Tuten Defends, Junkin Blasts Salary Cap

Seattle Seahawk punter Rick Tuten voted for the NFL's new salary cap.

Trey Junkin, who deep snaps the ball to Tuten, was so mad about the controversial cap that he tore up his ballot and didn't even vote.

"There's a limit. Everybody in the league can't play for $2 million a season," Tuten said.

"Nobody, nobody is for the salary cap," Junkin said. "This thing has screwed everybody from the top to the bottom."

The salary cap is part of a seven-year collective bargaining agreement, signed May 6, 1993, between the league's owners and members of the NFL Players Association. A year after players overwhelmingly ratified the agreement, the cap went into effect this season.

All 28 teams have salary caps of $34.6 million.

Seahawks executive vice president Mickey Loomis, who is his team's "capologist" and whose job it is to keep track of salaries, said the Seahawks were $500,000 under the league's cap.

Because of the salary cap, 1993 Seahawks starting defensive linemen Jeff Bryant and Natu Tuatagaloa are out of jobs this season.

"Of course, everybody is going to talk about the down side of the salary cap," Tuten said.

Junkin, a 12-year veteran, sees a tough road ahead for today's players.

"You got veterans who got cut this year," he said. "In their place, you've got rookies playing for the minimum wage. There are no more middle guys. You've got big-time money players and you've got the little-bit-of-money players. There's no in between. In another couple of years, there's not going to be any big-time guys."

Seahawk management says it's too early to tell what's going to happen.

"I think we're going to have to give it some time to see what's ahead for us," Loomis said.

Tuten, one of Seattle's two player representatives along with Eugene Robinson, defends Players Association director Gene Upshaw. Junkin lambasts him.

"Everybody is mad at Gene Upshaw," Junkin said. "There is not one person who I've talked to around the league who has anything good to say about this agreement, about the salary cap or Gene Upshaw."

"How much longer could you go on without having an agreement at all?" Tuten asked. "The cap has put strains on things but we're the only league that has full free agency."

Tuten thinks professional football players like Junkin who are against the salary cap and the collective bargaining agreement should take a look at what's happening in major-league baseball, the NHL and the NBA.

Major-league baseball players lost their playoffs and World Series this season because they were on strike, Tuten pointed out.

"If you have free agency, that at least gives the players a choice instead of having them held down to their former team," he said.

Junkin disagrees with Tuten about what free agency in the NFL really means. It means nothing, he said.

"When you have a salary cap, you kill free agency," he said. "Once you get the cap, there is no more room to get players. Nobody is free to move. What are you going to do? Cut four guys so you can sign one?"

Junkin is in his fifth season with the Seahawks. In order to get a job this season, Junkin had to agree to a $200,000 contract, $45,000 less than he earned last season.

"I'm 33 years old. I decided to take a pay cut because I needed a job," Junkin said.

The NFL believes the salary cap is making teams more competitive and protecting small-market franchises.

The Seahawks signed six free agents under the offseason: Nate Odomes, Steve Smith, Duane Bickett, Howard "House" Ballard, Brent Williams and Kirby Jackson.

Players can become unrestricted free agents after four years in the league, meaning they can leave a team to sign with another team if they aren't under contract.