Something is wrong with a sport that locks in the money without any guarantee of performance. It’s their fault, from the head office down.
I played rugby and soccer in college and football in high school. Soccer is frustrating because it avoids body contact. Lots of fakers too. Rugby is the toughest sport on grass. Full time athletes play that game and know they are in a class of their own. Rugby was tougher than me. I got injured out every year from brutal hits.
The NFL is the only major sports league where contracts are NOT guaranteed. An NFL team can sign a player to a five-year contract for $10M/year in salary and then cut the player after Year 2, saving the team $30M in the process.
Top players have gotten smart about this. Now they’ll say: “I’ll sign a five-year contract for $50M total, but I only want $5M/year in salary. Give me the other $25M up front as a signing bonus. I’m not going to risk losing $30M if you cut me after Year 2.”
The NFL is the only one of the American sports leagues that doesn’t default to guaranteed contracts. In this case it isn’t the guaranteed it’s the cap. Even if you don’t have to pay the player you still take the cap hit for most of the salary. Punishment for signing dumb contracts.