Though they haven’t been sharing their views publicly (perhaps so as not to suffer a neck-breaking), we’re hearing that there’s near (if not complete) unanimity among NFL player representatives regarding the need for a rookie wage scale.

So says one of the player reps, who obviously isn’t inclined to risk a broken neck by attaching his name to his views.

The thinking among the reps is that the players clearly want it, and that it will be included in the next Collective Bargaining Agreement.  (If, you know, there is one.)

Though not articulated this way by our source, the sense we’re getting is that the players don’t care about pretending that they want the current rookie windfall system so that the subject can be a bargaining chip in negotiations with the league.  The players recognize that they benefit from a system in which teams drafting in the top ten aren’t forced to pay a huge chunk of money over a five-year or six-year period to a player who might eventually contribute nothing to the greater good, and they apparently aren’t inclined to warp that basic reality as an act of labor-management gamesmanship.

Thus, we continue to believe that it would be very wise for Upshaw to cave on this issue — or at a minimum to quit talking about it.  Political movements often are launched by a single issue, and Upshaw’s failure to reflect the will of the rank-and-file on this point could be the fuel for his downfall.