Contrary to recent comments from folks like NFLPA Executive Director Gene Upshaw and ESPN’s Chris Mortensen, the players in the NFL want to change the manner in which rookies are paid.

The players don’t want to change the manner in which all rookies are paid, just the handful at the top of the board who get increasingly obscene amounts of money despite never having attended an NFL game without a ticket.

A veteran player who requested anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the issue called us today, and said that the notion (perpetuated by Mort on Tuesday) that players don’t want to rein in the rookie wages at the top of the draft is “utterly absurd.”

“It’s the exact opposite,” the source said.  “Players want it because it benefits them.”

Indeed, the only people hurt by the elimination of the huge contracts at the top of the draft are the folks who have not yet received such deals, and the agents who represent them. 

And none of them have a vote.

It’s like putting the question of whether to raise the minimum age to receive Social Security benefits to 70 years of age only to people who are 70 or older.  Raising the bar means more money for them, and less money for those who have no say in the matter.

As we hear it, even one of the players who received in the past few years one of those high first-round rookie windfalls is in favor of slamming the door.  And why wouldn’t he be?  The player in question is now a member of the group of players who would have more money available to them for veteran deals, if the huge contracts to an annual handful of rookies are reduced dramatically.

Another factor in all of this is the locker-room dynamic.  As the source explained, a kid who has been paid $30 million in guaranteed money has no reason to listen to anyone.  Not the coach, not the veteran leadership, not the owner.  The kid is essentially bulletproof.  As long as he doesn’t do anything that gets him suspended for conduct detrimental to the team, he can do whatever he wants.

And so what if he ends up being a bust?  That $30 million will be more than enough to last as far into the future as the kid is inclined to peer, or to care.  He doesn’t need to think about earning that big second contract.  He really doesn’t need to think about anything.  Before the chinstrap is fastened for a single training camp practice, the kid is set for life.

With all that said, it’s possible that Upshaw is merely pretending that the union doesn’t want to change the current system as a bargaining ploy, since it’s obvious that the NFL hopes to address the problem.  But we’re told that Upshaw has been pressed on the issue by players for several years, and that he continues to offer up flimsy excuses as to why the system should remain as it is.

The real winners (and thus the real potential losers) in all of this are the agents who routinely are in the mix for the top players.  For a rookie deal that averages only $5 million per year (and Jake Long is getting more than twice that annually), the maximum fee is $150,000, per year.  If a firm like CAA has multiple players who are earning that rookie-deal money (e.g., Long, Vernon Gholston, Matt Ryan, Adrian Peterson, Mario Williams, Matt Leinart, Alex Smith, Cadillac Williams, Eli Manning, Roy Williams), a lot of money that would evaporate from the annual budget if a reasonable formula for the draft picks were installed in its place.

And since Upshaw is represented by CAA, there’s the real answer (in our opinion) as to why Upshaw is resisting change.