Under your plan, it’s slavery. The owners can pay the rookie next to nothing, and the player can choose to not play, or be underpaid. The current system forces the owner to put forth a contract that is worthy of the player, and encourages the player to take it. If the player and the team cannot come to terms, I believe he must sit out a year or two, then can sign with a different team. In the case of Manning, he stated he didn’t want to play for the Chargers, so the Chargers set up a trade for him that gave them two strong picks. Nothing nefarious here.