James Harden, one of the best players in the NBA, just signed a new contract with the Houston Rockets that's worth a reported $228 million. Derek Carr, one of the best players in the NFL, just signed a new contract with the Oakland Raiders that's worth a reported $125 million.
In case you missed it, NBA players make more money than NFL players. And one former NFL player, Terrance "Pot Roast" Knighton isn't happy about it.
Shortly after Harden inked his new deal, Knighton -- formerly of the Jaguars, Broncos, Redskins and Patriots -- went on a lengthy Twitter rant about underpaid football players. According to Knighton, Aaron Rodgers should make more money than Harden, Tom Brady should make more money than Steph Curry, and so on:
He continued:
And then he went for the walk-off home-run:
But most importantly, he realized that he used improper grammar the entire time:
Unfortunately for Knighton, our John Breech recently explained why NFL players are unlikely to ever make as much money as NBA players, which Knighton alluded to above:
Here's the main reason why NBA players make more: There are fewer players to pay.
The 32 NFL teams are paying roughly 2,000 players a year when you consider the 53-man roster and practice squads. In the NBA, there are only about 500 players collecting paychecks, which means each player gets a bigger piece of the salary pie.
Anyway, Knighton is hardly the first player to complain about the state of NFL contracts. When NBA free agency began, Bills receiver Sammy Watkins also used Twitter to advocate for better contracts. There's no doubt that NFL players are significantly underpaid compared to NBA players. There's no doubt that they should probably be compensated better considering just how dangerous the game of football is. Players are always one bad hit away from facing the end of their career.
So, what can NFL players do? Our Amy Trask -- and the former CEO of the Raiders -- weighed in on the challenges they face.