Players for Sale! Fresh Players for Sale!

 Huyghue says, "Whoa, wait a minute buddy."

Not sure how I feel about Michael Huyghue enforcing the transfer fee. On the one hand, $150k seems like nothing to an average NFL team. On the other, most of these guys would be 2nd or 3rd-string, and some would be practice squad fodder. Assuming that some of the 3rd-4th year guys get signed, why should any team want to fork over an extra 20-50% of what their contract will likely be worth? This goes double for the practice squadders, who make significantly less than that. A squaddie with UFL experience is suddenly two or three times as expensive

Some guys with storied NFL careers (Culpepper, Garcia) or who've put some good tape together while in the UFL (Lorenzo Booker, Nick Novak) might convince front offices to pony up the extra cash, but I have to imagine that this means fewer of the younger guys will be getting looks.

The end result is that the decision keeps talent locked up in the UFL, which could turn into a positive or a negative. You could argue that this keeps the UFL strong by creating a scenario where its players can't just jump ship, keeping the same players around to build for next season. On the other hand, it possibly creates an antagonistic relationship with NFL. And I think that the league might be too young to get on the bad side of the nation's largest football enterprise.

It's hard to say whether or not players will avoid the UFL because of the transfer fee. For some at least I think a definite $50k and a job would be better than a possible $300k (pro-rated down for missed time) and sitting around by the phone. Although some guys who might have been had on the cheap may not get looks by some of the NFLs stingier owners.