the Buccaneers – that Brady and coach Sean Payton had plans to move to the Dolphins, which was thwarted by Brian Flores’ lawsuit filed against the NFL and the Dolphins on February 1. Brady reluctantly returned to the Bucs after training camp was cut short. Oh, and he also signed a 10-year, $375 million deal with Fox to broadcast NFL games when he decided to retire (without retiring). And if that wasn’t enough, Brady was found guilty of two counts, as the confirmation of crypto exchange FTX collapsed that house of cards. After 20 years in Belichick Land, Brady is making up for lost time.
9. Rams implosion
I know, I know. They won the Super Bowl. Every time I pick this up, I hear people say it’s worth it. But is it really? The Rams, at 5–10, look like a shell of the team that won the Super Bowl 10 months ago, not only with injuries, but also with the decline of several players. And LA didn’t just go all in last year; He also doubled the max-market extensions for Matthew Stafford, Aaron Donald and Cooper Kupp this offseason. The Rams’ first-round draft pick, possibly a top-10 pick, goes to the Lions in exchange for Stafford’s next. And even if Baker Mayfield gives them a spark, they are committed to at least two more seasons for Stafford, the league’s highest-paid player in 2022. Yes, they won the Super Bowl, but there’s such a fine line in these things that they fell short of losing to the 49ers in the playoffs. The salary cap behind this strategy will not only bite them this year, but for years to come.
10. YouTube in the fold
One of the major stories of the past year was the completion of an astounding $110 billion in NFL media deals from Fox/ESPN/CBS/NBC/Amazon. Then there was only one piece of the media puzzle left: The Sunday Ticket, a package that airs on DirecTV. While Amazon was bidding, I learned that they won’t be awarding the package: The NFL already has Thursday nights under its belt. The winner? Google, owner of YouTube TV, where the games are shown. Google pays $2 billion a year, which can go up to $2.5 billion a year depending on the product’s performance. The NFL is now ready with the most important partnerships for continued prosperity and profitability; It has ten-year labor and media agreements, both extremely owner-friendly. These are salad days for NFL owners.
In the year As we look to 2023, there will undoubtedly be a new disciplinary issue to focus on. New contracts for Lamar Jackson (or not), Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert; A new positioning reset in the marketplace; And in the NFL’s effort to keep the revenue pump up, new challenges arise every day and every week with controversies such as service delivery, gambling, concussions and more. Regardless of the title du jour, the league has become too big to fail in many ways, with business booming.
NFL trade always wins.
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