Banner reportedly wrote a lot of the key language in CBA

[Ellsworth]

That is now being called one of the worst deals TE players have ever agreed to:

@JohnMiddlekauff: The NFLPA let the players get SCREWED. Have heard Joe Banner help write the language in the CBA. Via @JasonPhilCole
http://t.co/WVYcmcJc3X

[PackWest]

You could say the players got hosed, but its hard to muster much empathy for guys making only $35 million instead of $50 million

The players were played, and they have nobody but themselves to blame... They chose the bombastic, but over-matched DeMaurice as their front man

He got totally snookered and so did the players- they were so focused on less practice, less pads, more free time and a bunch of ancillary stuff that they forgot about the benjamins. Owners pwned them on the money side and the agents are screaming bloody murder via their friends in the media

[j1mmy]

Good thing the Eagles 2011 draft was such a bust.

[JDuggernaut]

When guys like

Flacco or Romo ink the kinds of deals they signed last offseason, the players are getting by just fine. Now, if they would learn how to manage their money, the next 3 generations of their family would be set for life.

[The Ref]

People are already forgetting why the pay structure for rookies changed in the first place. Shitty(er) for the rookies but better for the middle of the road veterans.

Gone are your franchise crippling contracts for busts like Jamarcus Russell and Vince Young types, and more decent second contracts for the the Riley Cooper's of the league.

It sucks to be a high producing first rounder playing his fourth year for a cheap franchise, but they'll get theirs sooner or later if they stay healthy.