There are many things wrong with the labor and pay situation in the NFL.  Of course the rookie salaries are out of control.  But the salary cap as it is punishes teams for successful drafts as well as crap drafts.  You are punished with a crap draft obviously because you pay players that do not contribute to the team.  How you are punished for a good draft after the break..

so you are punished with a successful draft because at the end of the rookie contract for those players you drafted and developed you have to either let them go or implode your salary cap to keep them.  When you get a steal in a late round you can understand why they want real money since they have been out paid by higher picks who don't contribute.  So they leave the organization that saw or developed their talents to go elsewhere.

I think the solution for this is that there is a cap discount for those players you draft.  The Pats shouldn't be punished for seeing the talent of Mankins (no one had him as a 1 rounder i remember it well because the ESPN guys were all dumbfounded)  This would benefit the good players and allow they to stay with their teams without a home town discount and support the organizations that draft well.  Your thoughts.