Money Down the Drain

I have to take the side of salary caps being a good thing. However, I will put a bit of a different spin on it. The general argument for a salary cap these days is basically to bring down the giant payrolls that teams have (mainly baseball, the basketball salary cap isn't a huge deal either) and allow most teams to at least be similar in payroll.

My stance is that a salary cap is a good thing because it forces the brass of these teams to be careful how much money they throw at one or two players who can't live up to their inflated contract, especially guaranteed contracts. Don't get me wrong I think if the money is there and these guys are worth it, pay them its their job and if they don't get the money its not like we as fans will see it.

These days the big deals each offseason seem to be as prevalent as ESPN's coverage of LeBron James. Teams feel obligated to throw huge deals at guys especially in basketball and baseball and lets not forget Dan Snyder. These contracts are guaranteed and can end up hurting a team for years if this player turns out to be a dud (Elton Brand).

Now take two truly capped sports hockey and besides this year football, which didnt have much bearing on the offseason anyway. Teams take much more care in not overpaying big name players (except for the aforementioned Snyder) and it makes for a much more competitive product.

Salary caps are a good thing for sports if used in the right way. Teams that can manage them well can be very successful over long periods of time and it is because they don't just throw big money at big names. And I'm at a loss of how to end this so I leave this topic to you my friend...