A brochure from a sham get-rich-quick seminar on real estate purchasing might tell you to stay calm when the market panics, and panic when the market stays calm. It’s the kind of advice we hear often and rarely follow, and the same can be said for NFL teams as they approach free agency in 2022.
Indeed, most of the good damage, most of the economical savviness has already taken place. A handful of teams went head hunting last year during the pandemic at a time when most owners were locking their checkbooks in a fireproof safe due to the shrinking salary cap. The Patriots got Matthew Judon for a little more than $13.5 million per season. The Bengals got Trey Hendrickson for $15 million per season. In this market right now, Hendrickson is making more than $20 million a year. Judon is probably getting close to $18 million.
And so the parameters for success have shifted from economical opportunities to avoiding desperation now that the coffers are full again and the league’s council of billionaire playboys has a full pocket of television and gambling revenue money to spend.
