Differing from Chargers newcomer Dwight Freeney, a former NFL exec and coach says league owners weren't in collusion over player salaries. Instead of collusion theory, Freeney should look to the calendar. "Dwight Freeney, 33, is on the descent," writes Pat Kirwan, via CBSSports.com. "He has 20.5 sacks in his past 46 games. That projects out to seven sacks in 2013, but he's older now and many would tell you he's a 5- to 6-sack guy like last season. If you look at the 46 games preceding the last 46 games he was still an ascending player with 33 sacks, which projects to 11.4 sacks in a 16-game season. The truth is, NFL teams don't pay big money anymore to descending players unless they are in a bind due to injury. "Freeney has to understand that the NFL learned years ago not to pay older players for what they did in the past, but to spend that money on younger players on the rise." In fairness to Freeney, he didn't directly attribute collusion to his recent struggles in free agency. The connection is easily inferred, but I think Freeney was, to some extent, speaking generally. Kirwan also writes that "owners don't like or trust each other enough to make an illegal pact," that "they are driven by their personnel people and the work they do to proceed intelligently in free agency." Source: San Diego Union Tribune
