Chicago Slant on Walker and Salary Cap

Fascinating take on the Darwin Walker trade to the Bear, about general salary issues, and the astute Eagles’ strategy being imitated now by other teams published in the Windy City’s Sun-Times. “It's an interesting cautionary tale for the Bears, who built their team by using the Philadelphia method of identifying young players and signing them to long-term contracts. It's a good deal for players because they get their money early and a good deal for teams because they write cap-friendly contracts that are below market value in the long run.

The problem is that the salary cap has exploded with the new collective bargaining agreement, and many contracts for players who signed early extensions are far below market value.”

The story also reveals that it was a 5^th rounder the Bears gave the Bills for Walker, and that Walker owns an engineering firm in Philly employing 1,000 people!? Which, if true, suggests that Walker is almost certainly earning more from his non-football business than he is from the $1.3 million/year he is making as a defensive tackle.