How does a WR like Nate Burleson get $25 million?

[hawaiiansteel]

what is Santonio Holmes going to command once his contract is up when a mediocre receceiver like Burleson can get $25 million for 5 years?

no wonder the Lions are always one of the worst teams in the league!


That seems like an awful lot of money to give Nate Burleson
By MJD - March 5, 2010

Good news for free agent wide receivers: You apparently don't have to be very good to get a huge paycheck. John Clayton is reporting that Nate Burleson's new deal with the Detroit Lions is worth $25 million, with $11 million guaranteed.

Burleson did have a nice year, and I'm not saying he can't be a decent wide receiver for somebody, but $25 million? A guaranteed $11 million? Come on now, Nate Burleson isn't that guy.

He caught 63 balls for 812 yards last year, and that's good. Those are very respectable numbers, especially coming on a Seattle team that you wouldn't call "offensively gifted." And if there were any indication that Burleson could give you that kind of production every year, I might like this deal a little more from the Lions perspective.

But those 63 receptions brought Burleson's total as a Seahawk up to 136 -- over four years. Burleson's been in the league seven years, and he's had more than 60 catches a season exactly twice. He's eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark once.

The best thing I can say about the signing is that it fills a need for Detroit. Not particularly well, but it does fill it.

I hope I'm wrong, and I hope it works out well for the Lions. I'd love to see them develop a potent offense. I just don't see Nate Burleson as the guy who can do that for them.

[Shoe]

I don't think this is taking the thread a different direction, but it is relevant (i.e. an average WR commanding that salary) in that: when will we see the effects of the recession hit pro sports? Or will it?

People are struggling. I would assume that one of the things that will quickly get jettisoned (especially since most pro sports is already watchable on TV) is trips to the ball game. Is it simply that TV pays the large portion of the revenue anyway? Cuz I still see rafters full of people, etc.

My gut says that the economy is due to take a major $hit (I'm talking much more than we've seen so far) in the next couple to five years. If that happens, I wonder how it'll affect pro sports, the contracts, salaries, all that.