When the NFL and the NFLPA reached a new CBA agreement in 2006, a clause was inserted for eliminating the salary cap in 2010. Why? Who the hell knows. It seems pretty asinine to me. It appears that the assumption was that both sides would think an uncapped season would be so objectionable, that a new contract would be finalized long before the salary cap disappeared. SURPRISE, NO CONTRACT!

When the owners opted out of the CBA in 2008, it appears that little thought was given to an actual removal of the salary cap. The cap has generally been beneficial for both owners and players.

As of today the NFL's salary cap is no more. Free agency now begins under a whole new set of rules, and no one is sure where it will lead - perhaps even to a work stoppage in 2011.

Starting today the most profitable and popular sport in America is entering uncharted territory.

Over the past few weeks we've been trying to bring to our readers the reality of what an uncapped 2010 season would mean to the game of football. If you haven't been following along, the following articles should get you up to snuff.

• NFL Labor Issues Made Simple
• NFL Trades expected to increase in frequency
• NFL Labor isues to receive political attention
• NFL Franchise Players Announced

Here is what some of the people directly involved in the game have been saying about the pending uncapped season and the unknowns to follow.

Players / Coaches

• "Too many guys have earned the opportunity to be free agents and are angry that the rules have changed." - Falcons guard Tyson Clabo, who has four accrued seasons and will be a restricted free agent in an uncapped 2010 season (2/22/10 issue - ESPN the Magazine)
• "A lot of us look forward to free agency, look forward to that chance to cash in the big payday. But it is what it is." - Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis, who has five accrued seasons and will be a restricted free agent in an uncapped 2010 season (2/20/10 - CharlotteObserver.com)
• "Other than a Super Bowl, the next thing you look forward to is reaching free agency, because I want to see where my value is, wherever it might be - high, low or whatever. But this is a different year, different set of circumstances. You just have to approach it as, you left all you had out on the field and hopefully you get rewarded for it. That's all you can do." - Panthers tight end Jeff King, who has four accrued seasons and will be a restricted free agent in an uncapped 2010 season (2/20/10 - CharlotteObserver.com)
• "We're all way overpaid." - New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (1/26/10 - Boston Herald)
• "If I'm able to get off of minimum wage, I will definitely take my family out to all the home games, and I know they'll be happy about that." - Arizona Cardinals defensive end Darnell Dockett (11/26/09 - Arizona Republic)
• "We want Congress to know that management is pushing us toward a lockout." - Tennessee Titans center and NFLPA president Kevin Mawae (1/20/10 - AP)
• "Is [the uncapped season] challenging? Absolutely, because there's really no precedent for it. It's different than any other year. Even before when there was no (salary) cap you didn't have the free agency." - Patriots head coach Bill Belichick (1/13/10 - Boston Herald)
• "We're not going to give them the shirts off our backs and not get something in return." - Titans C and NFLPA president Kevin Mawae (1/10/10 - The Tennessean)
• "There are a lot of unknowns in an uncapped year." - Raiders DE Richard Seymour (11/13/09 - USA Today)
• "I'm thinking about going back to school, and I tell all the guys they should do the same. ‘What job skills do I have right now?' There's guys with degrees from Harvard who are out of work in this economy." - Arizona Cardinals linebacker Karlos Dansby (9/8/09 - Yahoo)
• "When you get that first check, you want things, lots of things. The owners want us to think, that we gotta have all this stuff. That makes us desperate and we can't be desperate." - Chargers LB Shawne Merriman (9/8/09 - Yahoo)

Player Agents

• "Teams aren't going to give up picks. So if you have anybody decent, anybody you want to keep, all you have to do is put the second-round tender on him and you know no one's going to make a move." - Player agent Rick Smith (2/20/10 - CharlotteObserver.com)
• "The market has been gutted from not only a large number of players being unrestricted, but some high quality players. There is the Final Eight Plan ... taking 25 percent of the teams and having them not participating totally in free agency." - Player agent Tom Condon (1/26/10 - AP)

