It's not comparable at all to other jobs. Not even to entertainers since they're unlikely to get injured on the job. Yet people always insist on making that comparison every time a contract dispute comes up. The nfl is a violent sport with short careers and a lot of money at stake. I don't blame players for trying to get what they can get. The vast majority never put themselves in a position to get a contract like Jones would command on the open market. And while 1 year 16 mil sounds great to us average Joe's, consider that whatever he signs for he'll get about half after uncle sam and his agents, and he has to weigh that against the possibility of serious injury. So 8 mil really vs the possibility of 100 mil + (or I guess to be fair, half that, so say 50).