Regardless of whether or not a new Collective Bargaining Agreement is completed in time to keep the 2011 season on track, it won't be because of the issue of the incredibly high rookie salaries paid to college kids who have not played a single down in the NFL. Both sides in this issue agree that something is out of whack and have been able to meet in the middle to set up a new rookie wage scale.
It looks like the days of the six-year, $70 million deal for the #1 overallpick in the NFL Draft, much less the rest of the big deals that most of the first round picks have been getting are over. Even though the owners and players were looking for different contract lengths, they knew they both were on the same page and were willing to meet in the middle to settle the issue and move onto the bigger items, such as revenue sharing.
Unfortunately, both sides are around $750 million apart, and until they close that gap, the CBA will continue to remain unsettled. With the seven day extension deadline looming, who knows what will happen if these two sides cannot work out their differences.
See the story on this at the National Football Post.