Snow

[Mike P]

You have to re-define NFL "dynasties" in the salary cap era. Do you think the Packers would have been able to keep Bart Starr around (not to mention Taylor, Hornung, the O-line with Kramer, Thurston and Gregg, Dowler, Nitsche, Willie Davis, Herb Adderly and all of the rest of them) thruout the 1960s if there was a cap? The Steelers of the 70s were basically the same team year after year. Bradshaw, Franco, Stallworth and Swann, Webster, the great front four, Lambert and Ham, Blount and so on. That never would have happened in the cap era, either.

You will never again see a team with 4-5 Hall of Famers stay together for more than a year or two---the economics of the game have changed. You might have an accidental pairing of a couple of HOF players nearing the end of their careers, ala Rice and Tim Brown, but that's it. You just can't pay 4 or 5 great players and have any money left to get under the cap. The Niners are still suffering today, 15 or so years later, for mis-managing the cap during their glory days.

These days, back to back puts you in an elite class. Like the 'Boys, Pack and Broncos of the 90s. Look at how fast the Rams and the Bucs slipped. Bucs vs Raiders in the SB two years ago and neither has made the play-offs since.