Strike the stoppage talk, there's too much to lose

Message to the owners: You negotiated that deal. Only the Cincinnati Bengals and Buffalo Bills voted against this CBA in 2006.

The feeling then was that the agreement was always just a stopgap move. Outgoing NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue helped push it through in one of his last moves running the league for the owners. Back then the small-market owners balked at the agreement because their revenue wouldn't allow them to keep up with the big-market, top-revenue teams.

Since then, some of the big-market teams have had problems. Denver owner Pat Bowlen came out earlier this year and said he wanted out of the agreement because it wasn't working for his team. He let go of a handful of employees earlier this year in cost-cutting moves.

Even Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder, whose team generates more revenue than any other in the league, has trimmed jobs in his building for money reasons.

"I think we knew the economics would change significantly in this deal, that the pendulum would swing very much in favor of the players," NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said at the league meetings in March. "I don't think anyone would say that they knew it would swing as significantly as it has. I'm also not sure anyone could have anticipated the current environment that we have right now with the economy."

It's even worse for small-market teams. There's a $100 million difference between the revenues that the small-market teams get compared to the bigger-revenue teams. Yet the small-market teams still have to pay 60 percent of their gross to the players, the same as the big teams.

In Jacksonville, the Jaguars have cried foul about the current agreement since it was put into place. They've been forced to trim jobs and departments -- the broadcast department was blown out last year -- in part because of revenue issues.

But don't fret for Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver. Like the rest of his brethren, the value of his team is rising every day. Weaver paid $140 million, counting lost television revenue for the first three years of the team's existence, for his franchise. It is now probably worth $750 million. He could sell it to somebody who wants to move it to Los Angeles for $1 billion. The Saints were offered that a few years ago, according to a league source.

Plus, if things are really as bad as some owners want to make them out to be South Florida businessman Stephen Ross isn't all that smart. In March, he purchased half of the Miami Dolphins and their stadium for $550 million. What smart man in his right mind would pay that money to join a league where owners are taking a beating?

Ross has made millions in real estate. Do you think he would dive in for that type of money if the economics didn't work? He's smarter than that.

The owners are still making money, just not as much of it. It's like the newspaper industry where job cuts are the way now. Newspapers are still making money, but just not as much. So something has to happen.

NFL owners are businessmen, too. That's why they're opting out. Unpredictable bond rates have impacted teams that have built or are building new stadiums. That means more debt, which means more to pay back.

The union has vowed that it will not give back any of the revenues it has negotiated. NFL Players Association president Gene Upshaw will make this a fight. You can count on that. There is a movement among some players to get Upshaw out, so labor unrest could keep him in office, which means more of those years making $7 million in salary.

Players have benefited from this deal as well. The salary cap is $116 million this season. When it began in 1994, it was under $35 million.

In the end, smart minds will come to an agreement. Nobody wants to see The Replacements again in 2011 -- and we won't.

There's simply too much to lose. This will pass.