For the second time in two days, financial considerations cause an NFL team to cut loose one of its stars.
The New Orleans Saints, as expected, parted ways with long-time running back Deuce McAllister by giving him his release Tuesday.A team has to do what they have to do to stay within the cap. I just don't think fans appreciate their favorite players getting cut for this reason only. What can we do about it?McAllister's release comes one day after the Jacksonville Jaguars cut the franchise's all-time leading running back, Fred Taylor. With a $7.5 million cap number and McAllister owed more than $5 million this fall, the Saints figured to either cut his salary or release him.
A news conference was scheduled for Tuesday.
His release puts the Saints under the $123 million salary cap.
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In eight seasons in New Orleans, McAllister rushed for 6,096 yards on 1,429 carries.
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Comments (1)
What can be done about it?<... (Below threshold)1. Posted by ScottB | February 17, 2009 5:51 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
What can be done about it?
Get rid of the cap, of course!
Stop pretending that owners can't make sound financial decisions on their own. Make owners take responsibility. If they can't afford a player, they have to tell him that, rather than hide behind the salary cap and tell the player he has to be cut to get under the cap. This also means that the owner would shoulder more of the blame/praise for building a winning/losing team.
Never happen though. The salary cap is BEAUTIFUL for the owners. It gives them guaranteed profit. It gives them a built in excuse for failure ("We wanted an all-star DB, but the cap didn't give us room"). So they will never give it up.
The owners have also hoodwinked the media (and therfore the public) into being uncritical of their financial statements. How many times have we heard that teams are near bankrupcy? Lots. How many teams have gone bankrupt? None. And yet the the public is convinced the salary cap is needed to protect the owners.
I say take the cap off. If Joe Owner is such a bad owner that his team goes bankrupt, then let it go bankrupt. That's Capitalism in action. A new owner will take the team and run it better. (Or maybe Obama will take money from us and give him a huge bailout...)
1. Posted by ScottB | February 17, 2009 5:51 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on February 17, 2009 17:51