The NFL Players Association hopes to groom an eventual replacement for Executive Director Gene Upshaw.  Maybe Cowboys receiver Terrell Owens wants the job.

Owens chimed in on Wednesday regarding the fact that player contracts aren’t guaranteed. 

“I hear a lot of players complain and gripe about the fact that we don’t have guaranteed contracts,” Owens said.  “It’s not like the money isn’t out there. . . .  It’s a situation where I think players should really just stand up for what we believe in instead of just chirping amongst ourselves about what isn’t done and what should be done.

“I think there is player loyalty, but sometimes I don’t think there’s any team loyalty to it, especially when guys have contracts that are about to expire,” Owens said.  “Teams can cut them at any given time.  They have a back-loaded contract, and they don’t want to pay that player that money, then they cut them.  It’s not a good situation.”

(Coincidentally, Owens’ contract is set to expire after the 2008 season.)

What Owens is forgetting (intentionally or otherwise) is that the guaranteed money comes in the form of the big-dollar signing bonuses and other payments made in the first three years of the deal, when the cap hit resulting from cutting the player makes it virtually impossible to do so.  That’s why contracts typically are evaluated based on the guaranteed money and the amount to be paid in the first three years.

If contracts were fully guaranteed, the contracts wouldn’t be worth much more than the guaranteed money that the player currently receives.  The phony backloading tactics, which are more about helping players win the “my [insert car, bank account, and/or body part here] is bigger than yours” game in the locker room and about aiding agents’ efforts to recruit more players, would evaporate immediately.

The other problem is that guaranteed contracts would mean that there would be less money available for the players who actually are on the team and contributing to the effort, since released players would still be getting their cut of the salary cap pie.  In some instances, the guaranteed nature of the contracts would compel teams to keep otherwise washed-up players, limiting opportunities for younger guys to gain the reps necessary to make big money later in their careers.

So be careful what you wish for, players.  Indeed, it was your desire to get true free agency that created the system in which it often makes sense for a team to part ways with a player who otherwise had no desire to leave his current NFL city.