Thursday links and notes

by Josh Kirkendall on May 29, 2008 1:49 PM EDT

Ben Utecht is pumped with the prospects of being fully involved in the Bengals offense.

Chick Ludwig summarizes that Chad Johnson is less responsible than a five-year old with a dollar at a candy shop. I honestly don't know what that means (and I wrote it), but somewhere, in someone's mind (mine) it makes sense.

Geoff Hobson points out that the defense needs young leaders. To hell with that, we just need leaders.

Antwan Odom plans on gaining another 20 pounds by training camp.

In the same link above, DeDe Dorsey joined Glenn Holt as the first team kickoff return group (followed by Chatman, Gabriel, Simpson and Caldwell). Brandon Johnson's stock is also growing.

Who Dey Revolution (who I actually like and read daily) takes exception that being in a small market isn't, in fact, debilitating when it comes to cost (such as free agents, facilities, staffing, as they put it). I do somewhat think free agents is a justified point only in that we let some of our best leave. As for acquiring new free agents, that market just hasn't been there for much more than role players. There is one exception that needs to be noted though.

...the NFL’s policy means that funds generated from tickets, merchandise, sponsorships and national media deals (such as the NFL’s TV and Radio contracts) are divided equally between all 32 teams.

That's actually not totally true and a big reason why owners opted out of the existing CBA. There are revenues generated by teams that are not shared. Those teams in bigger markets receive larger revenue, not shared that can be used for players in the name of guaranteed money. Mike Brown actually gets to keep the money that's generated by Paul Brown Stadium. Teams don't share revenue with stadium naming rights, local media contracts and (especially) corporate sponsorships. As for Brown having a sweet deal with Paul Brown Stadium, we couldn't agree more. However, Brown knows how to run a business, just not a football team.

Finally, final episode of Lost is TONIGHT. It's a three-hour event with the final two hours the new stuff. Dig it!

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On the small market thing...

The current CBA does a good job of neutralizing negative effects from the disparate incomes and values of teams. There is no doubt that the Pats, Skins, Cowboys, and Texans make more money then the Chargers and 49ers, but that doesn’t necessarily translate into championships. The 49ers, Raiders, Colts, and Steelers are all mid-to-small markets and have historically fared well. The Rooney’s are probably bigger tightwads than the Browns, but it doesn’t hurt their competitiveness.

I got this off the Forbes website. It offers a comparison of the value and revenue of NFL teams. There doesn’t seem to be a strong correlation between winning and value beyond the fact that Patriots have had a good run as of late.

I do think that the abolition of the CBA and a capless NFL would be bad for the Bengals and most small market teams.

What keeps driving up the cap is the unshared revenue (licensing, corporate boxes, etc), which is factored in when determining the annual cap increase. If there was more revenue sharing, it would level the playing field further.

by goffchile on May 29, 2008 2:35 PM EDT reply actions