One Item That Needs to be in the CBA

Historically, there have been 2 teams in the NFL that have no interest in winning, only money. Sadly, the longest running punchline to most NFL jokes has been the Cardinals, regardless of which city they have broken hearts. Starting in Chicago, then St. Louis, now in Phoenix, Bill Bidwell has been the worst owner in the NFL for the longest time. His only serious competition comes from Mike Brown in Cincinnati. (Al Davis is third on the list, but at least the man WANTS to win.) It's no wonder that so many quality players want out of there, and the only ones that like it there are the one's on their last hope and prayer, like Cedric Benson, Pac-man Jones, and Tank Johnson. The moment Carson Palmer made his now famous "trade me or I'll retire on my $80,000,000.00 I have in the bank" statement, I knew it was for real, because it never was about re-negotiating. It was about getting away from an awful organization that does not care about winning. I was amazed when Chad OchoJohnson said the same thing 2 years ago. I listened, and never once did Chad say "Pay me or trade me" ... he said GET ME THE HELL OUT OF HERE !!!

So why, then, you might ask, were BOTH teams recently in the play-offs, and even the Superbowl? Because of a little known clause in the last Collective Bargaining Agreement, the one that defines the LEAST amount of money teams MUST spend on player payrolls. These two teams were, for the first time, forced to spend monies they never would have in the past, and look what happened. Suddenly these teams were good. Do you think Bill Bidwell would ever have spent $12 million a year on a quarterback like they did Kurt Warner if they didn't have to?

And now look at both organizations. Last year, since there was no salary cap, there was no salary minimum, hence, both teams let star players run away in droves. The cardinals lost more players to free agency than Toyota has lost cars to recalls. And big name, high quality players, too. Players that were not traded, just let go.

Roger Goodell has expressed throughout his term as commissioner that he wants only what is best for the league. Well, he should be leading the parade on making sure this is one of those items that is still included in the new CBA. He may lose 2 votes from these 2 owners on ratifying it, but it would be worth it in the long run. If not, they might as well begin negotiations with COURT TV to start broadcasting all of the Bengals games.