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If You Thought the 2009 NFL season is Wild.... November 23, 2009 -- As the 2009 NFL season unwinds, separating the contenders from the pretenders, a dark, gloomy shadow resides in the near future: an uncapped 2010 season.
And for those listening to the whispers and watching the warning signs, it's coming. "The uncapped year is definitely going to happen," expressed New York Giants center and player rep Shaun O'Hara on Sirius/XM NFL Radio's Friday morning show. "We're already running short on time. I could be wrong ... But I think at this point in the life of the NFL, the uncapped year is something the owners are willing to take a look at. If that ends up happening, it could really change the landscape of the NFL.''
Change the landscape? That may be a bit of an understatement. While believers of the Mayan calendars and Nostradamus' ancient predictions cry foul over 2012, NFL fanatics may witness their sport turn into the free-for-all that Major League Baseball is in 2010.
For one season, the owners whose pockets run deep will have no worries. Add to that a free-agent class that features the likes of Ronnie Brown, Brandon Marshall, Terrell Owens, Julius Peppers, Elvis Dumervil, Richard Seymour, Vince Wilfork and Shawne Merriman awaits. And because of the ability owners will have to front-load contracts for the 2010 season (counting entire signing bonuses on the 2010 non-capped season), players who are unrestricted free agents shall benefit the most.
 NFL owners who have repeatedly made bad decisions (Al Davis immediately comes to mind) will be able to simply rip up contracts without the fear of cap hits. The current NFL salary cap is called a "hard cap", in which unlike the NBA which invokes the "luxury tax" when a team goes over the max cap number, an NFL team must stay under at all times; penalties for violating or circumventing the cap include fines of up to $5 million, cancellation of contracts and/or loss of draft picks.
In an uncapped season, NFL owners could freely cut players such as Javon Walker (or much of the Raiders roster for that matter) who were signed to massive contracts but were owed so much guaranteed money that cap hits would severely paralyze the team's ability to shop in the free agent market if they were to cut him.
So in a league where organizations must slowly pay for and deal with the consequences of their actions for many years, the 2010 season becomes the saving grace for owners like Davis and Redskins owner Dan Snyder  (who comes to mind). Or even say Cowboys owner Jerry Jones who just spent $1.3 billion on a new facility.
The balance of powers that for the past decade has been Indianapolis, New England, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, could suddenly be joined by a Dallas Cowboys squad that goes out and signs Julius Peppers, Vince Wilfork and Shawne Merriman. Their cap number would instantly launch itself over the previous 2009 cap limit but without having to abide by a number, the Cowboys would immediately turn a good defense into a great defense, likely securing the most improved run defense and pass rush in the league.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and the owner's union has frantically warned against such radical moves but they cannot account for the actions of an aging wealthy businessman who may see his last chance at greatness and become a rogue warrior among his previously trusting colleagues. The landscape of the NFL would change overnight, turning the owners away from the strictly secluded and united group they so often appear to be, to the wealthy ultra-aggressive businessmen they truly are.
 And in a season in which the wacky and wild are the expected, a season in which a purple-donning Brett Favre is soon to be placed two wins away from a Super Bowl appearance and the Cincinatti Bengals aren't the Bungles, 2010 has the potential to break all the rules and preconceived notions.
And while we in New England sit content knowing that the notion of success can be found at the mere mention of "In Brady and Bill we trust", other NFL fans--- who have been mired in mediocrity around the league for years (such as the Lions, Browns, and the aforementioned Raiders)---not unlike their 2012 counterparts as they mark their calendars in hopes that maybe this is the year "we return to greatness".
In 2010, one thing is certain, all bets are off. |
| More Articles | 11/27/2009 Professor's Ramblings: Pats-Saints | | | 11/16/2009 The Morning After Tragedy: Why the Pats Are Super-Bowl Bound | | |
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