Friday Morning Cup O’Chiefs

These are strange days when it comes to money, employment and the financial future of our country.

The National Football League is not immune to the realities of what’s going on. The league office is in the process of trimming 150 employees through retirements, buyouts and layoffs. Various teams have sliced employees and tightened budgets.

But that does not mean there aren’t some folks getting big raises in the league. It’s a week until the start of free agency and Thursday was the deadline for using the franchise-player tag on potential free agents.

It means a handful of players scored big in the last 48 hours. In Indianapolis it was cornerback Kelvin Hayden (5 years, $43 million) and in Oakland it was cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha (left) (3 years, $45.3 million.) Both got new deals so their teams would not have to use the franchise designation.

Asomugha’s deal includes $28.5 million guaranteed in the first two seasons. That’s the most money for a cornerback in NFL history. And get this, even if he plays out the three years of the deal, the Raiders defensive back will be just 30 years old when it comes time to negotiate another contract.

And then take the strange juxtaposition of the week in Charlotte, where the Panthers announced the layoffs of 20 employees on Tuesday and then on Thursday made left tackle Jordan Gross the most highly paid offensive lineman in the history of the game.

For argument sake, let’s say all 20 of those former Panthers employees made on the average $60,000. That’s a savings of $1.2 million with the firings.

That turns out to be just four percent of what Gross will be guaranteed over the first three years of his contract: $30.5 million. Basically, Gross’s contract is a six-year deal for just under $60 million, surpassing the pact that guard Alan Faneca signed last year with the New York Jets.

At 28 years old, Gross is a fine player, coming off probably the best season of his six-year career. He made the Pro Bowl and was first team All-Pro in 2008, both accomplishments are firsts in his career.

By gaining the deal with Gross, the Panthers then slapped the franchise-player tag on defensive end Julius Peppers. That guarantees him $16.683 million for the coming season.

Save $1.2 million this year on 20 employees; spend a guaranteed $26.85 million this year on two employees. Those are the economic realities of the NFL in 2009. Like so many other aspects of these troubled times, the numbers do not always make much sense.

They’ll be more chances to see big numbers in the next week. With the franchise tag no longer part of the negotiating process, the league and its potential free agent players will spend seven days negotiating towards the start of the free agency period.

As  it was, the league saw a record 14 franchise players named this year.

CONSIDERATION GIVEN TO CHANGING OVERTIME RULES

As part of the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis each year, the NFL Competition Committee gets together and discusses various topics. They’ll meet again in early March, before going to the league meetings in late March with potential changes in the rules and regulations of the game.

Under discussion already are possible changes to the way the league handles overtime. Now, there does not figure to be any changes for the 2009 season, but there is momentum to make some sort of alteration that would allow both teams a possession in the extra time.

The overtime rules came under scrutiny most recently after San Diego beat Indianapolis 23-17 in OT during a wild-card game on January 3. The Chargers won the coin toss and the Colts never had possession of the ball in the extra frame.

The team winning the coin flip now wins 60 percent of the time. The team that has won the coin flip has gone on to win the game in the first OT possession 40-plus percent of the time.

The current rules went into effectin 1974, with the creation of the extra period.

THOSE FOLKS WHO ARE MOVING AROUND, STAYING OR MOVING OUT OF THE NFL

BUCCANEERS – re-signed defensive tackle Ryan Sims before he reached free agency. Sims was traded to Tampa Bay in 2007 from the Chiefs.

CARDINALS - hired former Chiefs running backs coach Curtis Modkins to handle the same duties in Arizona. He replaces Maurice Carthon, who joined Todd Haley’s staff in Kansas City.

JETS - signed five players, including former Chiefs CB Tyron Brackenridge and LB Nate Harris. Both players were with the Chiefs in the 2007 season. New York also cut two veteran linebackers, David Bowens and Brad Kassell.

BACK AT THE COP SHOP

Authorities in Los Angeles will charge Bills running back Marshawn Lynch with three misdemeanor counts for his arrest last week in Culver City.