The New CBA: 5 Things Teams will do to beat the system

With the current NFL collective bargaining agreement ending in March of next year, a perpetual lame duck league will almost certainly take place until an agreement can be made. But most signs post to an unfavorable agreement, perhaps even a lockout that will suspend play for the 2011 season. Whatever the case may be, the new agreement will almost assuredly be accompanied by a change in the way teams are run. Leaning more towards a baseball-like salary approach, the big market teams will start to recognize a greater advantage in acquiring and maintaining talent, as well as have more flexibility in the draft. So the question becomes, what can low-market teams do to lessen the blow of this new agreement? Below are 5 ways small-market teams can revolutionize the game and keep winning:

1. Control your region
- In college athletics, sometimes the biggest calling for a certain school is its location. If a player was born, went to high school, or lived in an area close to a certain school, they will almost certainly visit, if not commit to the school. So in the new-CBA world of the NFL, teams must starting taking control of its region. If a player goes to Nease High School in Jacksonville, Florida, the Jaguars should make it their mission to select the player. Now I realize with the draft, this isn't always possible, but if a team scouts a region a lot more than other teams, you find more home-picks to be taken. If the Jaguars are able to select an under the radar Florida player in the late rounds, or sign them undrafted, they could find a lot of steals.
-Also, teams should start taking advantage of their regions' talent who aren't in the draft. In this new-look NFL, player try-outs will start to become the norm in places like Buffalo, Oakland, and Green Bay. Talent off the streets will become as vital as the draft, even to the extent of manipulating talent (**essentially teams will begin to tell their "secret" regional talents to forgo the draft and wait an extra few years to be selected, enabling them to be signed directly as free agents). Basically teams will have to grow and utilize their own crops in order to compete with the rest of the league.

2. Win
-Teams with small markets need to take advantage of their current rosters and win as much as they can in the next few years. This will help them maintain talent as the fans back them, and help them to relieve some of the burden of the transition in the first few years.

3. Reduce necessary roster space/positions
-This is probably the most interesting of suggestions, and it is one that I have been a proponent of for a long time. Teams need to start getting creative with their rosters. Instead of having 5 backup offensive lineman, have 3 and teach defensive lineman to play the o-line. Instead of having 2 backup Qb's, draft or convert a former QB to another position and have him split time in practice between the two. I know that there is a large drop-off in talent when a player has to learn multiple positions, but in the new CBA age, teams will need to do anything they can in limiting the amount of money they spend on each player. Finally, and the most important one in my opinion, is to get rid of the "specialty" players. Now before you start yelling and telling me how important the special teams aspect of the game is, hear me out. Kickers, Punters, Longsnappers, kick-off specialists, and Gunners, are extremely important in this game, I agree. But too much rides on them to succeed. Do we honestly want a game played by tough men in the trenches be decided by a 5'10 180 pd. kicker who has been sitting on the sideline all game? I think not. Instead, in an effort to get more athletic people on the field and to cut costs, do away with these specialty positions. Instead, teach your back-up center and guard to long-snap. Teach your back-up wide receivers and cornerbacks to be gunners. Teach 3 people to punt and 3 people to kick on your team. Put FOOTBALL players in the most important spots and positions in the game. Most players come into the league with a background in kicking in high school, or even the skill-level to do so. I am willing to bet that a good number of the players in the NFL have the ability to kick 50 yard field goals. And in a game that thrive in repetion, teaching a player to kick should provide strong results (even one day leading to a possible 70 yard + consistent field goal kicker... hopefully).

4. Recruiting
-This is similar to the region step, but it goes a little bit further than that. In college, players go to school to one day make it big in the NFL; to one day hit a big paycheck. In the future of the NFL, teams that are in the lower-half of the league in terms of revenue need to take complete advantage of this. If a defensive end is the best available free agent and all the high market teams are already set in that position, you have to sell the player in terms of playing time. He won't play anywhere but your team and that will eventually lead to more money if he plays well. The same goes in the draft, as in the future, players will start to announce which teams they want to play for based on the playing time or market (i.e. Eli Manning). Basically, teams must start to find creative ways to sell their franchise (whether it is with big name coaches, movie stars, etc.).

5.Incentives/Taking a Chance
-Teams in this new age need to start offering more playing-based or tenured incentives (the longer the player is with your team, he gets a certain percentage increase every year; if a player gets 5 ints he get a 200,000 roster bonus, etc.). Also, teams can offer greater signing bonuses as it does not count against the cap (although the cap will likely be abolished).
-Teams also need to take chances. Every once in a while sign a guy they think will be a star to a big contract, or sign a lower prospect to take over as the starting runningback. All of these things are vital to surviving in the new NFL.

In the new NFL things will have to change, and in order for small market teams to win, they must adapt these 5 rules, or come up with methods to save their floundering franchises.