Team Executives

• "We recognize and understand the economic challenges facing our fans." - Broncos senior vice president of business development Mac Freeman on the team freezing ticket prices for a second consecutive season (2/12/10 - Denver Post)
• "I think the fans will see a different system with no limit on the high end or the low end, and on what teams can spend. Each team will have to decide how they will operate." - Atlanta Falcons president Rich McKay (1/26/10 - AP)
• "We'd rather have money going to retired players and veteran players as opposed to unproven rookies. I'm frustrated; March 1 is coming pretty quickly." - New York Giants president John Mara (1/20/10 - New York Times)
• "I don't think we're making any progress. We made a proposal in early November. I don't think we've received a meaningful counterproposal. The point that we try to make to them is that the costs and risks are much greater than they ever have been. Especially in this economy. I don't think there has been enough of a recognition on their part of that concept. They want a deal that is equal to or better than the existing one and that is not acceptable to us." - New York Giants president John Mara (1/20/10 - New York Times)
• "We have two plans, A and B. We've done both. We're comfortable with however it plays out. There are facets of the uncapped year that are designed to make it difficult for both parties in that environment." - Indianapolis Colts president Bill Polian (1/7/10 - Indianapolis Star)
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The college football season is over; withdrawals, depression, misery. Before you slip into an apathetic stupor for eight months, remember that the NFL Draft is just around the corner! From now until April's NFL Draft, I will be profiling some of the more interesting prospects. I can't promise that I'll get to your favorite player, but if you'd like to see a certain player profiled, shoot us an email and let us know.

Colt McCoy will have a steep mountain to climb in convincing NFL scouts obsessed with size and measurable that his 6'1 frame won't be a problem in the NFL. (Expect to hear and read a lot of comparisons to Drew Brees-in fact, it's already started.) He's currently considered the third best quarterback in the draft, although some have Central Michigan quarterback Dan LeFevour nipping at his heels or even ranked ahead of him.

What McCoy has going for him is his four years of experience, solid pocket presence and, while he's not the fastest guy (4.79 40 at the Combine, although according to some reports Colt says he ran a 4.6), he knows how and when to run with the ball. His football IQ is as high as any quarterback's in this year's draft and you'll rarely see him force his passes. He even drastically reduced his interception total from 18 in 2007 to 8 in 2008 and 12 in 2009 (3 in a weak effort vs. Nebraska). That will translate well at the next level, especially early in his career.

Like Florida quarterback Tim Tebow and Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford, McCoy ran the spread offense in college, which has some doubting his immediate impact in pro style offenses. McCoy has even been called a system quarterback and has had his uber-high completion percentage (76.7% in 2008 and 70.6% in 2009) and other numbers attributed to playing in a 'system offense' similar to the concerns scouts had about Brees in 2001 (damn, I did it too!).

McCoy is expected to go in the second or third round. He didn't throw at the Combine, but is expected to throw at his pro day on March 31. His pro day workout shouldn't have much of an impact on his draft stock, though.

After four years at one of the biggest programs in the nation, playing at the highest level of college football and no major concerns about his delivery, mechanics, arm strength, etc., scouts by now have a pretty good idea of how they feel about Colt. A poor showing may push him to the third round, but at 6'1, teams may have qualms about making him a first round pick, like they did Brees in 2001 (damn!).

If you are a big NFL fan and followed the Scouting Combine in Indy the past few days you are probably aware of the Taylor Mays timing controversy in the 40-yard dash as the video has been making the rounds on the internet all day.

If by chance you didn't get a chance to see what all the hoopla is about you can see for yourself below.

It's not bad enough that these guys aren't being asked to work out in pads and the drills say nothing about how the athlete would perform in a game, but now we find that the measurements they are taking (which is the whole point of the silly exercise) are nit precise and sometimes incorrect.

If this doesn't put a stamp on Klopman's letter I don't know what would. - Jason Lockhart

Jason is an aspiring sports journalist currently enrolled at Stanford University.

If you haven't voted in our polls on the site yet please do so. We are trying to get a feel for how our readers are looking at Football so we can write about things they want to hear. The poll questions are:

"Do you think the NCAA should have a Playoff to determine the National Champion rather than the BCS / Bowl System?"

and

"Should the NFL adopt the NCAA method of Overtime or continue to flip a coin for possession and have sudden death?"

Have a Fantasy Football or Rotisserie baseball question? Want to know who to pick up, who to activate and who the hot prospects are? Ask Dr. Roto. Let Dr. Roto guide your team to a league championship.

With a $1.5 million roster bonus due to Michael Vick only two days away, all eyes turn from the NFL Combines in Indy (see results) to the Philadelphia Eagles.

What will the Eagles do, trade Vick or keep him? For sure they won't let him walk......

