The new image of sports is dictating a new management from the players perspective. In years past teams had more of a jurisdiction of judgment in what they wanted to do with an athlete. Nowadays, athletes are taking control of their own situation and looking to capitalize in an environment that suits them for the immediate future. Disgruntled athletes protesting a holdout are becoming more of a downplayed situation rather than a negative perception of the athlete. What Keenan McCardell did last year in Tampa Bay is only going to continue to happen for high profiled veteran athletes. The reason why is because their dollar value is as high as ever, yet teams want to play it off as much as possible. Management?s whole angle is to use that athlete and then make him a salary cap casualty, like we?ve been seeing the last three to four years.

The past couple of season there has become an extreme indicator that restructuring deals is not working enough. Every team?s original game plan when signing an athlete is to make him as happy as possible. Therefore, they go out and sign him to a long-term deal, that looks great but is in all actuality a dreamland lucrative deal that the salary cap has no room for. Most athletes realize that, and is why a strong signing bonus is the main ingredient to lure any athlete via free agency. Just look at Mushin Muhammed this season.

At thirty-two years old, Muhammed is lucky if he has two to three solid receiver years left in him. The Bears though signed him to a six-year deal. It doesn?t make any sense, but for Muhammed the signing bonus of twelve million dollars kicks on the light bulb.

Out of all the shocking situations to develop as of late, none raises your eyebrows more than the Santana Moss and Lavernues Coles swap. Here are two young athletes on young talented teams, that aren?t even giving a chance to their teams to mesh and grow together. It?s understandable that neither athlete was happy with their involvement in their teams game plans, but who?s to say that?s going to change in a new place?

As an athlete, you get better when you have to adjust your style, and learn new ways to become a threat. It?s dumbfounding that either athlete could even have the audacity to demand a trade. Moss had a down season, but none of the Jets receivers flourished because Pennington was hurt the majority of the season. In fact Moss didn?t catch his first touchdown until week nine.

The adjustment phase of adapting to quarterback injuries or struggles is a process that happens on every team. Moss and Coles both endured quarterback switchups constantly last year, and I think that created a monster inside of each that they were above their respective teams standards.

Every team that becomes successful always looks back on the journey they all had as a unit. The growth process of a team is becoming non-existent amongst athletes, because all they care about is the dollar bill. For Washington, the deal makes more sense, as they were faced in having to cut Coles anyways. Santana Moss is at the end of his deal, and basically the Redskins are just signing Moss a year early, as they?ll extend his contract before the regular season.

When other athletes see a trend of power actually work, its going to become a crazy environment in the NFL. No longer will athletes sit back on horrible teams and wait for another chance. It?s wrong though, as the Corey Dillon?s will tell you, it is worth the wait. For all the hard years Dillon fought in Cincinnati, he stuck it out. Sure, he made plenty of statements to the media and even demanded being traded, but when it came time to play, he represented in a Bengals uniform.

His play never fell off, and that?s when quality teams come knocking on your door. Dillon then signed with New England, and wa-la his eight year career thus far has made it worth those struggling days with the Bengals. Dillon will always have that after taste of flashback losing seasons from Cincinnati, that drives him down the stretch of seasons. What will be there as well is the additional bonus of a 360 degree turnaround Super Bowl season.