MONEY PLOT TWIST!

So last week I was browsing NBA news and I saw the reports of James Harden’s new contract. James Harden is going to make over 200 million dollars. Steph Curry also just got paid similar dough. Suddenly Derek Carr’s $125 “highest contract in NFL History” looks kinda wimpy.

And every time a basketball star gets paid, there rises a small chorus of people who passionately argue that NFL players deserve more. That they deserve to get paid just like these basketball players. On the surface it makes sense. Football players play a more popular sport. More importantly, football players endure more long term damage. They sacrifice their bodies far more than any other sport. Football players are underpaid when it comes to professional athletes in most other major sports.

I do think football players deserve more money, but not the superstars. 125 million is, quite frankly, enough. Does James Harden really need 228 million dollars? That’s more than enough to live if you aren’t dumb. I don’t think the superstar athletes really need these contracts, especially since they also have insane endorsement deals that probably make them far more dough. I’d much rather see the money football players deserve go to the lesser players. The guys who are just dudes, regular starters. Backups. Practice squad people. Those are the people who need it. Those are the guys still out there, getting hurt the same way, washing out with very little to show for it and a lifetime of medical problems awaiting them. Essentially, I want the football minimum wage increased. Or at the minimum, more funds allocated towards taking care of players after they retire.

Football will never be able to pay players like basketball, where teams only have to pay like 12 people instead of 53+. Or baseball, where there is no salary cap and the luxury teams can just throw money at problems. If no contract ever surpasses Derek Carr, I’d be fine with that. But give the little guys more money.

I’ll have to wait for the next contract to see how this develops.