Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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UPON FURTHER REVIEW TODD D. BURLAGE cord group of 98 underclassmen this year to leave school early and make themselves draft eligible. Times they are a-changing — even at a higher-learning institution such as Notre Dame. And one little bylaw writ- ten into the 2011 NFL collective bar- gaining agreement (CBA) that slashed rookie salaries — and first impacted the NFL Draft in 2012 — is the driving force behind this mass exodus from college campuses. Because even the top draft picks are locked into these relatively "low- paying" contracts under the new CBA when compared to the previous CBA, more players are leaving college early in a rush to begin the countdown to free agency and a more lucrative second contract. As part of the current agreement that runs through 2021, NFL players and owners agreed to a rookie wage scale that locked all first-year players into their lower-paying initial contracts for at least three years; renegotiation is not an option. Interestingly, the average ca- reer of an NFL player is 3.5 years. For perspective, Super Bowl cham- pion quarterback Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks makes about $525,000 a year as a third-round pick under the current CBA while quarterback bust Colt McCoy — a third-round draft pick in 2010 under the previous CBA — signed a rookie contract with Cleveland worth about $1.25 million a year. Timing is clearly everything. Adding more injury to financial in- sult, the current collective bargaining agreement also sharply cut signing bo- nuses. As the first overall pick in the 2010 draft under the previous CBA, Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford signed a contract with St. Louis that included a $24 million signing bonus. Two seasons after Bradford signed his record deal, Indianapolis star quarter- back Andrew Luck — the first overall selection in the 2012 draft and therefore the first player selected under the new CBA — pulled in a $12 million signing bonus (half of Bradford's) on a four-year contract worth about $22 million. Luck's total deal was worth $2 million less than what Bradford collected in just signing bonus cash. The new CBA was advertised as a way for NFL owners to get spiraling salaries like Bradford's under control. But after three seasons under the cur- rent CBA, the evidence overwhelmingly suggests this arrangement has done nothing but entice players projected to be drafted outside of the first round — such as Niklas and Atkinson — to leave school early and begin their push to free-agency riches. Kelly's intentions and message are noble in weighing a potential recruit's NFL aspirations with his academic in- tentions. But disregarding elite players during the recruiting process based on a "promise" to stay and graduate will not only become an exercise in futility, but a sure detriment to the talent level in his program. Like it or not, times they are a-chang- ing, even at Notre Dame. ✦ Todd D. Burlage has been a writer for Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 2005. He can be reached at tburlage@blueandgold.com