That's the quandary in salary-capped sports. A young player establishes himself and grows into a big star. The better he performs, the more he'll have to be paid. Then the equation for the team has to be reconsidered on multiple levels. The superstar brings in revenue from a number of outside sources as well as elevating the fortunes of the team. They become the face of the team through the various media channels and in the psyche of a majority of fans. The thought of losing the superstar because of salary/cap dynamics ignites outrage in said collective psyche of the franchise group mind, and the front office has to do an intricate dance with the roster and in the public relations department. And the more stars on a team, the harder it is.

That's a big reason why parity is such an inbuilt element of the pro leagues in North America. It boggles the mind when you look at first division world soccer where it's the Steinbrenner seventies world unimpeded. Any and every emerging young star on a non-glamorous/financially bloated team is expected to be 'poached' by the big fish. And that's part of the reason for decades of stasis in many of the leagues around the world. The mantra that reverberates over and over from fans is 'spend, spend, spend.' And agents are far more powerful and influential there than they are in North America currently. Almost every rumor about player preferences and future plans fed to the media comes from agents. I watch the games, but have completely distanced myself from thinking about internal team dynamics or roster composition.

So with the Niners, a cynic might look at things and conclude that the better Kaepernick performs, the more his contract demands will skyrocket. Therefore, he better lead the team to a championship sooner rather than later if he does progress to one of the best in the league. The flip side to that is that if he doesn't progress to a higher level his demands may be more reasonable. But that would probably mean less team success. A scenario like Flacco just went through might be a realistic preview of things to come. But if Baltimore had lost, I wonder how eager and magnanimous the Raven organization would have been? Obviously the timing was perfect for him. But at least they won a championship. Having to deal with this kind of a question from a Dallas/Romo orientation looks more like desperation and futility.

So if Harbaugh follows the Bill Walsh approach, he'll have to be anticipating this type of scenario and have quality young talent ready to groom. Or acquire via trade before reaching full potential elsewhere.

Last Edited By: Arnold49 04/06/13 02:36 AM. Edited 1 times.