Whether Michael Vick should be playing in the NFL is now a dead issue.  While there are those who won't let it go, the reality is that he's back and will likely the starting QB for an NFL franchise in 2010.

As mentioned, if the Eagles still have Vick on their roster on March 5th they will have to pay him a $1.5 million roster bonus. The Eagles currently have 3 quarterbacks that they feel can start and be successful for NFL teams. So, what will the Eagles do with Vick?

The most likely scenario is that they will pay him the bonus and keep him on the roster until the start of the 2010 NFL pre-season. In essence, this is really just buying the Eagles time to shop for the best deal they can get. There are talks that the Eagles may trade Donovan McNabb and keep Vick and Kevin Kolb but the Eagles will be much better off if they wait and trade Vick when a team finds out that they really need him and time is running out to get him. While there are several teams calling the Eagles now making offers for Vick, the Eagles to their credit aren't biting.

Vick may not be considered one of the top QB's in the NFL by many, but a close look at his production may in fact tell a different story. The game isn't about stats, it's about winning. When you look at Vick's production, he's ten games over .500 @ 38-28-1. In the NFL, that's unquestionably a successful QB by any standards. Vick has proved he can with the big game too. He led the Falcons to a playoff win at Lambeau in 2002 (the first time the Packers had ever lost a home playoff game) and after missing most of the 2003 season with an injury, led the team to the NFC title game in 2004.

Michael Vick gives a franchise instant notoriety. When Vick was in Atlanta, jerseys flew off the racks and ticket's sold in bunches. The Falcons sold out every home game of the Michael Vick era once he assumed the role of starter. That was unheard of in Atlanta. When I was growing up, because of blackouts much of the time the only way to see Falcon home games was to go to them.

Vick will make a franchise he goes to money and that matters quite a bit to owners, often it matters more than winning. For the fans, the NFL is a past-time and an obsession, for the owners the NFL is a business. Here is a list of team that could use Vick. Vick could help these teams both on the field and in the bank.

This time of the year in the NFL means one thing, the NFL Scouting Combine.

This year 328 of the very best college football players in the nation have descended upon Indianapolis to show NFL personnel evaluators their skill sets and their smarts.

For some of these players, their performance here will make the difference in being drafted or not. For others, it will help or hurt the position they get drafted. This is something that often makes a big difference in the payday for their first NFL contract.  Don't believe it? Ask Brady Quinn......

These players will be poked, prodded and measured both physically and mentally. The players come in all shapes and sizes ranging from 354-lbs Defensive Tackle Terrence Cody, Alabama to 149-lbs Wide Receiver Brandon Banks, Kansas State.

While Banks is not only the lightest player, he is smallest in stature too standing only 5' 7". On the other side of the spectrum are the two tallest players are Offensive Lineman Sam Young, Notre Dame and Jared Veldheer, Hillsdale who both stand 6' 8".

Today is the final day of the NFL Combine and it is reserved for what is generally considered to be fastest group of participants, the defensive backs.

Below you will find a list of all the participants by position. CLICK ON THE GRAPHIC to see how each individual player performed.

If I was an owner of an NFL franchise and my general manager and my scouts based their decision making for the upcoming NFL draft on the combine, I wouldn't hesitate to fire them. The combine is, without a doubt, the most meaningless aspect of the NFL offseason.

The combine is a joke. It should have absolutely no influence on the teams' decisions on who to draft in April.

What would happen if Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh didn't show up to the combine? Would that really cause teams to choose another defensive tackle before Suh? I don't think so.

What about Tim Tebow? The Florida quarterback is widely considered one of the best college football players of all time, but apparently NFL scouts need to know how high he can jump before they can make a decision on whether to draft him or not. Just because he has a slightly highervertical leap than Michael Vick did when he was at the combine doesn't mean anything to me.

So Maryland offensive tackle Bruce Campbell ran a 4.85-second 40-yard dash on Saturday; Big Deal! Should that really change everyone's opinions on when he should be drafted? That doesn't make much sense to me. In fact, none of this makes much sense.

Personally, I don't need to know any of the combine results. I don't need to know Suh's vertical leap or how many repetitions he can put up on the 225-pound bench press. All I need to see is the video of the game against Texas in the Big 12 title game. Do you remember that game? It wasn't that long ago. Suh dominated the Texas offensive line with 12 tackles and 4.5 sacks. Remember? Isn't that more meaningful than anything he does in the combine? That game is all I need to see to know that he is a top five pick in most NFL drafts.

