Professional athletes have it made. Where else can someone leave college early, or not even go to college at all, and get a starting salary of $20 million for five years with a $10 million signing bonus - before they even show up for the first day of work.

Professional athletes' salaries are already out of control, and as long as unproven draft picks are allowed to hold out of training camp in order to hold teams hostage while demanding obscene amounts of money, things aren't going to get any better.

And why do they act surprised when the fans are not supporting their hold-outs as they bicker over the differences in a five-year $15 million contract versus a five-year $20 million contract.

I bet the Kansas City Chiefs are kicking themselves daily for giving in to Larry Johnson's demands only to see him rush for 10-20 yards per game. Worth every penny. Ha!

Does Blue Collar Joe really want to hear about the troubles athletes will have supporting their families when they are only making $3 million per season and want to make $4 million per season? No, it actually makes him a little upset that he is going to have to pay more of his hard-earned money to be able to see his favorite team after it pays the unproven rookie more money.

The situation is getting so bad, National Football League commissioner Roger Goodell is demanding changes be made to the salary structure offered to draft picks and rookies.

There is the obvious argument of the insanity of spending millions of dollars to someone who has not played in one game in the NFL. But it goes much deeper than that.

Giving these huge contracts to young men in their early 20s, some who aren't even old enough to legally purchase alcohol, puts franchises in a financial quandary and can generate dissention within the locker room.

In order to accommodate these increasingly larger contracts, teams are forced to ask experienced veterans to take pay cuts or be released. Again, how much sense does it make to cut a veteran who has years of experience and an established rapport with teammates in order to give an inexperienced rookie more money than that veteran has ever seen? None.

And how much sympathy do these veterans, who may be released in order to pay these rookies, have when these players hold out of training camp while they demand more money? None.

Then when they finally show up and join the team, will there be a rift between the rookie and his teammates who are making the league minimum while they fight and scrap for their careers? Most likely, although they would never say anything publicly.

How do you expect to build a relationship with your teammates when their first impression of you is of a selfish money-seeker who doesn't care about the team? You can't. You are already starting off on the wrong foot before you've even had a chance to make a mistake on the field.

The league is looking at revamping the system to prevent or at least reduce rookie hold-outs. Here is the Pressbox Confessions proposal:

 

Create a standard scale for draft pick salaries. The first draft pick gets the highest contract value, which is pre-set. The second pick gets less than the first, the third gets less than the second, and so on. Picks in the later rounds (three through six) would all rate the league minimum. The scale would be increased each year by a small inflationary percentage. That way there is no haggling over contract amounts.

 

Make the initial contracts only two years long. This allows the players who perform well in their first two years to have the opportunity to sign new deals while they are still in their prime. It also allows the teams to be able to cut loose the players who are busts and don't live up to expectations. It works out well for both sides.

 

Institute a restricted free-agent system with incentives similar to the National Basketball Association's (with all the mistakes the NBA has made, they actually got this one right). It promotes players re-signing with a team and gives franchises salary cap breaks and incentives for retaining players. This would trickle down and also benefit the veterans who have been giving their blood and sweat to the NFL for years with better contracts than just the league minimum.

 

Institute arbitration. Just like with Major League Baseball, if a contract renegotiation comes to an impasse, both sides would enter into arbitration and make their case to the arbitrator, who would make the final undisputable decision based on the facts and each side's case.

Professional football is already the greatest sport in America. With some tweaks to corral the out-of-control salaries to unproven players and even benefit the proven veterans, as well as the franchises, it could near perfection.

But then again, the selfish players at the root of this problem would never vote for a change like this, and the NFL Players Association would try to block any such change.

Shhhh. Did you hear that? That was the sound of ticket prices going up again.