Could Hauschka be on his way out?

Jamison Hensley is reporting a "change of tone" for Harbaugh's comments about the kicker. See article here

Collective Bargaining Agreement - A Primer

While much of the attention lately has been focused on whether or not Rush Limbaugh will make a good owner, a larger issue has been brewing just below the surface. It hasn't received much attention though, even though the implications are far more severe.

The Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is set to expire next year, and although there has been MUCH debate over whether it works, what the loopholes are, and how they are often exploited/ ignored, there is no debate over the impact it has had on the league since it's introduction in 1994. There are many aspects to the CBA, but one of the major issues, and certainly the one that gets the most attention is the salary cap. The salary cap, in theory, encourages parity and makes it much more difficult for teams to spend their way to a championship. (I'll go ahead and say it. Like the Yankees)

The NFL opted out of the CBA last year, although the agreement, which was formed in 1996 does not expire until 2010. Discussions have been ongoing, although NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has not participated in them. According to reports, he will be at the meeting which will take place this week.

The NFL Salary cap sets both a base (minimum) payroll and a maximum payroll teams must stay between. The cap is adjusted each year based on the previous year's revenue. At it's inception the cap was $34.6 million per team, while for the 2009 season it had grown to $128 million per team. This number is commonly 60% of total revenues, with teams required to pay out in salary a percentage of the cap number. The cap also includes numerous conditions - mostly including signing bonuses and performance bonuses which allow some "fuzzy math" as far as what is counted and what is not counted toward the cap.

The owners, as you can imagine, have many issues with the cap. They argue that the environment has changed since the CBA was being negotiated in the early 90's. Most notably, stadium overhead has increased in ways not imagined (it takes a lot of juice to run that screen in Dallas!) and raising the cap every year does not take into account outside factors like the economic downturn.

So does the cap work? Although it has looked at times like the greatest document since the 10 Commandments, many say that in recent years, it hasn't made much of a difference. This year alone there have been 6 shutouts and 20 blowouts of 21 points or more. In a recent article for the Wall Street Journal, Reed Albergotti reports the following:

Last season, six teams spent less than the league's official salary minimum in actual dollars, while 13 teams spent above the maximum, according to a person familiar with the matter. This season, the spread between the league's biggest payroll and the smallest was a whopping $66 million, enough to cover Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning's salary six times over.

If there is no agreement by March, it doesn't mean that owners will go on a spending spree. There are restrictions as well for an uncapped year. The amount of time before veterans can become restricted free agents is increased, and there will be a "transition tag" in place, which operates similarly to the franchise tag. The Players Association has stated that when/ if the cap expires, that will be the end of it, they will not a cap to be put back in place.

So what will happen? We will have to wait and see, and we will keep you updated.