Clemson running back C.J Spiller showed he has explosive speed when it comes to kick returning throughout the regular season. Against Maryland, he returned a kick 92 yards for a touchdown... and he ran the final 60 yards with just one shoe on.

I don't need to know his time on the 40-yard dash to know he is a first round pick and has potential to be a starting NFL running back.

I don't know about the rest of the football fans out there, but there is nothing in the NFL, and in professional sports, that I care less about than the combine. A preseason game between the Browns and the Bills is more entertaining and significant. Stop this nonsense and let's get to the draft already! - Michael Klopman

Michael, a Penn State Graduate writes for Xtra Point Football, Around the Horn Baseball, is a contributor to the Bleacher Report and works on the sports page at the Huffington Post.

The college football season is over; withdrawals, depression, misery. Before you slip into an apathetic stupor for eight months, remember that the NFL Draft is just around the corner! From now until April's NFL Draft, I will be profiling some of the more interesting prospects. I can't promise that I'll get to your favorite player, but if you'd like to see a certain player profiled, shoot us an email and let us know.

Dez Bryant without question holds the most promise of any wide receiver in this year's draft. At 6-2, 220 pounds, you cannot help but think of Andre Johnson (6-3, 225) when you watch him play. He has the talent and physical tools to become a Johnson clone at the next level.

Bryant excels at finding the ball in the air and then going up to get it. His hands are superb and he has incredible strength; all of this making him an ideal target down in the red zone, just like Johnson.

His route running is a bit suspect and he spent his college career in a spread offense, so the question of how he will do with an NFL offense has come up. And unlike Johnson, who ran track for the University of Miami, Bryant's speed is a question mark. When it was announced over the weekend that Bryant would not be participating in drills at the Combine because of a hamstring injury, a lot of people were disappointed.

Bryant is expected to run the 40 on March 10 when Oklahoma State holds its pro day.

He could stand to get off the line a little faster, but there are few wide receivers of his size who are quicker or who make their cuts as well as Bryant. Some still worry about his ability to separate from faster cornerbacks in the NFL despite creating separation throughout his 2 1/3 seasons in Stillwater.

On that note, Bryant sat out the final 10 games of the 2009 season after it was found that he was not entirely truthful with NCAA officials regarding his relationship with Deion Sanders. It's not the most alarming off the field issue, but recent reports have begun to chip away at Bryant's image.

Yahoo! Sports' Jason Cole reports that several sources label Bryant as "consistently irresponsible." One source said he showed up late for games, while another reportedly remarked, "I wouldn't draft that kid unless I had someone to wake him up in the morning to get to meetings, someone to wake him up for practice and someone to wake him up for games."

Cole reports another source as saying, "Dez isn't evil, he's not trying to hurt anybody. He's just goofy. But it does make you think, 'If he's like this in college, what's it going to be like when he gets paid?'"

I've also seen reports describing Bryant as humble, which some would consider a refreshing, Johnson-esque change from the T.O.s and Ochocincos of the league. Bryant did complete interviews before leaving Indianapolis in advance of the wide receiver drills, which may prove very important in determining his professional home.

The two-week period for clubs to designate 2010 franchise and transition players ended at 4:00 PM ET on Thursday, February 25.  In the uncapped 2010 season, teams had an extra transition tag to use and could thus designate one franchise player and one transition player OR two transition players. Currently, there are 235 unrestricted free agents.

With that being the case, six franchise player designations were announced this past week for the 2010 NFL free agency signing period that begins on March 5.  There are no transition player designations announced this year.

Following are the players designated franchise players for 2010:

2010 Franchise Players
Green Bay defensive tackle Ryan Pickett
New England defensive tackle Vince Wilfork
Oakland defensive end Richard Seymour**
Pittsburgh kicker Jeff Reed
San Francisco defensive tackle Aubrayo Franklin
Seattle kicker Olindo Mare

**exclusive rights franchise player

How it works

A franchise player is a designated restricted or unrestricted free agent whose team must tender a one-year contract at the average of the five highest-paid players at the player's position in 2009, or 120 percent of the player's 2009 salary, whichever is greater.  A franchise player designation gives the club a first-refusal right to match within seven days an offer sheet given to the player by another club after his contract expires.  If the club matches, it retains the player.  If it does not match, it receives two first-round draft choices as compensation.

