I am quite sure that others would be glad to step into those spaces and earn millions of dollars a year. The sport might change a bit, but for the better.
I'm sure you are right. I'm certainly not trying to give the NFL players with criminal records any special treatment. I found the report through Google after reading your post and thinking "hmmmm . . . interesting point . . . I wonder if anybody's answered that question . . . ". I only ended up on this thread to read the Michael Vick/dog-fighting comments.
The last NFL game I saw was the Super Bowl when New England was trying to match the Dolphins' record of an undefeated season. Before that . . . I think it was Jerry Kramer delivering a block so that Bart Starr could score against the Cowboys. I'm not what you would call a fan of the NFL or the NBA.