Player's Union President Kevin Mawae Keeps Focus On Big Picture

[Sweets]

When NFL owners recently opted out of their collective bargaining agreement with the players' union, the spit and fire focused on rookie salaries. In essence, rookies were scorched by both sides.


Too much money flowing that way when they are untested, owners said. Too few of those dollars invested in proven players, veterans griped.


Jake Long, the draft's No. 1 pick by Miami, took the quibbling in stride. He grabbed his nearly $60 million contract -- nearly $30 million of it guaranteed -- and said thank you very much. The first quarterback selected -- Atlanta's Matt Ryan -- snatched his nearly $72 million contract with nearly $35 million in guarantees and offered the same.


These are issues. Relevant issues, says Tennessee Titans center Kevin Mawae, the new president of the player's union, who enters his 15th year in the league. But rookie salaries are not the big picture, Mawae insisted.


And, certainly, he adds, they have not been placed in the proper frame.


"As all sports grow, money changes," Mawae said last Friday at the Titans complex as his team completed two days of practice. "My signing bonus 15 years ago was $450,000 and my contract was three years for $1.4 million. LenDale White was drafted for us two seasons ago and his signing bonus alone was $1.4 million. Ten years from now, the money Long and Ryan made might be considered next to nothing.


"I'm not mad at the rookies at all. Get what you can get. Hey, the average career in this league still is only 3½ years. The market dictates what rookies get. Ownership says they are losing money, that it is costing too much to run franchises, yet they are the ones going out and paying these rookies that kind of money. Don't tell us you are losing money and two days later you do that. You have a rookie pool. Then you give 80 percent of it to one guy. I never said I am for a new rookie salary cap. I am for whatever works."

Source: Thomas George, nfl.com