An "exclusive" franchise player - not free to sign with another club - is offered a minimum of the average of the top five salaries at the player's position for the current year (2010) as of April 15, or 120 percent of the player's previous year's salary, or the average of the top five salaries at his position as of the end of last season - whichever of the three is greater.

A transition player must be offered a minimum of the average of the top 10 salaries at the player's position in 2009, or 120 percent of the player's 2009 salary, whichever is greater.  A transition player designation gives the club a first-refusal right to match within seven days an offer sheet given to the player by another club after his contract expires.  If the club matches, it retains the player.  If it does not match, it receives no draft pick compensation from that club.

Below is a position-by-position breakdown of minimum tenders for franchise and transition players in 2010.

To designate a Franchise Player in 2010 and retain a Right of First Refusal and potential compensation of two first round Draft Selections, the required Minimum Tenders are as follows:

"I sent the request to Michael Vick on Wednesday, but we haven't heard back yet," a spokesman for the magazine said. "I figured he paid back society for dog fighting, but what about the animals? This way he could donate a large some for PETA and all he'd have to do is pose for the magazine! It's kind of a win-win situation!"

If you are reading this article Mike....Don't say NO. Say HELL NO. You are already filming a reality show and it is actually pulling some decent ratings and getting a lot of talk on the sports shows around the country. You are really trying to work on your image and be considered a real QB in the NFL again. All this would do is make you look like a pitiful person (no pun intended) trying to make the right decisions but can't.

I am sure you would do a great job of posing for the pictures and Playgirl would sell an additional 10,000,000 magazines that they wouldn't have sold and PETA would get a large sum of money.....BUT you would be looked at differently by everyone. Not just the NFL, but by your fans as well. We are still wondering if you can make the right decisions in life, so let us know you really can. Many of us remember some of the bad decisions you made....

Remember giving us the middle finger?

Remember the airport issue with the marijuana?

Remember giving the fans the middle finger?

Seems as though you were always giving someone the middle finger or did you just have a burn on it from the roach you were lighting and needed to give that finger some extra air to heal?

The real question here in my opinion is not will Michael Vick make the wrong decision or not, but WHY PETA? If Vick really wanted to make a positive impact, here is his chance. Here is what you should do Vick..... Take $ 15,000.00 and give it to a different organization like the ASPCA. A group that has field representatives that investigates dog fighting and helps rescue the animals involved. There are many groups like this that Vick could donate a little money to and continue to speak with kids about the mistakes he has made in his life, encouraging them to make the right decisions. Vick would come out of this like a changed man. This is how he couldchange the mind of some of his critics out there and show everyone that he can and will make the right decisions in life.

I live in Atlanta where you really hurt our franchise, city and reputation and many of us are really trying hard to forgive you for what you did to us, so please make the right decision here. Personally I would like to see you play on Sundays again. I believe you still have all the moves that make you an electric player to watch. I also believe you will not complete more than 50% of your passes and most of us here in Atlanta would love to play a game against you..... - Bob Bearden

Bob is a regular guest contributor on sports talk radio in the Southeastern United States. Bob's views and opinions on professional and college sporting events can now be found right here on the MC3 Sports Media's family of websites.

If you haven't voted in our polls on the site yet please do so. We are trying to get a feel for how our readers are looking at Football so we can write about things they want to hear. The poll questions are:

"Do you think the NCAA should have a Playoff to determine the National Champion rather than the BCS / Bowl System?"

and

"Should the NFL adopt the NCAA method of Overtime or continue to flip a coin for possession and have sudden death?"

Have a Fantasy Football or Rotisserie baseball question? Want to know who to pick up, who to activate and who the hot prospects are? Ask Dr. Roto. Let Dr. Roto guide your team to a league championship.

The college football season is over; withdrawals, depression, misery. Before you slip into an apathetic stupor for eight months, remember that the NFL Draft is just around the corner! From now until April's NFL Draft, I will be profiling some of the more interesting prospects. I can't promise that I'll get to your favorite player, but if you'd like to see a certain player profiled, shoot us an email and let us know.

Taylor Mays has the speed, build, strength and confidence to play at the NFL level. He's a pure athlete that will tear it up at the Scouting Combine when the defensive backs workout on Tuesday, March 2. Trouble is, though, it takes a little more than that to play safety at the professional level.