In May, Titans center Kevin Mawae told ESPN Radio’s Colin Cowherd that the amount of money being paid to unproven rookies is “a little disheartening.”

The comments were surprising, given that Mawae is now the President of the NFL Players Association.  Indeed, the Executive Director of the NFLPA, Gene Upshaw, has made it clear that he will never agree to a rookie wage slotting system.

Apparently, Upshaw has since coerced a little sense into Mawae.  Speaking to NFLN’s Adam Schefter from the rookie symposium in Atlanta, Mawae now seems to be working from Upshaw’s talking points.

“We’re talking about a very small population of the players coming into the league making that kind of money,” Mawae said, “and I said before and I’m saying now that I’m sure it’s going to be a point of contention and something we’ll be discussing during the Collective Bargaining Agreement [negotiations].”

But if the players want what the owners want on this point, it’s not a point of contention.  It’s a point of agreement.

Sure, it’s a small population of rookies who are affected by this, but there’s a lot of money.  And history tells us that only half of the players taken at the top of the draft ever earn it.  So why not take that money and make it available to the players who have proven themselves, year in and year out?

As long as any new system allows the Larry Fitzgeralds and the Joe Thomases and the Mario Williamseses of the NFL to be rewarded once they perform, it makes perfect sense to prevent guys like Ryan Leaf and Akili Smith from pocketing millions in exchange for, in the end, nothing.

Still, it was smart for Upshaw to reel in Mawae.  Because the goal of collective bargaining is to make a concession and get a concession.  If the players aren’t able to persuade the NFL that they hope to keep the current system for paying rookies, the players won’t get anything in return if/when they agree to a slotting structure.

The problem, however, is that when it comes to the input of veteran players, the cat is out of the bag, and it has clawed all the furniture (and pooped in Upshaw’s bowl of Grape Nuts).  The league knows that the veteran players want to contain the money paid at the top of the draft, and no matter how hard Gene pounds his fist about it, the reality is that the rank-and-file disagree with him.