Parity in the NFL

In an interesting season marred by the unfortunate pursuits of perfection by the Patriots and perfect futility by the Dolphins, the NFL fan has to wonder what has happened to the NFL's supposed parity. This is the league with the Viagra-hard salary cap, ultimate revenue-sharing, and a huge advantage in the NFL draft for the weakest teams. Any team can win on any given Sunday, and teams seem to go from rags to riches overnight.

But suddenly it seems like the rich keep getting richer and the poor poorer. The consensus (although I question it) is that no team can beat the Pats, a team in the midst of what might be a dynasty. Baseball, with stories like the Mets and Rockies of this year, has become the anything can happen league, and football is starting to look like a caste system with little mobility. As Mr. Belding would say, What is going on here?

The guys fro ProFootballTalk.com would tell you that getting a high draft pick is no longer a reward, but rather a fiscal responsibility. Teams with top 5 picks have to commit a great deal of guaranteed money to unproven commodities, and a lot of the time this causes years of trouble in a league where the salary cap is so important. They believe that the system for determining the draft order actually punishes the worst teams in the league as opposed to helping them, and that the NFL should look into revamping the system.

While I think the PFT guys make a good point, there is something more going on here. Professional sports coaches are put on shorter and shorter leashes every year. Teams want to win, and they want to win quick. Even the obviously rebuilding Miami Dolphins were afraid to use that dreaded r-word for weeks this year because in the NFL, the here and now is all that matters. What have you done for me lately is a phrase that comes to mind. No coach's job is secure, and for that reason building a franchise is not enough. A coach/GM needs to build a franchise quickly.

So what ends up happening? The have-nots try to make like the post-Katrina Saints but fail, and year after year dig their hole deeper and deeper. Everybody spends their money looking for the quick fix and mortgage their future by creating salary cap problems for years and years. Take, for example, your very own post-Shula Miami Dolphins. The Ricky Williams trade, which ended up costing 2 first round picks, is a prime example of the type of move that bad teams make to try to get better. The AJ Feely trade is another great example. While it is fun to blame Spielman (and he is well deserving of it), he was in a system where he had to get better soon or he would be gone. A 2nd round pick could not help him as immediately as a potential starting quarterback. The bad teams have coaches and GMs that make short term decisions in hopes of saving their jobs, but in reality, the NFL is not a short term league.

The other side of the coin is the good teams. I get heartburn thinking about it, but the antithesis of the Miami Dolphins right now is the Patriots. The Patriots have a solid foundation of players, are great up front on both sides of the ball, have a franchise quarterback, and have a shut down corner. They have no short term needs. So, what does this allow them to do? They consistently stockpile draft picks, taking advantage of the shortsighted poor teams (they will probably end up with the #2 pick this year thanks to the 49ers). Then, with these abundant draft picks, they are free to draft players who may not contribute immediately, but will eventually turn into starters for years down the road. They can plan for the future with cheap young players, a necessity in the NFL, and a luxury that the poor teams do not have (or at least don't think they have).

While that explains what the problem is in the NFL and what has caused this blatant lack of parity, it does not explain what I believe can be done to fix it. It may seem implicit in my writing that I believe that the coaches and GMs of the current have-nots should simply alter their strategy and think in the long term, but to the contrary I don't believe this is realistic. Not only are most coaches and GMs way too concerned with their own jobs and the pressures of winning now for this simple answer to work, which they are, but they are being hired to win games, sell tickets, and fill the seats. It is not their job to lose games so that some other regime can come in and take credit for what they built, and any owner who puts that much altruistic faith in his coach/GM is kidding himself and an idiot (see Dolan of the NBA).

The true answer is that the onus is on the ownership of the poor-performing NFL teams (and all teams) to hire long-term advisers and consultants to help guide and oversee the franchise. I'm not talking somebody experienced in business operations or a passing executive who will be gone in a few years. The Wayne Huizengas of the NFL need to have trustworthy sources with experience in NFL personnel operations on staff for the long term. No more Nick Sabans coming in and doing whatever they please. Somebody has to control what coaches and GMs are doing today to affect the franchise for years down the road. In most cases, the only person they have to answer to is the owner, but clearly Huizenga and the other owners need help in checking the power of these coaches and GMs.

The future of the National Football League is potentially in jeopardy. Parity has been of paramount importance for the success of the league, and it needs to stay that way. For the love of the game, and for the love of those of us who can't stand to see such poor play from such beloved teams, I beg the owners to create infrastructures that can control shortsighted coaches and GMs, and I beg that they step in when need be.