Salary Cap

Outside linebacker Paul Kruger emerged as a dangerous pass rusher this season. Inside linebacker Dannell Ellerbe tapped into his potential as a versatile three-down defender, proving capable of chasing down running backs or blitzing quarterbacks. Cornerback Cary Williams played well while guarding opponents' top receivers after Lardarius Webb tore his anterior cruciate ligament. Although all three young defenders are in their prime and pivotal to the Ravens' bid to win the Super Bowl heading into Sunday's AFC championship game against the New England Patriots, this could be their final game playing for the AFC North champions.

Chris Webber's rookie contract with the Golden State Warriors would seem to have had everything a player could want: $74.4 million in guaranteed annual payments stretching over 15 years, whether or not he played.But after a year, Webber tore it up.Is he crazy?Probably not. When the Rookie of the Year exercised an option to cancel his contract, he was carrying out a predictable strategy born of pro basketball's convoluted economic structure."In some instances, these contracts are one-way streets running back to the player.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The NBA and its players union yesterday announced settlement of a lawsuit by the union concerning revenues that determine the league's salary cap.As a result of the agreement, the salary cap, which limits what each team can spend on player salaries, will rise in the next two years.The NBA Players Association filed suit in December, contending that the league's NBA Properties, which handles the sales of T-shirts and related items, had under-reported revenues from those sales, lowering the contribution to the formula that determines the salary cap.Under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement, which expires at the end of the 1993-94 season, the league places revenues into a pot, then pays its players 53 percent of those revenues.

It's causing big problems in baseball and hockey, but the NFL Players Association says the league's new free-agency system that includes a salary cap is working just fine.And it might even help Baltimore's bid to bring the Tampa Bay Buccaneers here.The Buccaneers' player payroll increased by $11.4 million in the past two years, according to figures compiled by the NFLPA.The Bucs, who had the league's second-lowest payroll ($24,484,000) in 1992, spent $35,889,000 this year because of the rising salary levels caused by the league's new free-agency system.

WASHINGTON -- Under threat of sanctions by the National Labor Relations Board, Major League Baseball owners last night lifted the salary cap that they imposed six weeks ago.The action, which becomes effective on Monday, removes a serious obstacle to the successful conclusion of the collective bargaining negotiations, but it does not end the strike or guarantee that the 1995 season will start on time.Pressure has been mounting on both sides to make meaningful progress in this latest set of collective bargaining talks.

When I saw the story yesterday morning on Page 9 of the sports section, I almost spilled my Froot Loops (funny, I haven't hit many homers recently either). There, buried deep in the paper, was the best sports story of the year: ATHLETE GIVES BACK MONEY TO TEAM.This is news, folks. This is not simply man bites dog. This is man marries dog and moves next door.Do you need any more evidence that the Greed Decade is officially over? Donald Trump is nearly broke, Ronald Reagan nearly forgotten and Charlie Keating nearly in jail.

It was business as usual when Barry Sanders of the Detroit Lions and Ricky Watters of the Philadelphia Eagles skipped their team's respective minicamps in what amounted to mini-holdouts.Although both players were fined and annoyed their coaches because they're under contract for the 1997 season, it's a normal tactic for players trying to get new contracts. Sanders has never been a big fan of minicamp anyway.It was a sign of the times, though, when the Arizona Cardinals effectively locked out Seth Joyner from their minicamp.

The waiters all wear leisure suits at this restaurant in the middle of nowhere, this restaurant that serves soybean burgers and little else.The eating establishment, call it Pit's Burgers, is losing money. But the owner of Pit's Burgers doesn't want to move his restaurant from the run-down, bowl-shaped building in the middle of nowhere, to a more uplifting environment in a more populated area.He wants to stay where he is, even if it means losing money, and he wants to stay in business, even if no one in the area cares much for soy burgers.

WASHINGTON -- It could be the breakthrough that baseball fans have been waiting for since the players strike began Aug. 12. After a day of negotiations with the National Labor Relations Board, the owners last night lifted the salary cap that they imposed six weeks ago.Pressure has been mounting on both sides to make meaningful progress in this latest set of collective bargaining talks. President Clinton set a Monday deadline for some kind of movement, and the decision to remove the implemented settlement and continue negotiations may be enough to prevent drastic government action.

SAN DIEGO -- This is going to be a good year to be an NFL free agent.That's because the NFL salary cap is likely to jump to between $53 million and $55 million in 1998, according to a league source.NFL owners, who rarely reach a consensus on any matter, finally cast a unanimous vote yesterday to approve the $17.6 billion television deal.Although the league hasn't crunched all the numbers yet, a league source said the estimates are that the new salary cap will go up more than 30 percent over the 1997 cap number of $41.45 million.