When ESPN’s Chris Mortensen recently said on the air that players are happy with the money paid to rookies, and that he has never heard a peep from anyone who wants to change the system, an agent contacted us to say that Mort is talking to the wrong people.

Mort apparently isn’t talking to Redskins tight end Chris Cooley. 

Cooley goes on the record to state his case.  And Cooley isn’t merely quoted in someone else’s article — he wrote the damn thing, for our old friend Jamie Mottram’s joint at Yahoo! Sports.

Writes Cooley: “[C]an anyone honestly explain how Vernon Davis adds more value to a football team than Jeremy Shockey or Antonio Gates[?]  His contract certainly says that he does, because he is averaging more money than both of them every year.  If Davis can continue becoming a better football player then it might be agreed that he was worth the money.”

And Cooley isn’t the only one.  His teammate, Todd Yoder, was quoted in the item as well.  “It’s crazy to guarantee money to people who have never played a down in the NFL,” Yoder told Cooley.  “That’s the way the system has gotten.  If someone has potential to become an elite player you’re gonna get more in the first contract than the average Joe Schmoe makes in his entire career.”

In contrast, not a single player to our knowledge has spoken out in favor of the current system.  (And the only ones who likely will are the ten guys drafted at the top of the first round this year.)

Meanwhile, the powers-that-be in the union remain defiant, and oblivious.  If it continues, Gene won’t have to worry about finding his successor.  He’ll be out the door before the search process even begins.