Not Players but Future Players

This point in the NYTimes story about the pending settlement of the NFL lockout caught my eye since it is so obviously wrong.

A new rookie wage system in which even the top picks in the 2011 draft could sign contracts worth about half of what the top picks signed for in 2010, a concession by players.

A rookie wage scale is not a concession by the players but a concession to prospective players. Indeed, such individuals aren't even in the NFL much less part of the union yet. It reminds me of a legal analysis of possible challenges to the draft. The weak point isn't the league's anti-trust exemption, it's the union's rule imposed upon individuals that aren't actually part of the union.