Armchair Quarterback: The ups and downs of parity
What kind of world do we live in when the Cincinnati Bengals are leading their division and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are on the verge of missing the playoffs?
Welcome to the world of parity. We’ve screamed for it for many years, wanting true competition where everyone is on equal footing. Well, we’ve got it thanks to the salary cap.
Gone are the days of dynasties, at least as the old schoolers know them. No more Cowboys, no more Niners and no more Steelers dynasties. The closest thing you’ve got to a dynasty right now, if you look back over the past four years is the Titans, and they’re yet to win a Super Bowl. And, given the complexion of things, it’s doubtful we see such dynasties again under the present system. It’s just too hard to keep a team together and stay under the salary cap.
Some people love the new league order, whereby picking the winners is about as an exact science as picking the winning lottery number. Others aren’t so keen as they miss that one dominant team they can root for or against each year. Sure, when a team like the Cowboys were on top, people constantly complained, saying they needed to be split up. However, now that it’s a reality, they find something missing on Sunday afternoons, that being, an evil villain to root against.
It’s also a gambler’s nightmare since we have no idea what to expect from week to week. Come on, there’s no way the Lions beat the Packers who in the midst of a playoff run. Wrong. Well, the best defense in the league won’t give up 40 points to the woeful Dolphin offense. Wrong. Well, at least there’s no way the Bungles will end the Chiefs’ undefeated season. Wrong. I hear the 1972 Dolphins popping the champaign bottles as I write this.
I’ve got mixed emotions about the state of the NFL as it comes to parity. On one hand I really like the ability of a team, such as the Bengals, to arise from their role as a laughing stock, to become division leaders in just one year. It seems to spread the wealth around where fans of all 32 teams have a chance to be winners any given year.
On the other hand, I don’t like what the salary cap does to the consistency of teams and their players. The cap makes it where very few players will play their entire careers on the team which drafted them. Team loyalty can only go so far when it comes to cut time. A team has to plan for the season at hand and they have to be under the cap.
For instance, as has been rumored, what happens if the Titans decide to cut their losses next year when it comes to Eddie George’s significant salary. George hasn’t been the same in recent years. Some say guys like Chris Brown and Kelly Holcome can fill the role on a team that now looks to the pass first and run second. Just look at what happened to Neil O’Donnell during the pre-season. He had been a staple of the Titans for years, only to be cut in favor of Billy Volek just before the season started. Not only was he cut, but he was cut at a time where it made it hard for him to latch on with another team. Given this history, what’s to say George won’t become expendable this year or next?
The end result would be unfortunate since George has been synonymous with the Titans since they arrived in Tennessee. Sure, his performance has suffered, but when a guy is asked to run the ball 35 times a game for several years, it’s going to take its toll.
Such losses of players demonstrate the downside of salary cap induced parity. But, as the old adage goes, you can’t have your cake and eat it too.