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NFL rookie contracts are going to destroy the league’s salary structure. I touched on this last year, but since the league has no intention of coming up with a solution (which is good news for Jake Long), I’ll rant about it again.

In case you haven’t heard, the Dolphins just made Jake long the highest paid lineman in the league. He has played zero NFL games.

For those who think it’s a good deal for Miami, take a look at the offensive lineman who have been drafted in the top 5 since 2001:

Joe Thomas, Levi Brown, D’Brickashaw Fergeson, Robert Gallery, Mike Williams, and Leonard Davis.

Of those six, Williams and Gallery have been complete busts, Thomas looks like a future star, Davis is a solid player but at guard not tackle, and the jury is still out on Fergeson and Brown. It’s a small sample size, but it’s not exactly the evidence you’d like to see before making a rookie the highest paid lineman in the league.

The problem for the Dolphins and other teams drafting in the top 5 is they have no choice. Every rookie wants to make more than the rookies before them and teams don’t have the leverage to say no. This forces the worst teams in the league to hand out bad contracts, and so instead of being rewarded with a high draft picks, the NFL teams in need of the most help are punished with cap-killing deals. Roger Goodell needs to spend less time destroying video tapes, and more time creating a rookie salary structure.

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