$50 Million Dollar Baby

Overall number one NFL draft pick Sam Bradford from the Oklahoma Sooners is reportedly going to be the highest paid player in football without ever even playing a down in the league.

The St. Louis Rams are probably going to have to give Bradford a deal in the neighborhood of $50 million, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. It’s a sign that rookie contracts are continuing to rise in the NFL. Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford who was taken as the first overall draft pick last year was given a contract worth $41.5 million.

It is utterly ridiculous to think that Bradford could make more money than Super Bowl winning quarterbacks like Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Brett Favre and Drew Brees.

It’s dangerous for teams like the Rams to basically be forced into signing these outrageous contracts by agents and players when overall number one picks can prove to be busts. Bradford could easily become a great quarterback like Peyton Manning or Troy Aikman, but he could just as easily become a bust like JaMarcus Russell, David Carr and Tim Couch.

It’s also dangerous for the Rams to give Bradford so much money because he’s already proven to be injury prone. Bradford was seriously injured in his final year at college with the Sooners and forced to miss the majority of the season. He’ll surely be knocked around like a rag doll in the NFL, especially with the Rams only having the 24th projected offensive line in the league, according to football.about.com.

It would seem that the only real way for the NFL to avoid the rising rookie salaries would be to go to a rookie scale salary like the NBA does. In the NBA the draft picks have there own assigned salaries that ensures that the first overall pick makes more than the second pick and the second pick makes more than the third and so on. The contracts are each for two years with team options for a third and fourth.

The NBA has it 100 percent right when it comes to rookie contracts. The NFL desperately needs to go that route to ensure that unproven players like Bradford aren’t the richest athletes in the sport.

2010 ESPY Nominations (And, My Picks)

2010 ESPY Nominations:

(Not all award categories are listed)

Male Athlete of the Year:

Drew Brees, NFL
Kobe Bryant, NBA
LeBron James, NBA
Jimmie Johnson, NASCAR
Albert Pujols, MLB

My Pick: Jimmie Johnson

Female Athlete of the Year:

Maya Moore, NCAA
Diana Taurasi, WNBA
Lindsey Vonn, Skiing
Serena Williams, Tennis

My Pick: Maya Moore

Best Championship Performance:

Drew Brees, Super Bowl XLIV
Anthony Johnson, Big Sky Conference Championship
Michael Phelps, World Swimming Championships
Shaun White, Winter Olympics

My Pick: Drew Brees

Best Breakthrough Athlete:

Britney Griner, Baylor women’s basketball
Chris Johnson, Tennessee Titans
Stephen Strasburg, Washington Nationals
John Wall, Kentucky men’s basketball

My Pick: John Wall

Best Record-Breaking Performance:

Usain Bolt, 100 & 200-meter World Records
Brett Favre, NFL record for consecutive starts
Roger Federer, Most Grand Slam Titles
Connecticut Women’s Basketball, Longest winning streak in NCAA history

My Pick: Brett Favre

Best Upset:

Frankie Edgar over BJ Penn, MMA
Hawaii upsets #1 Alabama, NCAA softball
Northern Iowa shocks #1 Kansas, NCAA Men’s basketball
Y.E. Yang stuns Tiger Woods, PGA Championship

My Pick: Northern Iowa over Kansas

Best Game:

Twins best Tigers in extra innings (MLB Playoff tiebreaker)
Canada edges USA in Olympic overtime game
Duke beats Butler in NCAA Men’s Championship

My Pick: Duke over Butler

Best Moment:

Phil Mickelson, 2010 Masters
Joannie Rochette, Winter Olympics
New Orleans Saints, Super Bowl XLIV

My Pick: Phil Mickelson

Best Play:

Brett Favre throws game-winning TD vs. 49ers
Fordham’s Brian Kownacki flips over Iona’s catcher to score run
Rajon Rondo’s hustle leads to basket against Orlando in playoff win
Mark Buehrle’s opening day defensive gem off his leg, into foul territory, diving flip for out

My Pick: Mark Buehrle

Best Team:

Alabama, College Football
Chicago Blackhawks, NHL
Connecticut, Women’s Basketball
Los Angeles Lakers, NBA
New Orleans Saints, NFL
New York Yankees, MLB

My Pick: New York Yankees

Best Sports Movie:

“Big Fan”
“Invictus”
“The Blind Side”
“The Damned United”
“The Karate Kid”

My Pick: “Invictus”

Best Coach/Manager:

Gene Auriemma, Connecticut women’s basketball
Joe Girardi, New York Yankees
Phil Jackson, LA Lakers
Mike Krzyzewski, Duke men’s basketball
Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints
Nick Saban, Alabama football

My Pick: Phil Jackson

Best NFL Player:

Drew Brees, Saints
Brett Favre, Vikings
Peyton Manning, Colts
Chris Johnson, Titans
Darrelle Revis, Jets
Charles Woodson, Packers

My Pick: Drew Brees

Best MLB Player:

Zach Greinke, Royals
Derek Jeter, Yankees
Tim Lincecum, Giants
Albert Pujols, Cardinals
Joe Mauer, Twins

Best NBA Player:

Kobe Bryant, Lakers
LeBron James, Cavaliers
Dwight Howard, Magic
Kevin Durant, Thunder
Dwyane Wade, Heat

My Pick: Kobe Bryant

Best Driver:

Kyle Busch, NASCAR Nationwide Series/Sprint Cup Series
Dario Franchitti, IRL
Jimmie Johnson, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Ron Hornaday, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Tony Schumacher, F1

My Pick: Jimmie Johnson

Best Golfer:

Tiger Woods
Ernie Els
Phil Mickelson

My Pick: Phil Mickelson

Best Male Collegiate Athlete:

Blake Geoffrion, Wisconsin hockey
Mark Ingram, Alabama football
Evan Turner, Ohio State basketball
John Wall, Kentucky basketball
Garrett Wittels, Florida International baseball

My Pick: Garrett Wittels

Best Female Collegiate Athelte:

Tina Charles, Connecticut basketball
Megan Hodge, Penn State volleyball
Maya Moore, Connecticut basketball
Megan Lagenfeld, UCLA softball

My Pick: Maya Moore